Atkins, South Beach, Fat Flush, the Zone--if you spend a lot of time reading magazine headlines in the supermarket check-out aisle, which every week announce some new diet du jour, you might be forgiven for thinking thin is in. But don't go running for the bulimia burger with a side of air sauce just yet. Put down the women's mags and check out the transportation section and you'll find that (thank goodness) fat is still where it's at. In the wild world of custom sportbikes, big-booty wide-tire kits like the one fitted to this flamed Hayabusa are all the rage. Low-carb my ass--this 'Busa's got back.
Eagle-eyed readers might recognize this motorcycle from the very first issue of Super Streetbike, where it was featured in our "Eye Candy" gallery--or more recently from the Performance Machine (PM) ads that run regularly in SSB. This Hayabusa is the shop project bike for the La Palma, California-based PM outfit, and it serves as a rolling showcase for PM's rapidly expanding line of custom sportbike wheels and other accessories. Featuring the 'Busa again proves how quickly the company's line of sportbike goodies is growing. The first time we showed you the bike it was basically a pretty paint job and a handful of billet bits, but the next time we saw it--improved with PM's new "Phatail" wide-wheel conversion kit--we knew we needed to shoot it again.
Although by no means a new name to the sportbike performance aftermarket (the company has been manufacturing custom wheels and braking components for sporty bikes for well over a decade), PM is best known for big-twin billet bits. PM has provided trick Harley treasures for more than 30 years and recently developed a reputation as the phattest company on the block with its popular aftermarket wide wheels for choppers. With a background in sportbike customizing and a head start on the fat tire trend through its involvement in the chopper scene, it's only natural PM would be one of the first sources for a fat-tire sportbike kit. PM's Phatail mod starts with a suitably spread rear wheel, in this case one of the company's 81?2-inch-wide, chrome-plated "Roulette" forged wheels. Like all PM wheels, the wide Roulette is CNC-machined in-house according to a process that meets or exceeds the most stringent manufacturing specifications in the world, including the Japanese JASO and German TUV guidelines. Rounding out this big-butt package is a 240-series Metzeler Marathon rear skin to handle traction acquisition and a factory Hayabusa swingarm extended six inches over by the crew at Trac Dynamics.
The next thing you notice about this 'Busa (once you pull your eyes away from the big wheel) is the super-smooth bodywork by PM's director of research and design, Roland Sands, a former AMA 250GP National champion roadracer and son of PM owner Perry Sands. A handful of carefully considered detail mods clean up the already slippery-looking Hayabusa's lines, accentuating the bike's going-150-mph-when-standing-still appearance. The first change was the addition of a low-profile fuel tank from Airtech to slim out the midsection. Airtech also supplied the racing tailsection, a piece Sands spent a dozen-plus additional hours modifying to make it compatible with the stock seat, along with molding in custom vents and flush taillights boosted from an Aprilia Mille. Once the tail was tightened up, Sands turned his attention to the full-coverage front fender, ventilating it to show a little more rotor. He also smoothed out the fairing sides by filling in the turn-signal openings. A carbon-fiber undertail and inner fairing panels (also by Airtech) round out the bike's substantial bodywork mods.
Once Sands wrapped up the plastic prep, it was time for a hot paint scheme incorporating a black basecoat shot over with silver bass-boat metallic flames. The sick licks were laid down by Matt Polosky, one of the nation's premier custom sportbike painters, through his shop, Color Zone Designs, in Huntington Beach, California. Polosky also hand-applied the red pinstripes that outline the radical flames, which contrast nicely with the black-anodized frame, swingarm and fork lowers. Anything that wasn't painted or powdercoated was dipped in lustrous chrome, including the levers, controls and triple clamps.
Save for a Yoshimura full exhaust system and some minor fuel injection tweaks, this 'Busa's 1300cc four-cylinder powerplant remains mostly stock--really, isn't 170 hp enough? Same for the fork and rear shock, though both have been revalved to suit racerhead Roland's tastes. The braking system, on the other hand, is anything but stock. Aside from wheels, Performance Machine is best known for aftermarket brake bits, so one would expect to see the finest PM binders bolted to this 'Busa. In this case it's PM's six-piston race calipers biting down on a pair of huge, 320mm Revolution rotors in the front. The rear rotor is stock, but that's a PM four-piston rear caliper hanging from a custom, one-off bracket. Performance Machine also manufactures the custom rear sprocket, which carries a heavy-duty 530 O-ring chain.
While Jordan, our rail-thin bike model, might do well with an extra cheeseburger or two, no one can claim this Hayabusa is anything but stacked out back. This is, of course, as it should be. Dr. Atkins might know the score when it comes to heart health, but when it comes to putting 170 Hayabusa horsepower to the pavement, fat is definitely where it's at.