How many custom motorcycles out there in the world do you reckon used a SHOE as inspiration? Well, if you just scoffed and said "HA! - ZERO"... you'd be WRONG, my friend, so very wrong. There's at least ONE!
This one...
An icon from the early 90's, the Nike Air Max BW (Big Window) was THE shoe to HAVE. Every kid wanted a pair. Embraced by street culture, and immortalised in hip-hop and rave scenes, the BW wasn’t just a shoe—it was a statement.
So much so, here it is 35 odd years later and we built a freakin' motorcycle using it's iconic styling as inspiration.
So what, we might have had a few beers when we came up with the idea...
"Hey, that rear sub-frame is kinda shaped like a shoe..." "Wouldn't it be funny if we made the seat look like one?"
"Hmmmm......"
And thus, the concept for the StreetFighter was born.
It's been in the works for a while. If you've dropped by the shop anytime over the last couple of years, you might've noticed the tired, stripped down CBR900 sitting languishing out the back, just waiting to be worked on. We've been that busy with customer work, we struggled to find any spare hours to put into her. But finally, enough was enough - we needed to get this project done and out there before we got bored with the idea. And damn aren't we glad that didn't happen...
No doubt you've already sussed out the seat, handcrafted by local upholstery maestro Lorenzo at Poli Motor Trimming, there's no mistaking the source material in the finished result. With proper retro vibes, it even features glowing LED piping that runs along the edge of the seat itself! The eye-catching feature focal point is perfectly matched with the bike's black, purple and white colour scheme - one of the most popular Air Max colourways.
To really showcase the dubs, a single-sided VFR swing-arm was fitted up the rear, whilst a set of KTM Super Duke upside-down forks were re-worked and re-conditioned back to their former glory for the front end, giving us the aggressive Street Fighter look we were aiming for.
We didn't skimp on the swag that we threw into this build either... for starters - ahem - we ditched the keyed ignition system, and wired in a mother-flippin' fingerprint reader in it's place. Yep, the boss is the only one who can start this baby. Unless of course, you chop his finger off. But please don't do that.
A miniature Daytona Cube digital speedo and a set multi-coloured Motone push buttons control all the electrics. Kellermann Atto rear indicators and Motogradget Bar Ends tell everyone else on the road which way you're going, and a super-bright LED headlight and taillight recessed into the subframe take up the front and rear.
Of course, we couldn't NOT make a complete custom exhaust system for the legendary inline 4 motor - at full revs you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in the company of a Formula 1 car. Sheesh.
And of course we had to throw in a few detail shout-outs to the Nike brand itself. We almost weren't going to, but in the end we said - "F#$% it, let's JUST DO IT".
I make zero apologies for that pun.
In fact, it gets my TICK of approval.
Ok Ok I'll stop.
Without a doubt, this build was a labour of love - a testament to times gone by. A peek back in time to when life was simpler - cool kicks, cool music, cool vibes.
The 90's, baby. What a time...
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