The golden era of the power cruiser and the big

THE ROGUE
WARRIOR
By John Campbell
Digital Art Studio photos
By John Kerfoot / Dave Kerfoot photos
The golden era of the power cruiser
and the big-inch chopper has come and
gone. Or has it? Not if RC Williams of
Calgary has his way.
42 - July 2012 Canadian Biker
S
eems like a long time ago now—what with
everyone rushing to crank out e-bikes,
scooters, and EPA-compliant cans—but
back in 2002, the talk was all about power
cruisers. This was the golden era of the VTX and
the V-Rod and the year Yamaha introduced its
own muscle bike into the segment: the Road Star
Warrior. The Warrior project might have started life as a bored-out 1670cc derivative of the
pushrod, air-cooled Road Star, but its aluminum
frame made it something special. Lighter, faster,
and armed with brake components and 41mm
Kayaba inverted forks derived from Yamaha’s
R1 Superbike program, the Warrior stood tall as
just about the slickest-handling, hardest-stomping, best-balanced package in the entire power
cruiser category. Belt-driven to accept a wider
array of wheels and rubber, it was a factory motorcycle that just about begged to be modified by
the average owner and pro customizers.
RC Williams of Calgary is the latest Warrior fanatic to take up that invitation. Gearhead and tech
by nature; customizer, fabricator, and airbrush
illustrator by trade, Williams’ vision of a carbon-fibre rendering of the Yamaha muscle bike
included an exhaustive amount of work on minor details.
“I tend to spend an absurd amount
of time obsessing over everything I
do,” he says. “My airbrushing, the
carbon work, etc. Especially when the
build is for a client, the guys say I’m
trancing out again as I’ll stand there
staring at something for who knows
how long processing every option to
death.”
The Carbon Warrior was built to
showcase its carbon fibre/carbon Kevlar composite construction, so you
don’t have to look hard to see carbon fibre in the tanks, seat pan, fork
tubes, fenders and trim. The mods
seem endless.
Carbon fibre has an elitist look
about it, as though it’s a material reserved just for Formula One teams, but
when it’s properly applied to a motorcycle, the effect is magical. Here, it’s
also a contrast to the “industrial” look
of aluminum.
“I wanted the industrial look,” says
Williams, “so all the aluminum was
polished and lightly wire-wheeled before clear coat. Everything else is just
the raw material as well with an adhesion promoter and clear.”
Aside from the engine cradle and
rear vertical rails the entire frame was
built by Williams with a crew that
included metal fabricator and welder
Ross Ingrilli, Arnott Air Ride, Silverline Powdercoating and Sandblasting,
and Alberta Wheel Repair.
Canadian Biker July 2012 - 43
Pro Cycle Ltd.
550 Windmill Rd.
Dartmouth, NS
902-468-2518
www.procycleonline.com
Ramsay Cycle and Sport
616 Keltic Dr.
Sydney, NS
902-539-1730
www.ramsaycycle.com
Ready Honda
430 Hensall Circle
Mississauga, ON
905-896-1600
Toll Free 855-896-0430
www.readyhondapowersports.com
Barrie Honda Powerhouse
74 Mapleview Drive West
Barrie, ON
800-267-4449
www.powerhouse.barrie
honda.com
KW Honda
“The frame rake is 46 degrees total,” says Williams. “As it’s a springer,
there is no rake in the trees. We curved
the backbone and downtube on an industrial roller and machined the neck
from stock billet.”
Air shocks at both ends of the nineand-half-foot long Carbon Warrior and
a 250-section rear tire sitting inside the
fabricated swingarm seem like a recipe
for handcuffed steering, but Williams is
quick to dispute that notion.
“It handles like my Ducati,” he says.
“People call BS when I say that, but the
geometry is bang on. It turns like a battleship at slow speed but changes lanes
like a Ducati at high.
“I took my hands off for a second just
to test it at over a hundred and it tracked
dead straight. With it being air ride
front and rear it’s the smoothest thing
I’ve ever been on. My true trail [geometry numbers] ended up just under four
inches so it’s really nimble. When it’s
aired up I have over five inches of clear44 - July 2012 Canadian Biker
ance so there’s no bottoming out.”
The inverted and lengthened café
bars provide some much needed leverage for the bike, while mid-bike controls
have also been added for the sake of
control. “Rider ergonomics are always
first for every bike I do,” says Williams,
who also built the unconventional
reverse exhaust. “The exhaust is all
scratch built with my own internals in
a SuperTrapp can,” he says. “The City of
Calgary just passed a noise bylaw and
they’ll nail you if you’re over a certain
decibel. So, with the SuperTrapp I can
add or remove plates when needed.”
The Carbon Warrior may be the antithesis of today's trends, but somehow
going back to a time when choppers
and power cruisers were the money
bets, just feels right for Williams.
“Some will just walk by it just because
it’s a chopper. Everything is bobbers
now, the opposite of chopper. But the
‘fads come and go' mentality I’ve never
understood and don’t care to.”
465 Conestogo Rd.
Waterloo, ON
519-746-7900
www.kwhonda.com
Rocky Mountain Honda
Powerhouse
152220 Shaw Rd. SE
Calgary, AB
877-230-7772
www.rockymountainhonda
powerhouse.com
Carter Motorsports
1502 – W 3rd Ave.
Vancouver, BC
800-663-7468
www.cartermotorsports.com