The rest of the bike is very much an all Compton Custom Design affair, with James' aptitude for fabrication making itself obvious in the creation of the hand-crafted, rigid, drag-style frame made from chromoly tubing, the aluminum fuel tank located under the seat and the myriad of handmade billet-aluminum parts such as the transmission outrigger (to clear the massive, 300mm Avon rear tire), the footrest and lever assemblies and the engine mounts, all of which were designed by Compton and machined by Ice Prototyping. At the time of the photo shoot, both fenders were fashioned from steel; however, James has since fitted super-light carbon-fiber replacements made by Gemini Technology, one of the sponsors and technical supporters of the Jordan race team.
In order to reign in all that horsepower, James fitted the best brakes he could find, over $7000 worth of Superbike-spec Brembo monobloc calipers, master cylinders and discs. Designed by Compton and machined by Ice Prototypes, the exquisite triple clamps grip a pair of '04 GSX-R1000 fork legs that have been modified internally and shortened by four inches in the Compton workshop to hunker down the front end of the bike down to match the low, fat profile of the rear end. Both wheels are custom five-spoke billet pieces mounted on hubs that were spun up by Compton and sporting Avon tires front and rear, a massive 300mm width in the back.
We chatted with Compton (or Big Buddy, as he's called by the Jordan crew) a few months back at the AMA roadracing season opener in Daytona while he wrenched on Jake Holden's Superstock bike in the pits, and the Compton's end of the conversation went something like this: "I started building bikes in 1992, the same time I started racing and haven't been able to stop." A former power lifter (national squat record holder in '84 and '85) and fullback at the University of Washington, Compton also had a successful career as a rider on the Annandale Honda racing team in Formula Extreme before the pressures of a family led to his new occupation as a fabricator/tuner and Jordan crew chief. When he's not at the track, Compton tells us, he's back at his shop in Boerne building bikes and helping his wife, Kim, take care of their four boys: newborn Kendric, two year-old Christian, five-year-old Devon and eight year-old Teigen.
"Over the years I've had the opportunity to work with some very talented riders including Ben Spies, Steve Rapp, Jason Pridmore and Jimmy Moore," Compton continued. "I build race engines, suspension, complete road and track bikes and offer custom metal fabrication and machining services. The Crusher is the first full-custom bike I've ever built. I wanted something different. The inspiration for the bike came from the wild pro street cars that you sometimes see on the highways. I wanted to build a bike that looked outrageous with the performance to match, basically a two-wheeled version of a pro street car. I feel like I was able to achieve my goal with this bike. It's definitely outrageous; it doesn't look like something you should be allowed to ride on the street, and it's already done a high nine-second quarter mile pass. I think with a little more tuning and the right rider (one that's not over six feet tall and 260 pounds! -Ed.) it could be in the eights. I'm looking forward to building the next one."