And yes, it’s licensed for the road!
At the recent 63rd annual National Roadster Show held near Los Angeles, the premiere custom car show in the U.S., two wheels nearly outshone all the four wheelers. It was a pair of motorcycles that went by the name “Nitemare,” a twist on the spelling of the word and an even greater spin on the term “radical custom.” Joining it was another bike called “Nasty.” It turned out to be a nasty nightmare for the rest of the competition as nothing came remotely close to their mind-boggled design and fabrication.
The creations of designer Ben Beck and his partner/builder Scott Laitinen from their shop appropriately enough called Sic Chops, “Nitemare” got its name thanks to all the trouble that went into his build. The project started with a 1600 Yamaha Roadstar. Why not a Harley motor as is the custom in custom bikes? Says Scott, speaking from the shop located in Lake Havasu, “Everybody takes a Harley or any other American engine and builds customs with it, but I thought, ‘Why not a Yamaha for a change? So we took a Yamaha Roadstar 1600 engine and started to build something crazy around it. We knew that the bike would not have a kick stand so it sits on Independent Air Suspension, front and rear, which can be raised up to five-inches.”
That was just the beginning of the Yamaha’s metamorphosis. Ben then designed the wheels, a 26-incher in the front and 17-inch “fat” 330 series in the rear, then sent the design off to be cut by a wheel builder. Here starts the “nightmare” part. The wheels came back less than hoped for, so Ben tried again, sending the complex design off to another fabricator. When the second effort returned, it also didn’t meet his standards, so off they went again. Eight months and $15,000 later they finally turned out right. And that was just for the two wheels part of the project, but worth the effort since they are truly one of a kinds in the industry.
Ben came up with a unique design for the air intake system, the dramatic intake scoop seen extending over the top of the gas tank that was plumbed through the tank itself. Meanwhile is partner Scott said, hey, if we’re stepping way out of the box, why not run the exhaust underneath the seat, then into an air chamber and then exit out the rear fender? Ben replied, let’s go for it, but then added another off the charts idea.
“How about an alien tentacle like eyeball for the headlamp, and something looks like it’s attached to the front fender and really gets people guessing. And let’s make it out of polished copper along with a bunch of other copper parts. They’ll look great against the black paint job.” It went from the drawing board into reality. And while the long copper stack with the small, high intensity light at the end looks like it’s part of the fender and thereby you can’t turn the fender, the bike is seen lowered to the ground via one of its two onboard air suspension systems. When the bike is brought up to its riding height, the headlamp stock separates from its resting place on the fender and all is “normal” again.
After the bike was completed and taken to a couple shows, it blew people away but for some reason the judges just shook their collective heads and couldn’t figure out what it was. The spectators however all agreed it was the best of the best. Soon after, Nitemare started getting recognized including trophy wins at famous the Rat’s Hole in Sturgis. The biggest win, so far, came when Nitemare won the People’s Choice Award at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building. And as you can see, Nitemare is not a static piece of garage furniture or living room art, and was built as a real world get up and ride it bike, so has a street license plate and registration.
Bike #2 – Getting “Nasty”
Ben and Scott then got invited to compete in the annual Rat’s Hole Biker-Build- off competition and went to work on an all new bike, one they call “Nasty.” This “green monster” is powered by a 127 cubic inch American Racing engine with its carburetor integrated into the gas tank. As far as a headlight, instead you’ll find an iPad that can both film the road ahead as the bike cruises along and then, when the bike is on display, the iPad can replay the ride. The real headlight is embedded in the lower part of the front frame and also serves to dramatically light up the front wheel, specially powdercoated so that it glows when spinning around in motion.
It really gets peoples’ attention at night.
Says Ben, “We are going to take the new bike to the AMD World Championship and we think we have a good chance of winning in the Performance Class. There is another absolutely crazy bike that we think will like Nitemare blow everybody away.”
By the way SIC Chops does not only build custom bikes, they also transform cars into equally radical “sick” machines.”
NEWS FLASH!
CLEAN SWEEP AT DAYTONA BEACH RAT’S HOLE SHOW!!
Ben’s Bobber Wins the Cafe Racer biker build off in Daytona at the Rats Hole!!
Nitemare wins best of Show at the Boardwalk Classics!
Nasty wins Judges Choice!
Nitemare wins her class at the Rats Hole World Championship and misses the Overall Best of Show win by a half point!
In March 2012 at the famous Bike Week celebration in Daytona Beach, Florida, Ben and Sic Cycles took top honors in a three-way winning spree. Their truly radical designs were recognized as the leading edge in today’s custom bike building. Congratulations Ben and Scott.
The Three Winners – “Recycled Rat,” “Nitemare,” and “Nasty.”
Ben’s “Bobber” Took First Place at the Biker’s Build-off Competition. He’s named it the “Recycled Rat.”
Describing the competition Ben says, “The Cafe Racer was a special build for the Showdown in Daytona. Only the four best bike builders were invited to go head to head and the outcome was determent by Peoples’ Choice voting. We won by a mile and than some. The theme of the bike was the Rats Hole so we took all the colors from the Rat and integrated the first year of the Rats Hole (1973) into the bike and called it “Recycled Rat.”
The project began with a 2004 Yamaha Virago which Scott completely disassembled apart. In the process he cut the gas tank in half and made the rear section out of it. A turbo charger was added to the performance upgrades but almost all the parts were pieces lying around the shop in keeping with the “Recycle Rat” theme. Says Ben, “Scott has this great vision making a kick ass bike out of nothing. He had only four weeks from start to finish, and it is 100% Scotts baby. How good was it? Besides winning the competition it was bought by the Rats Hole owner Ted Smith the same day.”
Scott, Rat’s Hole Owner Ted Smith and Ben with Biker Build-off Winner. Ted liked the bike so much that he bought it the same of the competition.
Prior to building bikes Ben has for many years been involved in the body building , a specialist in individual training programs, many of his clients Hollywood celebrities.
SIC CHOPS can be reached at 928-230-3265(BEN) or 928-486-7068 (SCOTT) or for more info, visit their website at www.sicchops.com.
