On April 14, Indian Motorcycles made headlines by announcing a series of customization projects in the works – models based on the 2022 Indian Chief Dark Horse, to show the incredible versatility of the bike.
Three renowned V-twin custom builders were selected and given full rein to create a completely custom representation and interpretation of the Chief.
At the canvas were Indian Larry, a motorcycle builder, stunt rider, and artist, alongside custom bike build giants Paul Cox and Keino Sasaki – a trifecta of talent, working together to create a masterpiece.
The recipient of this gorgeous beauty? None other than Nikko Hurtado – a tattoo artist known for his stunning work in hyper-realism and color.
The custom-built motorcycle will be debuting at Michael Lichter’s custom motorcycle gallery at the Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
If you’re there already, you’ll be able to see the bike on August 8, 12:00-4:30 pm MT, and August 9-11, from 2:00 pm-10:00 pm MT.
We’ll leave you with the list of customizations the power trifecta applied to this bike – they’re juicy as heck.
Paul Cox:
- Handmade girder front end
- Custom rear end set up (shorter/bobbed rear fender and more traditional external struts that mount at the swingarm to get the fender to ride close to the tire)
- traditional Indian Motorcycle headdress tail light integrated onto the rear fender.
- Custom leather seat with the Indian Motorcycle script logo etched into the leather
- Modified clutch to a hand shift/foot clutch (jockey shift) set up
- custom paint job using his own “Soylent Green” paint with metal flake, and light green/teal pinstriping
Keino Sasaki:
- spoke lacing on the 21-inch spoke front wheel and Avon tires
- Custom-built, slightly recessed tank to showcase 4” touchscreen display with RideCommand, while still allowing functionality for the fuel pump and front mounting points.
- Custom exhaust system
Complete the job with an old-school headlamp and custom risers, adjusted motor, drivetrain, and ignition switch, and the result is swoon-worthy.
A huge congrats to Nikko Hurtado for his new babe.
Naturally, we had to pull out the good ol’ photo gallery. There’s no way we aren’t for something like this.
Enjoy the photos – we certainly are.
I’m sick and tired of this sort of bike.
It’s all about appearance and stuff like handling is utterly ignored.
And details like NO front fender are just silly.