Hotch, a self-taught welder and metalworker, owns HotMatch Custom Cycles, where his one-of-a-kind bikes start at $200,000 and have a three-year waiting list. “My inspiration for VLux was the V-Rod, the ugliest bike Harley built,” he says. “I wanted to build a radical retro-chopper, and I had to outdo my last Discovery bike Chignon.” He started with an engine from the Harley factory and about 300 feet of tubing for the frame. “I never draw or render the bikes,” he says. “I just have a vision in my head of what it should look like. After the frame, VLux fell into place.”

Hotch had never liked the stock V-Rod’s radiator, and so it lies flat on the bottom with fans that flow air through it. “That’s my style, cleaning up bikes by finding different places to hide things instead of just taking them off,” he says. Other design subterfuge includes an overflow tank that looks like an air cleaner—Hotch thought that part of the motor was too plain—and fuel injection throttle bodies hidden in an air box.  The front part of the bike’s frame acts as a velocity stack, and the gas tank only holds three gallons because it hides a fuel pump and electronics such as fuses and relays. “Just because you don’t see it, doesn’t mean its not there,” he says. Hotch also used a brake set-up—similar to other bikes he has done but new to a V-Rod—that cleaned up the clutter of the rear wheel.

KMC Wheels machined the wheels from massive aluminum billets: The rear wheel required a 700-pound billet, while the front wheel needed 200 pounds. According to Hotch, the build-off’s tight time frame increased what components, such as wheels, cost. “I had to pay a lot of money to get things done in a tenth of the time that it usually takes,” he says. “The rush factor contributes to the high cost of the wheels and paint.” KMC had a week to design, machine, and chrome wheels that would normally take 200 hours to complete, and the pair built for Vlux carried a price tag of $15,000. The 360mm rear tire from Vee Rubber was the first production example of its type; the front 23-inch tire was made when the next tallest tire at the time was 21 inches high. (Click image to enlarge)

Hotch borrowed an air suspension concept he uses on lowered trucks, with an air tank as the backbone, a hidden compressor in the back, and a solenoid block that distributes air—up and down, front to back—at a flick of a switch. “I have five inches of ground clearance at ride height,” he says. “That’s hard to do.” (Click image to enlarge)

“Winning the Biker Build-Off two years in a row has changed my life forever,” says Hotch. “I get recognized everywhere I go, get autograph requests every day. It’s kind of weird, like being a rock star.” Hotch has a schedule that includes constant travel, and he admits that he would like to spend more time at home. “I’m flown to all kinds of shows, which can get hard, because I’m gone every weekend.” And although he considers himself a private person, he says that his newfound fame has its benefits: “Business-wise, it has helped.”

www.hotmatchcustomcycles.com

Specs

FRAME
2004 Hotmatch 360
SUSPENSION
Front Fork: Paughco/Hotmatch
ENGINE
Harley-Davidson V-Rod
WHEELS
Front: 23”x4” Hotmatch/KMC
Rear: 18”x14” Hotmatch/KMC
TIRES
Vee Rubber Custom
PAINT & GRAPHICS
Lucky 7/Marcos
GAS TANK
Hotmatch/Andy Palmer
SEAT
Bitch ‘N Rich
TAILLIGHT
Billet 4U