Shaw Speed & Custom 'Martini' Harley pair

When they got the call, Shaw decided to create some 'rolling art' in the form of a matching pair of custom Harley-Davidson XL883R Sportsters!

Shaw Speed & Custom (the custom arm of Shaw Harley-Davidson, located in East Sussex in the UK) have built more than 60 bespoke bikes, all based on Harley-Davidsons. Names like 'Old Crow', 'Johnny Cash', 'The Rascal', 'Flatliner', 'Slim Shakey' and 'Good Vibrations' feature in the Shaw back catalogue, but these latest builds are a little different.

Exactly why Shaw were invited to exhibit at the 'Masterpiece' art and design fair in Chelsea isn't clear, but given they were presenting to a 'non-motorcycle' crowd, they wisely chose the hip street scrambler look, and a treatment that would resonate with fans of alcohol - that's got to cover a fair amount of the art crowd!

Martini vermouth and wine has been around since 1863, but in the past few decades, the Italian company's logo and distinctive two-tone blue and red stripe livery has been a big part of sportscar racing, endurance racing and even rallying, appearing on everything from Porsches to Aston Martins, Lancias, Alfa Romeos, Jaguars, and more recently, a one-off custom Ford Mustang.

2013 marks the 150th Anniversary of Martini, so Shaw cleverly incorporated the brand's foundation year into the Harley's race numbers - '18' for one bike, and '63' for the other. Bike 18 has been painted white, with the 63 bike silver, both of which are common colours found on the Martini Racing cars. The Martini stripes adorn each bike's tank, bobbed rear guard and non-stock bellypan, along with the custom-made front and rear rims.

This is no mere sticker and paint custom, though. Shaw Speed and Custom have comprehensively modified each bike. Starting with the engines on the near new XL883s, the stock internals were stripped, replaced with a tuned Screamin' Eagle 1200 top end conversion, including heads and pistons. Hooked up to that is a custom-made exhaust system.

At the back, the belt drive rear was ditched in favour of a chain drive (a common Shaw Speed customer request), a Dyna rear end has been added to allow for a chunkier rim and 180 tyre, while the factory rear shockers have been swapped out for a pair of Ohlins remote reservoir items. In harmony with these, the stock front forks were anodized gold on the upper sections. Front guards have been removed, while the rear guard on each bike has been replaced by a bobbed, motocross-style unit custom-made by Shaw.

The profile wheels were also built in-house at Shaw Speed & Custom, and suit the solid street scrambler look of each machine, while also allowing room for additional 'Martini Racing' livery. Rubber is Continental Twinduro, and brake rotors have been upsized front and rear.

The tanks look like stock Sportster units, but aren't. Along with the motocross-style bars, they're Roland Sands Design (RSD) items, while the headlights on both bikes have been lifted from a current model V-Rod.

All up, the Shaw creations are a standout pair - or perhaps we should call them a 'Double Martini'!

Source/Images: Bike Exif

www.bikeexif.com