The Rising Son
1995 Suzuki VX800
Originally thought up with the Noosa North Shore in mind, the Rising Son is a flat-track ready custom built for the annual Brisbane Desert Sleds Beach Weekend 2020.
Whilst more than 20kg of weight was removed over the build process, the VX was always on the chunky side of the ‘sports-cruiser’ spectrum, and the project bike was chosen mostly for it’s very long wheelbase, raked out front end and skinny V-twin engine setup.
When it first came into my workshop it was an all black bike covered in skulls, flames and rolling dice. I know right? Job done, why touch it?
I began ditching as much macho bravado as I could whilst I waited for suspension upgrades to arrive. Ikon rear shocks were selected, as well as new valving and stiffer progressive springs in the front. These upgrades turned out to more or less save myself and the bike from serious injury following a huge washout “jump” that came out of nowhere on the beach trip and sent me and the bike for the moon - most of the BDS crew were behind me and are all too keen to confirm that story.
Much of the weight savings came from the subframe chop, bodywork removal, lithium battery upgrade and Kelpi Suppressor pipes. Whilst I could have gone for lighter options for the mufflers or a 2-1 system, there is something unique to rolling off the throttle on a V-twin with some 2-2 tuneable end-capped mufflers that has to be heard to be understood.
The original seat unit was chopped back, reshaped and retrimmed in a burgandy alcantara, with the “vrod” style frame covers next to the head stem given the same treatment. The colour is a polarising one for sure, but generally with bikes that this I try to balance out the traditional v-twin toughness with a bit of class and style. The tank was painted up in a vintage cream, with a mix of satin and matte black sorting out the frame and motor. The Pirelli MT90 rear and Dunlop T100 front is a weird setup that looks great and performs nicely on road, moderately on a flat track or sand, and fairly poorly in tight trails… Gotta be realistic!
An early Kelpi prototype headlight was used to light the way, as well as some Blindsider LED indicators on front and rear matched with some handmade polished alloy fenders. These fenders (and this bike in general) was made in the very early days of Kelpi, and whilst I still love the design and the build, my fabrication skills have improved to a point where I cannot help but critique the handmade components of my early builds. The ‘eliminator’ branded steel mx style handlebars came home from the beach trip bent up from some wide circle work by Charles Archer that ended in a couple of tumbles. Aside from the bars, and an extra half kilo of sand joining us for the return trip, the Rising Son managed the weekend with effortless grace, and was the only bike not to have a stack on either the way on or off the beach through the soft sand and 4WD mats. Fat front tyres aren’t bad for sand!
These days the Rising Son is owned by Shaun and he uses it as his daily commuter around Newfarm, as well as for camping trips now that he’s made up a removable adventure rack for the rear.