Word on the street is, this observation was penned after studying the builders of his time. Admittedly, the custom chariot crowd of the pre-Christian era were a very different people (fewer tatoos and no Discovery channel), they were certainly similar in their higher than normal levels of creativity/insanity. That, and the fact that a chariot was essentially a two wheeled, high performance version of existing transportation.

In order to keep up with the fluid nature of custom chariots, Performance Machine keeps a small number of builders captive within our super secret California compound. Several times a year they are set free to construct another show bike. Having created the PM poster bike for the last 5 or so years, Peter Vecvanags was naturally tagged for the job. Peter has a lengthy list of duties here at PM and is a cornerstone of our R&D department. This time, though he had already taken matters into his own hands and began collecting pieces months earlier.

Like most custom chariots, this one began with a very fundamental shape and a clandestine plan. Left to his own devices, Peter V. tends to revert to long bikes and this one was no different. The talented folks at Yaffe had already shipped over a brand new chassis set up for the Harley counterbalanced B motor. Sporting a 6-inch up stretch and 40-degree rake, the Yaffe frame has a classic chopper silhouette. A 12" over front end and triple trees from Perse Performance soon followed. A motor and trans from a local HD dealer and a mismatched set of prototype wheels combined to create a roller. With seven months to go before the bike would be needed for the PM catalog and poster, each part was given the attention it deserved and even the wheel spacers have hours of machine time in them.

A visit to the remote Wernamont commune in the desert of So Cal produced the one-off fender and tank combo. Russ is a deity in the world of steel bodywork and it is an honor to have him hand build something for a bike. The rear fender utilizes integrated struts and perfectly hugs the rear wheel. In classic chopper fashion, the tank sits high on the frame and sports a minimalist cap.

Rolling stock is always top priority at PM and this bike would eventually get the brand new for 2003 Forged Vader wheels. By far, the cleanest and most classical looking wheel we have ever produced, it would be right at home on a minimalist style chopper. PM brakes and hand controls would naturally find their way onto the bike as well.
Typical of any project, long days turned into long nights and seemingly simple ideas evolved into extraordinarily complex tangents. The first serious deviation from the traditional was the oil tank fabrication. Using a raw stamping of a fuel tank from Russ Wernamont, Peter flipped it over, reshaped it and many hours later, welded it to the carved out guts of the original tank. Next on the "should be no problem" list, is the induction system. This is clearly the point that genius and madness square danced across the floor of the PM R&D department. Using a side draft Weber carb, Peter created a stainless steel manifold that placed it just above the front valve cover. Visually it filled the gap between tank and motor, but the velocity stacks interfered with the downtubes of the frame. Most builders would have walked away from the concept. Peter chopped through the chassis and ducted the velocity stacks where they needed to be. The result is a carb mount and extended stacks that are permanent fixtures of the chassis. Pretty good chance Yaffe is not going to be amused.

With that obstacle overcome, it seemed like the rest of the build-up would be easy. Although, three months had gone by, there was still plenty of time before the bike had to be done. A European company claiming to have the ability to route the brake line through the fork tube approached PM and offered up their services. Although a bit apprehensive about sending parts halfway around the world, the notion of a completely hidden brake line seemed appealing. The process was still in prototype stage, so the fork leg spent the fall in Europe. After finally arriving in no longer sunny So Cal, final fitments were made and the lowers legs were sent out to be anodized black. The uppers then went to Race Tech for an ultra trick carbon nitride coating.

The motor was sent out to Daytec for powdercoating and a seat pan went to Corbin. The now stripped down chassis was carted to Damons paintworks for a number of glories coats of a then unnamed orange. This left most of the critical parts in no mans land. As expected, time was running desperately short. Nearly 3 more weeks would drag by with only a set of wheels filling the lift where the bike was being constructed.

Daytec was the first to come through, and the motor was soon assembled and mated to a trans stuffed with a set of JIMS 6 speed gears. The next phone call came from Damons and the chassis and bodywork were finally ready. With only days left until the PM semi would leave for the dealer shows, the bike was assembled as far as it could be. It looked kinda sad without a front end, though. More frantic phone calls followed, and we soon learned the fork tubes were trapped in coating Valhalla somewhere on the east coast. A simple virginal sacrifice to the gods of custom bike building was all it took to retrieve the wayward parts from the fiery netherworld.

The psychosis would now culminate in the span of a few hectic late nights of final assembly. Peter's tempestuous vision of the idyllic chopper had come to fruition. Each component group flows perfectly into the next and the completed bike is a seamless example of fabrication/insanity in all its deviant glory.

Aristotle's thoughts may have been penned in 320 BC, but the observation still holds true. Genius does indeed walk hand in hand with madness, and sometimes they visit Performance Machine.