"Because everyone wants his or her bike to be unique."
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by: Mark Jelic
It's always a good thing to see a new (or old) business waking up to the fact that we have a great line of bikes that are begging to be customized. Coyote Customs is just such a business that is doing some marvelous work on our steeds. Oklahoma is known for a population of coyotes and a growing population of metric cruisers. What better way to characterize thier bikes than using this wild animal as their name-sake? Coyotes pay close attention to detail and are completely unique, just like the bikes they build. Just starting out, as they were, they needed something to show what they could do and how a metric cruiser can be a turned into a full custom. Jason and co-partner Kyle Shirey had some stock metric cruisers that just didn't fit their personalities. They wanted to show that a metric bike could look just as good as a more expensive American bike at half the cost. A custom bike for the working man, because everyone wants his or her bike to be unique.
The first bike designed was a Kawasaki Vulcan 800a. They wanted to retain the stock style of the bike, the bobbed fender, 21inch front wheel, and the raked out chopper style. Jason decided to make what the factory gave, better. They cleaned up the factory frame, smoothed the welds, cut off the unneeded brackets, hid the wiring, and got rid of the factory turn signals, taillight, headlight, handlebars, grips, and mirrors. They lowered the back of the bike 4 inches using a kit they sell that is fully adjustable. They chromed many of the parts like forks, switch housings, and brakes. To give the bike more style, they built a solo seat and had it covered to match the paint. Also modified many Harley parts to achieve the custom look they wanted. Finally no custom bike is a custom with out a custom paint job, so they had their painter lay out a wild tribal flame design. This bike was a good example of what a paint job and a little bit of chrome can do to change the look of a bike.
They needed to show what else could be done to make a metric bike a true custom. Co-owner Kyle Shirey decided to go to work on his Yamaha V-Star 650. He wanted a bike that made people stop and ask, "What kind of bike is this?" Kyle wanted something a little sportier and a little different from any other V-Star around. He didn’t want people to think he was ashamed to ride a Yamaha but to have a true custom that people stop and look. His V-Star had the long wide classic look so they started chopping. They began by reshaping the factory fenders rather that just bolting on some aftermarket fenders. A foot and a half was cut off of the back fender and the front fender was trimmed down and the mount moved closer to the tire. The rear was lowered 3 inches but the front was left at the stock height.
For more performance they removed the air box from under the tank, re-jetted the carbs, added a set of DG Hard Krome pipes, and have in the works a hand made air cleaner with a K&N filter. Chroming the fork covers, forks, brakes, switches, triple clamps, and several other small parts was done. Again the frome was smoothed, hid the wiring, added a side mount tag, a custom seat, and Kyle came up with a House of Kolor tangerine orange paint job with racing stripes to set of the sporty style of the bike. This bike helps shows some of the things Coyote Customs can do to make your bike fit your personality.
Of course a certain amount of customizing consist of "bolt on" items, such as pipes, handle bars, pegs, etc. which they can provide. Parts can be ordered from several different companies including Drag Specialties, Custom Chrome, and Parts Unlimited. They can do the painting, chrome and gold plating, sheet metal work, custom seats, and have several parts in the making such as an adjustable lowering kit for the V-Star 1100 classic or custom. In their own words: "We want our customers to be proud of their bikes and be proud that they are riding a metric bike. We want people to make their bike their own and make it where there is not another bike like it. We believe that as long as you have two wheels, you're cool with us." "This is what Coyote Customs is all about. We want to build your bike to be an extension of you and your dreams." If you live in the area and you are after something special for you bike, then you would not go far wrong looking them up. Tell them the ISRA sent ya!
Coyote Customs |
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