|
|
 |
Agile Beast
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gregg's Customs Hellion
Mike Schulte
12/01/2007
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Photography by Cordero Studios/corderostudios.com
|
Gregg
DesJardins’ life-long passion for the welder’s art was initially sparked out of
frustration. As a 15-year-old boy building a hot rod with his father in the
family’s garage, DesJardins’ vision for the project was thwarted by the duo’s
lack of welding ability. That hindrance catalyzed within the teenager a profound
determination to master the discipline. DesJardins received a wire-feed arc
welder as his high school graduation present and embarked upon an autodidactic
apprenticeship. In college, he graduated to the machine shop’s TIG welder and
quickly became proficient in that complex process. Since then, DesJardins has
been successfully executing his artistic vision under his billet aluminum
shingle, Gregg’s Customs.
 His fusion of passion and technical acumen garnered acclaim for
DesJardins in 2006 when he debuted his first ground-up custom build, the Honda
RC51 based GC-1000 (RRMC, Feb/Mar 2007). Now, the talented
young multi-disciplinarian looks to raise eyebrows by transplanting the enlarged
heart of a cruiser into an aggressive, nimble sportbike chassis with his
sophomore effort, the genre-busting Gregg’s Customs Hellion. (Click image to enlarge)
DesJardins had been immersing himself in books about the Can-Am
racing cars of the late ’60s and early ’70s—with their big-block Chevy engines
and huge tires—when the raw, muscular lines of the Hellion began to form in his
imagination. He had fallen for Yamaha’s MT-01 concept bike when it was unveiled
in 1999, making the 102 cu in Yamaha Road Star Warrior engine a natural choice
to serve as the Hellion’s heart.
A lifelong sportbike zealot, DesJardins was determined to keep
the Hellion’s wheelbase short and its countenance narrow. That objective
presented a host of packaging challenges, given his choice of powerplant; it
also led him to some striking design innovations. DesJardins switched the Road
Star’s traditional left-hand drive to the right side, an unusual configuration
in the sportbike realm. He amputated the entire jackshaft assembly, which
trimmed the engine by nearly 10 inches, addressing wheelbase concerns. It also
allowed him to push the swingarm pivot as close to the engine as possible.
 The sinuous, tapered swingarm mounts onto the left side of the
bike and pivots directly on the frame, using a system of bearings. This feat of
engineering minimalism allowed DesJardins to discard many of the standard
components usually required to keep a swingarm in place. Viewing the Hellion
from the right side reveals the gorgeously trellised assembly. Noticeably
absent, however, is any device that might actually absorb shock. Walk around the
bike and you discover that DesJardins has ingeniously mounted the rear shock on
the left side, tucked in against the engine and extending the visual line of the
subframe. Side holstering the shock also contributed to the mission of
shortening the Hellion’s wheelbase to a crisp 57 inches. (Click image to enlarge)
The chromoly frame is a masterstroke of functional design that
produces the Hellion’s hunched, predatory stance. DesJardins eschewed the
conventional twin-spar architecture for a more open setting that exposes the
bike’s onyx V-twin gem. Lifting the frame rails up over the top of the cylinder
heads also narrowed the Hellion’s wrathful visage. Seeking a raw, utilitarian
finish, DesJardins employed Scotch-Brite and clear powdercoat, which had the
unintended side effect of lending a handsome patina to his meticulous weld
beads.
While much attention is paid to the Hellion’s observable
mechanical design, DesJardins also invested countless hours crafting details
that are likely to go unnoticed without a spec sheet. That seems to be of little
concern to DesJardins, who approached the Hellion’s design and build as though
he were crafting a 1670cc Swiss watch.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
; function voidFunc() { } voidFunc();)
