Teamster Riders

Paul Binford was the big dog at the 2011 Laughlin River Run Custom Bike Show, winning 'Best of Show' and building the engine on the bike that took third place. Que Paso? (below) caught the eyes of the judges with its extensive engraving and baby blue paint while its hopped-up Harley engine helped it win the title.

 

Though the Laughlin River Run Custom Bike Show lacked in quantity, there was no lack of quality custom work entered in the show. Twenty-seven motorcycles filled the outdoor deck of the Colorado Belle Casino’s Riverwalk with all eyes on the $1500 prize money. The bike show was one of the more popular attractions at the 2011 Laughlin River Run as a steady stream of motorcycle fans clustered around customs to check out the feats of artistry and engineering. The three judges had their work cut out for them as baggers, choppers and super radicals went head-to-head in the winner-take-all show.

When scrutinizing was done and score sheets tallied, it was Binford’s Custom Cycles out of Manteca, California, that rode away as top dog. Paul Binford not only won “Best of Show” for his beautiful baby blue 2004 Road King, but a custom 2003 Road Glide Binford’s Custom Cycles did the engine work on also claimed third-place honors.

The first thing that catches the eye on Binford’s show winner is its engraving. It has one of the most extensive and ornate engraving jobs around, from its fork to its wheels, handlebars, covers, pipe shields, tank console – almost every chrome surface has been personalized. Jason from Chrome fusion out of Las Vegas spent seven months meticulously etching images of poker chips, dollar bill signs and playing cards on the bike’s various components. The engraving’s theme was a natural fit for the casino-driven Laughlin River Run. And if that didn’t catch your attention, its baby blue paint would.

But don’t think that “Que Paso?” is a powder puff. On the contrary, it’s got a monstrous 131 cubic-inch Harley-Davidsonengine lurking beneath the engraved cylinder heads and light blue powdercoating. What’s that, Harley doesn’t make an engine that big? You’re right. But thanks to help from S&S, Axtell, and Wolfgang Grasser who did the head work, this baby cranks out a claimed 212 lb-ft of torque and 202 horsepower at the rear wheel. Binford and crew set out to find how much power they could create on a naturally aspirated bike with Harley cases. The hop up includes a 63mm Horsepower Inc. throttle body and a Bob Woods cam. In fact, now that it’s served its time on the custom show circuit, winning top honors at the Harley-Davidson Ride-In Show at Sturgis, in Sacramento at the Easyriders Show and now Laughlin, “Que Paso?” is headed to the track. Binford said he’s making a trip to the Sacramento Raceway in a couple of weeks to unleash all of that power on the quarter-mile. Fortunately, “Que Paso?” has a race-ready five-speed tranny with an oversized main shaft built by Bert Baker to get all that power to the back wheel. Binford said he’ll throw on a slick and add a short, stubby wheelie bar that comes off the shock mount on the rear, but beyond that it will run as-is. Binford laughingly said that because he’s a big guy which would cost them “ a couple of seconds” in the quarter-mile, one of his 145-pound techs gets the honor of romping down the track on it. In the meantime, he’ll put the $750 “Que Paso?” earned him for first place in the Laughlin show to good use.

Binford Custom Cycle’s also had a hand in the 2003 Harley Road Glide that won third place. Binford did the engine work on the Road Glide’s V-Twin, beefing up the flywheels on the top end to bump up the stock Twin Cam to 103 cubic-inches and increasing torque output to 124 ft-lb. The red and black bagger with a sinister skull-themed paint job also has Binford’s custom handlebars. Paul was quick to note that the bike’s owner, Mike Armtrout, did a lot of the work on “Head Hunter” himself. Similar to “Que Paso?,” Armtrout’s bike features tons of engraving by a homey he called “The Beast” out of SoCal.

Custom builder Shaun Ruddy of Phat Choppers had two bikes entered in the Laughlin Show. We met Ruddy a little over a month ago at the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show in Daytona Beach where he was one of the international builders competing in the World Bike Showdown. Ruddy is originally from Queensland, Australia but has been working out of Las Vegas as of late. His 2011 Jawa Toecutter is a speedway tribute bike with a four-stroke, single-cylinder Jawa Model 884 engine with an 18:1 compression ratio that runs on methanol. It has no gearbox but with its single gear can still reach around 140 mph, according to Ruddy. Weighing only a claimed 166 pounds helps the speedway bike get the most of its 500cc Jawa.

Ruddy also brought along a custom Victory Vegas he just finished. At first glance, it looks like a Vision. And it does have the front fairing off of a Vision. But upon closer inspection, you realize the rear end is different. The bags are one-off created by Ruddy, as are the side panels. What you think is a fuel tank is really panels he fobbed up while relocating the fuel in the faux exhaust tubes. While the engine is a stock Freedom 100, hidden beneath the front bodywork is an ethanol-burning turbo. It also runs nitrous. I say we line up Ruddy’s turbo Vegas and Binford’s blown Road Glide and have a bagger drag off.

And just when we thought the super radical craze had run its course, along comes a bike by Scott’s Insane Choppers (SIC) out of Lake Havasu, Arizona, which reinvigorated our interest in that style of motorcycle. You’d think the name of SIC’s “The Nitemare” was related to its pitch black paint but Scott said it got its name because every little task on the bike that should have taken one hour took three, making it a “nightmare” of a build. But when you’re hammering and cutting creative, complex bodywork like an air intake shaft that arcs above the bike’s handlebars and tunnels through

the tank to funnel air to the carb and exhausts which disappear into the bodywork of the rear fender, logistical problems are bound to arise. Spent fumes on “The Nitemare” exit from a vent integrated into the back fender which Scott chambered, formulating a heat barrier to keep the heat off the back of the bike. We’ve seen forward-facing air intakes before, but never one that rises between the handlebars and tunnels through the tank. Even the headlight Scott jokingly called an “alien tentacle” is out of the box, with a small, round HID lamp sitting at the end of a long copper tube which houses the wiring. The bend of the copper tubing matches the curve of the air intake, complementing the flow of the front end. A mammoth 26-inch, copper plated one-off wheel helps disguise the heavy rake on the front end while a 17-inch, 330mm rear balances out the aesthetics. Mounted in the stretched tubing of the frame is a Yamaha Road Star 1600 engine. The bike is slammed to the ground courtesy of full air ride suspension, American on the front and Legends on the rear. Sprotor brakes front and rear keep the look of the wheels clean and uncluttered. Copper plating on the exhaust cover, engine covers, wheels and headlight looks sharp against the black fenders, frame, bars and engine. Though Scott’s Insane Choppers didn’t place in the competition, it was still a noteworthy build that received a lot of attention from fans at the show.

So even though the number of bikes at the 2011 Laughlin River Run Bike Show was down in comparison to years past, there was still an incredible amount of talent showcased at the event. The show proved that baggers are still a hot commodity, engraving is alive in the West Coast motorcycle scene and there’s still hope for the super radical class.