Like popping by a party at the Playboy mansion for just one drink, keeping your new sportbike stock just isn’t gonna happen. And all too often what was intended to be a simple build quickly ignites into an all out inferno–such was the case with the purple people pleaser.
“After owning several customs that were always in some state of change and never roadworthy I decided I needed a bike to ride, something to keep stock,” Sam Morris, owner of Gooichi Motorsports said. “That only lasted a week. Not long after buying the CBR1000RR I added a vinyl wrap and a 240 rear wheel inside the stock swingarm, which marked the beginning of the end.”
The feat of stuffing a 240-rear wheel inside his stock CBR swingarm was a big deal in its own right, but that was only the start of a monumental makeover. “I bought a used 240 kit for a GSX-R and threw it on the Honda just so it wasn’t stock anymore, but that only tempted me to start hitting shows, which then made me mod it even more.”
“After informally tossing some ideas around with a few aftermarket companies I realized that the 2011 Indy Dealer Expo and Daytona were just around the corner and decided it was now or never to go all out on the build.”
With little time to spare Morris started mapping out a bike that would defy conventional custom wisdom with a “less is more” approach. This unorthodox ideal was to be created by using a Gregg’s Customs single-sided arm originally made for a 2007 CBR600RR as the foundation.
“A single-sided arm was a must, and when I found a used one on Craigslist for the right price I snagged it and modified it to fit my bike.”
Far beyond a few extra washers and some longer bolts, Morris fabbed new suspension components and converted his ’08 rear suspension to a combination closer to the ’07 setup. When the welding torches finally cooled and the waterjet cutters turned off, Morris was left with a nicely tucked single-sided 240.
With the wide wheel and the short arm underneath the CBR he then drew on his automotive background for some wheel inspiration.
“Three-piece wheels with bolts around the edges are common on performance cars and since I hadn’t seen anything like that on a bike, I contacted Ride Wright to see if they could cut something up.”
Sure enough, a few weeks later Ride Wright fabbed a set of one-off, multi-piece wheels that not only looked the biz with their flat black centers and purple front/white rear hoops, but they were bolted together with titanium hardware from ProBolt.