Genius at work: James Secord's bike in progress.

Via: Evil 70th Streetpeople

"Here is my first motorcycle custom. I've been riding a 1985 xv700 Yamaha Virago for ten years now. I figured it was time to use my metalworking experience to make some desired changes to my beloved bike.

My idea with this project is to start with a gem in the rough and use my metalworking skills to bring My vision of the perfect bike to life. I want the go to increase at the same rate as the whoa. I want the image to be one like the old days and invoke a sense of the future. I want low and long without compromising stability. I want form to compliment function. I want this bike to be a labor of love. A motorcycle can be an expression of who you are or who you think you are

The flares on the side of the fender were shaped to take a pair of 1949 Dodge Coronet turn signals. The head light bucket is off a 1938 Chevy coupe. As you can see its “super-hero” BIG. I love it! Flash Gordon comes to mind. I used the local muffler shop to bend some 40mm pipe and then constructed a single carb manifold. Getting rid of the dual carb set-up clears out a lot of crap a bike just doesn’t need.

The jet was way rich and I had blue flames shooting everywhere. Ran kinda like a pro-drag bike, flames and all.! Also, the return spring I put on the carb was way too weak. I rolled on the throttle and HOLY CRAP! It was scary. The slide just stayed up under vacuum and just fed the beast pure gas. I got the attention of all my neighbors and my wife even poked her head out to see if I was ok. With all my shop related accidents, her concern was justified."