00/05: The NEIGHBORHOOD x Rough Crafts Harley Street Bob

Motorcycle enthusiasts are probably not as familiar with NEIGHBORHOOD as fashionistas are, but the powerhouse Japanese streetwear brand does have a strong connection to motorcycling. NEIGHBORHOOD’s creative director, Shinsuke Takizawa, is a huge fan of motorcycles and the culture surrounding them. Now he’s celebrating the brand’s 30th birthday with a limited edition custom Harley-Davidson Street Bob, created by the one and only Rough Crafts.

The seed for a NEIGHBORHOOD x Rough Crafts collaboration was planted several years ago when Rough Craft’s frontman Winston Yeh met Takizawa-san at the Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. Given their shared love for bikes and streetwear, it was only a matter of time before their two worlds collided. And when NEIGHBORHOOD opened a flagship store in Winston’s hometown, Taipei, that was all the excuse they needed.

Winston picked a motorcycle he’s well familiar with—the Harley-Davidson Street Bob 114. He and his team of local craftsmen have worked their magic on several Street Bobs, along with other bikes in Harley’s modern Softail range. So they have several parts, tricks, and shortcuts to make the Street Bob look better with less effort.

The plan was for Winston to build a custom Street Bob in Rough Crafts’ signature style and for Shinsuke to contribute the bike’s graphics, while also working on a complementary NEIGHBORHOOD x Rough Crafts (NHRC) apparel collection. This bike is numbered ’00’—but Rough Crafts will be building five more, to order.

“The inspiration behind this collection stems from the concept of a street tracker,” Winston tells us, “maintaining the black aesthetic shared by NEIGHBORHOOD and Rough Crafts across both the motorcycle and clothing while embodying the spirits of both brands. The main visuals for the collection were shot in iconic locations in Taipei such as Lungshan Temple, Nanjichang Night Market, and Ximending, symbolizing the fusion of traditional Taipei charm with contemporary elements.”

Since Winston plans to build a small run of these bikes, he decided to keep the budget in reason—by his standards, anyway. Luckily he’s a fan of the 2023-model Street Bob’s six-spoke wheels, so those could stay. Measuring 19” up front and 16” out back, they’re wrapped in modern/retro tubeless sawtooth tires from Unilli.

The braking system is something special. Winston turned to his usual supplier, Beringer, and specced the bike with a six-piston front and four-piston rear caliper. Beringer came to the party, engraving the calipers in-house with NHRC graphics, supplied by Shinsuke and Winston.

It also helps that the ‘spokes’ of the Beringer rotors match the wheels perfectly, creating the appearance of ‘hollow’ brake discs from afar. As for the Street Bob’s suspension, that’s also stock—but it’s been jacked up at the back, courtesy of a lift kit from Kodlin.

Moving to the bodywork, the Rough Crafts crew whipped up a custom aluminum tank and a fiberglass tail section. They follow the aggressive street tracker style that Winston has made his own over the past few years, with the sort of deeply scalloped sections that we’ve come to expect from him. The scooped seat is dressed in a traditional diagonal-stitched pattern.

The Street Bob’s new visage pulls its inspiration from flat track racing. Winston designed a number board-style headlight nacelle, with fork protectors that mirror traditional flat track guards by extending from the top down, instead of from the bottom up. A grilled headlight is tucked tightly into a cutout in the front plate.

The cockpit is traditional Rough Crafts fare. The Street Bob’s brilliant little digital speedo has been remounted into an RC housing that doubles up as handlebar clamps; those hold a set of RC hallmark ‘Fighter’ bars. The switches come from Rebuffini and are plug-and-play with the modern Harley’s electronics.

Rough Crafts x Arlen Ness grips finish off the bars, while RC pegs adorn the stock mid-mounted foot controls.

Tiny Rebuffini LEDs hand turn signal duties up front, while three-in-one RC LEDs light up the rear. The derby cover and gas cap are from the RC catalog too, while the point cover is a custom NHRC-branded piece.

The air intake and rocker box covers all come from the Rough Crafts x Arlen Ness collection, while the hydraulic clutch upgrade comes courtesy of Rebuffini. The Street Bob’s torquey V-twin mill exhales via a high-riding two-into-one exhaust, finished in an obnoxiously stubby ‘muffler.’

Unsurprisingly, the NEIGHBORHOOD x Rough Crafts Harley-Davidson Street Bob is finished in swathes of black. But the carbon fiber details, gold leaf pin stripes, and contrasting textures that usually adorn Winston’s bikes are missing. Instead, the bike is sharply dressed in graphics sporting NEIGHBORHOOD’s typical aesthetic.

It wouldn’t be a Rough Crafts machine without a custom set of pushrod collars from regular collaborator 2AbnormalSides; these bear the initials N, H, R, and C as a nod to the collab. Winston also credits the rest of his regular crew for their work; Rover Works Custom Paint for the finishes, MS Pro for fabrication, SFC Simon Fiber Craft for the fiberglass work, and CT-Garage for assembly.

If you’re a fan of either NEIGHBORHOOD, Rough Crafts, or both, it’s easy to see each brand’s DNA in this perky Street Bob. And if you’re not lucky enough to get a spot in Winston’s limited build queue, you can always grab something from the apparel line—or stand in line for one of 50 custom-painted Shoei helmets that accompany the project.

Rough Crafts | Facebook | Instagram | NEIGHBORHOOD

from Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/NGrckRx