Séb knows where to find the good stuff, and he’s finished off the build with narrow stainless bars and risers supplied by Fork Co in Japan. There’s Brembo braking all round, with a four-pot caliper and floating rotor leading up front, and the Showa fork has been shortened a little to level out the stance. The flanged alloy rims are 21 inches at the front and 18 at the back, fitted with an Avon Speedmaster MK2 and a chunky Coker Diamond 4.50. Lucky Cat have chosen the wheel sizes to ramp up the chopper vibe without losing the ‘traditional custom’ flavor. On the left side is an unusual fiberglass saddlebag originally made by Buco for Cushman scooters it’s finished off with a painted race number, but also carries a Motone polished taillight and the license plate. Other mods include a shorty front fender from Lowbrow Customs and a modified ‘Cutlass’ café seat from Airtech Streamlining. Capacity is not the strong point, so there’s also a Mooneyes emergency tank holding just over a quart, nestled by the right-hand rear strut. Séb has nailed it by using a Harley KR750 flat track racer tank it’s around 60 years old, and resembles a typical Trackmaster tank. The hardest part of your typical Harley build is getting the top line low enough, because the engines are so tall. There’s also a Speed Merchant billet sprocket cover, with a custom chain protector, and the engine bolts have been upgraded to polished stainless items from Diamond Engineering. He’s ditched the belt drive and used a traditional 530 chain setup, via a conversion kit from Lowbrow. “It’s loud, but not too much for a street bike nowadays,” says Séb unconvincingly. The exhaust is a raw stainless steel 2-into-1 from the Californian company Bassani, with stepped headers and a reverse-cone megaphone muffler. Ancillary updates include a Dynatek 2000i single-fire ignition system and a Daytona oil pump (with reworked engine venting) to keep the engine running cool. Séb has also replaced all the fuel and oil lines with racing-spec Vibrant Performance black braided hoses, hooked up with black AN fittings. (“It’s genuine new- old-stock, mounted via a one-off Gasbox bracket.”) A Motogadget Speedster speedometer is hidden behind the air filter to keep it discreet. These are combined with ported heads and Buell M2 cams, with an S&S Super E carb sucking air from a classic and rare S&S ‘Two Throat’ air filter. He’s used a 1250 kit from Hammer Performance, with iron-lined, aluminum-finned cylinders and forged pistons. And the goal was to create the most torque possible: “For street bikes, that’s where the fun is-in our opinion!” says Séb. There’s a special graphite grey paint for the cases and polished covers, but the real work is inside. The iconic V-twin has been completely refurbished inside and out. The latest build to roll out of their workshop in Chartres, 90 km southwest of Paris, is this very classy 1994 Sportster called ‘Glamster.’ And yes, that’s a reference to the retro-styled Shoei lid: the top-flight Japanese helmet manufacturer helped to make this build happen.Īt first glance, Lucky Cat’s Sportster is a street bike with custom bodywork and a slightly tuned engine, but there’s a lot more going on under the hood. So he and Laurence have kept themselves busy spinning wrenches and spraying paint. The drag racing is on hold for the moment, for obvious reasons, but Séb has a solid background as a talented custom builder. Remember the Sultans of Sprint drag race series in Europe? The man behind this brilliant idea was Séb Lorentz, who runs the Lucky Cat Garage with his partner, the artist and restoration specialist Laurence Chatokhine.
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