Gepard
Always ready to pounce: 2004 V-Twin Touring Sport
A sprinter in a tourer’s clothing? You don’t show muscles, you have them!
Even the wild cats rest during the day with “low revs” and wait for an opportunity to jump. But beware once the throttle is opened up. “Show and Go” was the concept behind this custom bike of one of Rick’s customers – one of the first which left the new workshop in the freshly opened “House of Custom” in Baden-Baden: elegant in style, excellent in execution – and of course with many Rick’s parts, including a “Mike” set of wheels.
The best on this bike is that the step from touring-crosser to Lowrider is done in two minutes. Step 1: remove the touring screen; Step 2: press the air-ride suspension button and the rear is lowered to show level. Suspension comfort for riding, showbike look when parked. But here the story only begins: “The customer had a relatively clear idea of what he wanted”, says boss Patrick Knoerzer, laughing, “and we know what we are doing in terms of stock bike customization.” The bike was actually a bike from the workshop of Rick’s Motorcycles, which during the jubilee events at Barcelona and Hamburg in the stock category received the “Best of” prize, a fact to be proud of, as especially in Barcelona, Willie G. walked around the bike for almost three minutes.
Part of this tradition is also the “Gepard” bike – a creation which takes its name from the relationship with the bike owner. The “Gebhard” on the fender is not a mistake by “Wild Air” Hoerby, who did his homework perfectly as always, and whose elegant paint job, including the two jumping cheetahs, decorate the machine on the tank, fenders and oil tank. The fitting backdrop for this piece of art was supplied by the metal workshop of Rick’s, in which rolling pieces of art were created before.
It doesn’t matter whether it is a one-off job or adjustment of stock parts, each component is adapted to the bike in question. The workshop not only creates hand-made parts for the Rick’s program like front and rear fenders, but also individually made tank elongations and seats. The customer who has his or her bike converted at Rick’s enjoys another preference: the important metal parts are not pulled from a shelf, but made in the workshop, tailormade for an exact fit, which is what happened to the fenders and the time-consuming tank elongation on this bike.
That short legs can also go along with further forward positioned foot controls is shown by the seat, which makes the sitting position a lot more comfortable. The sitting position behind the screen is relaxed and wind protected, and with a press of the lift button the built-in compressor lifts the rear up, increasing ride comfort. The wheels from Rick’s underline the elegant “Sunday Best” look of “Gepard” – the “Mike” design wheels with cut-outs offer the right mixture of massive wide tire look and filigree custom look, especially with the 9 x 18 inch rear wheel on a 240 Metzeler. Rick’s drive side brake system keeps he right wheel side completely free and the 2-into-2 exhaust by Fine-3 keeps that side also relatively uncovered. On the left swingarm axle the brake components hide behind the drive pulley – all in matching “Mike” “Cut-Out” look.
For the wide rear tire Rick’s wide tire swingarm was used, with which the wheel runs even and looks clean on top.
Contact Custom Parts
Philippe Camboni
fon: +49 7221 3939 117
email: p.camboni@hd-badenbaden.de
Marcos Maier
fon: +49 7221 3939 217
email: m.maier@hd-badenbaden.de
Contact new & used vehicles
Benjamin Walter
fon: +49 7221 3939 222
email: b.walter@hd-badenbaden.de
Ralph Scherrer
fon: +49 7221 3939 223
email: r.scherrer@hd-badenbaden.de