I’ve never been a huge fan of Harleys. In school my mates all used to go crazy for them but I never saw the attraction. I always thought they were big, cumbersome, obnoxiously loud and quite often ridden by the sort of people who wouldn’t give you the time of day…but things have changed a lot since then (I’m 34 after all!). Harley Davidson motorcycles have become mainstream in Australia and are now ridden by people from all walks of life (although there are still plenty of wankers riding them) and the motorcycles themselves have come a long way. They still aren’t my first preference but the custom scene for Harleys does interest me. I’ve seen a lot of custom builds based around Harley engines that break the chopper mould we’ve all seen before, to create some very exciting results. Hidemo in Japan is a great example of this and their custom Harleys such as the Mod Choppers are in my opinion some of the best out there…and finallythis brings me to Wonder Customs Motorcycles (sorry about the rant).
Wonder Customs in Texas USA is owned and operated by Jason Wonder and his aim is to build high quality, high performance motorcycles based on his customers ideas. As he states on his website “Whatever your passion is, he can make it happen”.
This particular motorcycle is one from a ten bike series he is currently building. The Harley Davidson based Cafe Racer titled “Wonder Cafe Racer” is an incredibly tasteful interpretation of Cafe Racer styling. Everything on the Wonder Cafe Racer is new aside from its Harley Davidson heart.
Metzeler rubber wrapped around the 19 inch front wheel and 18 inch rear keep the beast grounded while the drilled discs and Brembo calipers give it plenty of stopping power. The 2 in to 1 mandrel bent pipes come together at a Supertrapp exhaust cutting back on the mass of pipe work found on a stock bike and sweetening that unmistakable Harley sound. A custom wiring harness has been internally routed to keep the Harley clean and free of clutter.
The Wonder Cafe Racer also features plenty of custom parts fabricated by Jason Wonder including the rear sets, top mount with ignition and headlight switches built in and of course the sheet metal tank. The white grips and custom single saddle balance out the black on the bike and give it that personal style that makes all custom bikes that little bit better.
