First published in the January 2006 issue of Street Machine

By now the name Wes Spark should be quite familiar to regular readers. He’s had two of his previous bikes featured in Street Machine, (SM, Dec ’03 and SM, Nov ’04). Even though Wes is an electrical fitter by trade, he’s been building cars and bikes over the past 25 years.

“I love my cars and bikes. They’re a passion I have and I do all the work I possibly can on them,” he explains. Wes took only six months to complete this custom bike and when I say custom, I mean custom. There’s a list as long as your arm of parts that Wes has fabricated himself.

Apart from a brand new 2005 RT Racing frame that has a 38-degree rake, very little of this bike was bought off the shelf. The single-tube fork was custom-made by Wes using round tubing and is the visual focus point of the bike. Wes then turned his attention to the front and rear guards; again these were custom-made by Wes, using sheet metal. The rear guard was kept short to show off that massive rear wheel/tyre combo, and from the back it is well, Phat!

Next came the oil tank, which was fabricated to blend in with the shape of the frame. It features a hot water tap for a cap! The headlight, handlebars, foot pegs, and hand controls were also fabricated by Wes, as was the fuel tank.

The engine, a worked 96ci Harley-Davidson Evolution unit, was then fitted, with most engine pieces either chromed or polished. Wes fitted older-style Panhead rocker covers to the new engine for that vintage hot rod look.

Next up on the custom-build list was the intake manifold — to Wes’s specifications to allow fitment of the Magna Charger supercharger. The engine also runs a Crane single-fire ignition system for that reliable spark.

With the intake, carb and ignition sorted the next thing to do was to fit the five-speed Rev Tech gearbox, which was polished to perfection by Tony from Metalart Plating.

Les from Fat Pipe Exhausts custom-made the exhaust which starts off as two pipes, weaves its way ’round the frame to merge into a large single system, then sweeps around the gearbox to meet the end can alongside the frame.

You’d be forgiven for thinking this bike isn’t a runner as there is barely a wire to be seen anywhere. That’s because Wes hid every wire as best he could. Even the throttle is custom-made and you can’t see it too easily!

When it came time to mount those beautiful 18-inch Malibu alloy wheels, Wes used modified Commodore hubs — adapters were made to allow the fitment of car wheels to the bike. You might be wondering where the brakes are. Look a little closer at the custom-made rear sprocket; it doubles as the brake disc on the bike! It’s clamped by a Honda CBR600 caliper that’s been polished to perfection. No front stopper, though. The CME numberplate frame/light is from the USA.

Once all the fabrication of the custom bike parts was complete the machine was pulled apart for painting. Mark from Qld Motorcycle Panel & Paint prepared the frame, guards, handlebars, front forks and fuel tank ready for Wes’s chosen colour of Passion Pearl from the House of Kolor range.

The wheel dishes also got a spraying with Brilliant Red paint, again for that vintage hot rod look. Wes designed the graphics and had Little Mick from High Energy apply the air-brushed skulls and pinstriping.

The seat base was designed and made by Wes and then handed to Peter from Goodline Trimming to cushion and cover with red patent leather. That’s the shiny leather that you normally see on women’s footwear. With no rear suspension beside the fat tyre, the seat is the only real soft spot between the rider and the potholes!

When asked if there were any build problems Wes says: “Time was the main problem — it’s all done after hours in my shed. After working 60 hours a week it eats into my building time. I had the usual problems with available parts so I just made them the way I wanted them instead.”

Although Wes never set out to build a show-only bike, that hasn’t stopped him from netting a trophy from the bike’s only showing so far; Best Custom Bike at the Meguiar’s Superstars show in 2005.

WESLEY SPARK
CUSTOM HARLEY-DAVIDSON

THANKS:
Darryl from RT Racing for the framework, Mark from Qld Motorcycle Panel & Paint, Little Mick from High Energy, Tony from Metalart Plating, Les from Fat Pipe Exhausts, Peter from Goodline Trimming, Peter Kyle the legend metal lathe man, Karl Wynn and my sons Dylan & Jared for all their help, and my wife Jules for all her support in everything I do.