Most of us are only lucky enough to have one two-wheeled talking piece when kicking back with friends and a case of garage beers. But Dylan Aronsohn tendered his severance to three archetypal builds that will forever be priceless additions to the elite ranks of SSB stardom. The amount of work invested in this outrageous lineup is enough to make your jaw drop.
Dylan’s personality promised custom-made glory at an early age. He first grabbed the reins of the iron horse at three years old astride his Uncle’s hoary Honda, providing the perfect bump-start to his passion for the aftermarket. Before he even had a license, he created a design based on the original Starsky & Hutch series, and daubed his genius on the body of a remote control car that transitioned to an adolescence of spray cans and subway graffiti.
By college, he bought a brand new 1992 Suzuki GSX-R1100 and became infatuated with high performance bolt-ons. It wasn’t long before that 1100 uncharacteristically received a Yoshimura full titanium race exhaust with a carbon can and nitrous system because in his opinion, stock is blasphemy. “A stock bike never made sense to me,” Dylan said. “Aftermarket parts are a reflection of their owner.”
With school in the rearview and a successful home electronics installation business on the horizon, Dylan’s love of two wheels went dormant for twelve years, only to reignite after picking up an issue of SSB. When he saw his friend’s custom R1 in print, Dylan was inspired by its blue camouflage paint scheme, Gregg’s Customs single-sided swingarm and full Öhlins suspension.
He then bought a 2008 Honda CBR1000RR and went to work only to have it stolen from his parking garage halfway through the customization process—it was recovered through Lo-Jack. Wanting to ride everyday without having to look over his shoulder for potential thieves eyeing his Honda’s performance parts, he purchased a junked 2006 Kawasaki ZX-6R for $3,000 to use as a daily commuter. That 636 would also end up being customized. The final addition to three wildly different performance builds was a brand new 2010 BMW S1000RR. His dedication to riding one-off pieces of supersport art borders on obsessive but that’s what it takes to create a dream garage.
“At the time, I didn’t think I’d end up customizing three totally different bikes with the idea that if they were all parked next to one another that no one would assume the same person owned them. They each appeal to a unique personality. I am not a guy who will chrome a bike to start. I focus on high-performance parts first then turn my attention to the cosmetic,” said Dylan.
Here is how his trio of builds came to be:
Warning: the package up front...
Warning: the package up front might incite gold fever and give you the urge to go panning for performance parts.
THE HONDA
Determined to own a machine that stood out from the crowd, the Honda was Dylan’s first template for alteration but he soon realized sitting stock it was far from special. “When I got my Honda, it was ridiculous to realize how many of them are out there. At this point in my life, I owned my own business and could afford to finally do the things I always wanted to do to a bike.”
Before he could dive into all the performance possibilities, he needed to find a dependable builder. He was referred to Matt Kronvold of M&S Performance and MK Motorsports. “He is one of the most passionate guys I have met in the industry—he treats every bike as if it’s his own,” said Dylan.
Brembo and Galfer make a dynamic...
Brembo and Galfer make a dynamic duo in braking.
The duo would stick together from then on out. For the CBR, initial efforts were focused on boosting the HP with a full Akrapovic titanium system and a Dynojet electronic package. Once the bike was off the dyno, Dylan moved onto the paint.
“I got the base idea from a Roland Sands’ bike I had seen, but I made a lot of improvements. I had a local painter follow the base idea but wanted to highlight certain areas that the original didn’t have. When doing a custom paintjob, it is impossible to envision what the final results will look like,” Dylan said. “Once painted, you get ideas of how to make it stand out even more.”
Halfway through the project, the CBR was stolen but recovered. When it came home, Dylan persisted with amendments. He added Brembo front rotors, nickel-plated HP calipers, a rear brake re-locater and RCS master cylinder as well as Galfer brake lines and a rear rotor for improved bite. He also fitted the Honda with an Öhlins TTX rear shock and FGRT forks to improve the suspension. Of course, true to Dylan’s style, he added the cosmetic (but still performance minded) trimmings last and mounted Carrozzeria V-STAR wheels and Vortex rearsets.
Simply clean the paint is...
Simply clean the paint is the most reserved of the bunch but eye-catching nonetheless.
Said and done, it reaped more than $42,000 of his income; a total derived from a combination of parts along with repeated paint jobs. Dylan is now a little more cautious with this one-liter work of art. “I vow to not let the bike out of my sight this time,” he said.
2008 Honda CBR1000RR
Front End: Carrozzeria V-Star wheel, Brembo rotors, nickel-plated HP calipers and RCS master cylinder, Galfer brake lines, Öhlins FGRT forks
Rear End: Carrozzeria V-Star wheel, Brembo nickel-plated HP caliper, rear brake relocator, Galfer brake line and Wave rotor, Öhlins TTX shock
Motor: Akrapovic titanium exhaust system, Dynojet PCV with Secondary Fuel Module, Quick Shifter and Ignition Module
Paint: Johnny Arocha, Ravenswood Paint
Accessories: Vortex rearsets
Builder: Matt Kronvold, M&S Performance
Owner: Dylan Aronsohn