Renegade Issue 26

22-23 / 100

22
Is it a Bobber, is it a Chopper, more “old school” or modern,
these questions are always asked if you build a custombike
these days, but then there are those bikes where the answer
is impossible to answer, because they are all in one...
Mario Kyprianides from Abu Dhabi is already an customizer
well known in Europe, since his creations have won bike-
shows all over Europe, the US and Arabia. This project, a
clients order, was originally planned to be less work and time
consuming than his previous customs, but as it turned out: It
ain’t easy to “throttle back”, after
you achieved all that success and
accumulated the experience of
doing it better and faster. Knowing
Mario, half hearted efforts ain’t his game anyway...
Of course, the given time in which the project was about to
be build would have given anybody the creeps: His Dubai-
based client Maher was planning to ride the new bike at Euro-
pean Bike Week at Faak 2013 – and the race was on! Heart
and soul of the ride is a 1976 Shovelhead engine, completely
taken apart, revised, restored and tuned “at home” in the USA
by BB Racing. Which makes the engine not just a great eye
catcher but “hot” in performance too. Maybe too hot for Faak
and its speed restrictions, but certainly not for the surrounding
alpine panorama roads. Andrews cams, S&S MGL carb and
Morris Magneto add up to a cool looking “fast forward” Shov -
el with attitude! For the exhaust system, Mario did not look at
the aftermarket for the pipes, as he often had manufactured
his own parts – including the exhaust systems – to serve his
own style and ideas: Two days were spent grinding, bending
and polishing before the finished part satisfied his ideas.
His Chopper Kulture “Gooseneck” frame is manufactured
exclusively for him in the US – and serves as a solid base
for most of his projects. 30° angle
in the steering head and 2“ higher
neck are the basic numbers for a
highly ridable machine, something
Mario is proud of. If the resulting bike is a eyecatcher and
wins at the shows, this is “only a welcome addition”. Mario is
never looking for the best possible price but “I want to com-
pete with the best and I like to exchange ideas and experi-
ence with the other builders”, he stated at the 2013 Custom
Chrome Europe Ride-In Bikeshow at Faak.
The bike features a true two-part fuel tank which is divid-
ed in two reservoirs that necessitated the mounting of two
separate petcocks for using the full amount of fuel. Mount-
ing the tank to the frame are his (almost a Chopper Kulture
trademark) winged nuts, as well as the side-mouted clear
T H E B L U E R O S E
Text and Fotos: Frank Sander
23
fuel lines mounted outside the tank to allow to check the fuel
level. The oil tank is a handcrafted masterpiece of his friend
Aykut Tartaroglu, stainless steel specialist of AT American Cy-
cles, who offers a fitting oil tank with glas window to check the
oil level. Tailend, frontfender and sissybar are handcrafted by
Mario amd both grips and pegs serve as “prototypes” that he
will soon offer in limited production. As Mario despises “stock”
as being “boring”, the tightest timetable didn’t stop him from
creating his own Springer fork, bent the one-off handlebar and
placed all cables inside! The primary drive is a mix of “Old
School” and hi-tech: An open belt drive delivers the power to
a sophisticated clutch/gearbox arrangement that is following a
trend that is now incorporated in the latest sportbike technolo-
gy. The kickstarter can call the engine to life and shifting is with
footclutch and handshifter, which honestly is not everybody’s
favourite. But on this bike Mario integrated a semi-automatic
centrifugal transmission, which allows shifting without using
the clutch. Even from a standing start, it is possible to enter first
gear at around 1.200 rpm, at which the bike starts rolling! Thus
you can keep both feet on the ground at the traffic light when
departing from a standing start. This years EICMA introduced
several motorcycles with “Dual Clutch Transmission”, short
DCT, some even allowing save downshifting without grabbing
the clutch lever.
Meanwhile, time was flying, as were several components
of the soon-to-be-delivered custom: Just four weeks be-
fore Faak, the parts were flown by DHL into Germany
and painted in record time by Danny of “Schrammwerk”.
Following Mario’s and Maher’s ideas, pearl effects and
silver leaf applications were integrated into the paint job
that almost had to dry on the flight back to Abu Dhabi. For
the remainder of the time, there must have been a per-
manent phone line, glowing red hot, from Arabia to Esther
of DHL, who had the task of shipping the bike in 4 days
from Abu Dhabi to Faak. Well, the “mission accomplished”
was nailed when the DHL Truck arrived at the Arneitz Cus-
tom Show – and “Schrammwerk” Danny applied the last
pinstripes to the belt drive “life at Faak”, before the “Blue
Rose” hit the panoramic mountain roads to visit the local
Enzian...
Minor adjustments of carb and ignition took place during
the first kilometers, height and humidity at Faak DO differ
from sea level desert conditions of Arabia, even thought
the excellent weather and temperature at the 2013 Euro-
pean Bike Week did a lot to encourage some great rides
around Lake Faak and the Carinthian Alps. The polished
and brand new beauty rolled into the bike shows of Harley-
Davidson and Custom Chrome Europe, exiting with “Best