SOME OF OUR FEATURED BIKE BUILDS

Any past history of the 701? Where did the donor bike come from?

The bike arrived with us in pretty much standard form cosmetically with a Dynojet power commander fitted, freeing up a few HP – which has since been re-visted. Other than a good valet to clean off some London commuting grime the basis was great to get straight to the custom work.

Was it for a customer? Was there a brief? Or just something you wanted to build?

This bike was commissioned by a client (and now friend) based in London. He had a fairly good idea of what he wanted from the build and provided a useful “one-pager” detailing these key features. These specified the reliable use as a city commuter, weekend adventurer and being capable of carrying a pillion comfortably (including grab handles). Key styling features such as a tubular rear frame, aluminium fuel tank and Alcantara seat cover were also a priority. Obviously, the concepts evolved as we went along and it was always a balance of where we were going with the style of the bike whilst still maintaining the practicality, reliability and style.

Can you tell us about all the modifications you made on the bike? 

Where do we start…

The first step was to create a bespoke rear steel     subframe to tie into the style of the existing front frame (replacing a     composite plastic fuel tank/frame). We continued with the asymmetry of the     standard bike and maintained the seating position and standard exhaust pipe     and silencer. We added removable grab-rails (swappable with a back rack for     those weekend adventures) and incorporated a provision to secure a frame     slider on the right hand side (swappable to the billet aluminium plaque     pictured when not on the track). The architecture of the 701 also had the     battery, fuse/relay box situated in this subframe assembly. We knew that     creating the aluminium fuel tank would not have capacity for as much fuel     as standard, so to get some available volume back we removed the standard     airbox (located above the engine) and replaced it with a DNA pod filter     allowing us to relocate the electrical assembly into this space. The aluminium     fuel tank was a real challenge as we had to design and fabricate it to fit     up underneath the new frame which effectively meant modelling it in free     space, section by section – more on this later! The hand-crafted aluminium     features were carried over to the radiator side cowls and rear fender which     were hand shaped on an English wheel to both show off the trellis frame     beneath but add some curvature to the overall design. The seat base was     modified from standard to suit the new design of the bike and new seat foam     was sculpted to meet the brief for more comfort for rider and pillion. We     covered this in Charcoal grey Alcantara with contrast yellow stitching to     tie into the other highlights on the bike.

Panels towards the front of the frame to cover     the battery installation and a headshield for the exhaust was made from     carbon fibre to tie into the existing carbon parts on the bike.

The rear LED indicators were fitted within the     frame rails with the wiring routed internally to maintain the minimalist     integration to the design.

Finally the personalised livery of gloss black,     brushed aluminium and day-glow yellow was derived to show off the     handcrafted aluminium panels beneath whist providing some striking     highlights and some personalised numbers. It also pays homage to the older     Husqvarna scramblers of the 70s which had the aluminium “window” in the     paintwork.

What was the hardest thing about the build?

I would say the most complicated and labour-intensive part of the build was the aluminium fuel tank. As previously mentioned, creating the separate panels in free space made it extremely complicated and it may not be clear to see from the pictures but it is made up from about 20 separate pieces of aluminium painstakingly shaped to tie into each bend of the framework above it. The majority of these welds were then linished off to make a seamless structure, with the exception of some “feature welds” where appropriate. CNC’s flanges were incorporated into the sheet material to maintain all of the existing functionality of mounting the fuel pump, sender, gauge, breather and filler neck. Why so complicated? I really wanted to make it appear to be floating. A carefully thought out the mounting strategy allowed us to achieve this whilst being able to safely mechanically isolate and dampen it from the surrounding framework. In the end we only lost about 1.5 litres of useable fuel capacity thanks to the relocation of some key components previously mentioned maintaining real-world useability.

What’s your favourite thing about the bike?

As much as this was built for a client, there is a lot of me invested in the build and the journey we went on to create it. Every new component was very labour intensive and delicately and creatively hand crafted, so as much as I may want one similar for myself one day, safe to say this is most definitely ”one of one”.

How many hours went into the build?

In the end we billed 240hours…. But safe to say there is a fair few un-accounted for, which is really the nature of what we do when thinking outside the box and creating something unique. I also have a feeling… as with any custom build, the journey may not be over yet.

Has the bike got a name?

Classy, lethal and very London it’s easy to see why the owner calls it Archy, like the gangster from Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla, you’ve been warned my son.

Looks like a blast to ride. How's she go?

Well our client has described it as a “Classy hooligan” which I think is pretty apt. Putting the DNA cone filter on and giving it a tune has unleashed approximately 25-30% from standard on a bike that was a whole lot of fun to start with! I certainly had a big grin on my face during the “shake-down” road miles and he has plans to use it in anger on the track when the chance comes back round again and has promised me a blast – honest!! When we re-trimmed the seat we incorporated a bit of a speed hump – partly to allow some more pillion and rider comfort and also to give some support when cracking it wide open, that works a treat!

 For the full article, check out the feature by Pipeburn below:

https://www.pipeburn.com/lethal-in-london-husqvarna-701-by-ase-custom-motorcycles