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Roland Sands' "No Regrets" V--Twin Sportbike "No Regrets" is the latest wet dream of Roland's. It's a deviant hog with it's nose rutted as deep into sportbike influences as custom bike building will allow, whith a seat as sharp as a scorpion's tale and an exhaust note that shatters glass a half mile away.. It was built to compete in the Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off, one of the slew of chopper and hot rod cable TV shows. In this particular show the builder pitted against Roland was friend and 3-time LA Calendar Motorcycle Show winner and another of our favorite Iron & Lace Calendar builders, Jesse Rooke. The two were told to create bikes that would be judged not just on how they looked, but on how they would perform on the track at Willow Springs in roadrace and drag strip conditions. As with all these shows, a ridiculous timescale was stirred into the mix. The builders only had two weeks to design and build their bikes (wink, wink). As you can probably guess, with the long lead times required to secure custom modified engines, suspensions and other components, not to forget the weeks need to design the bike on paper and figure out just what needs to be ordereed, by the time the show is ready to be filmed all the major components are there and ready to bolted together. The actual build time is for fitting it all together, welding on tmounting tabs, and sending it out for paint. The show's new track contest rules suited Sands more than Rooke. Being a hard core motorccyle roadracer Roland knew he need sportbike specs and suspension on his bike. Jesse also grey up on roadracing courses, but racing rigid frame go carts. So Jesse built a beautiful rigid frame board tracker racer replica powered by a 950cc KTM DOHC V-twin that was easily the prettier, more creative show bike of the two. But once it came to brute horsepower on the drag strip and getting it to turn a corner, Roland's bike was the hands-down winner.
The only element of the Roland Sands Designs (RSD) bike that links it to the world of American custom bike building is the immense engine. No Regrets is powered by a 2032cc S&S Twin Cam Harley ins[ired V-twin , air cooled motor. It breathes through a single S&S carb and, acording to Roland, makes140hp to the KTM's 120hp., and puts the power to the ground via a 6-peed Baker gearbox and a Performance Machine (PM) Contour primary drive. Motor and gearbox would set you back about $5,000 and powerplants like this can be ordered off the shelf, but it all gets an RSD spin. Added to the engine is RSD's beautifully machined alloy finned engine covers anodized a cool shade of rootbeer brown. No one has ever mixed the influnces, style and functionally of both the sportbike and custombike markets better than this. Once he's decided on the engine, every one of Roland's creations is drawn in side profile before a single saw cut is made. And once the side-on view is arrived at, the finished design hardly deviates from it. No Regrets was No Exception. "I sat at home and drew it when I was hungover. I was totally squashed, obliterated, and didn't want to go to work and talk to anyone. It took three hours to draw. I started with the geometry of a Gixer 1000, then gave it 2 degrees more rake and thge wheelbase is now 61 ins. (1550 mm) where a K5's is 1505mm and a 'Busa's 1485mm." The motor may be mail-order, but next to knowing else is. Chro-moly tubes form a minimal trellis-style frame that uses the engine as a stressed member. The tubes curve over the front cam cover and around the rear cover before terminating at the bolt-on aluminum swingarm pivot plates. The swimgarm is built in the same style with the adjuster blocks bolting to the tubes of the swingarm rather than being welded. It's waht Bimota use on their new DB5 and Deliro models. If anything, the swingarm on No Regrets is an even more attractive design. Gilles chain adjusters add the finishing touch. Rear suspension is a simplecantilever-style with an Ohlins roadracing shock doing the business. Up front are the latest superbike spec, nitrogen charged Ohlins forks, with the lightweight fluted grooves machined into the gold anodised stantions as standard. Minimal frame, minimal complications, minimal silencing from the stainless MotoGP style exhaust and minimal bodywork. Roland mocked up the tank, seat cowling and front number plate with pateboard and welding rods - materials that can be easily cut and bent, and stay in position when glued and taped together. Once the dummy bodywork is perfected, the thick posterboard springs back flat and is used as a template for the sheet aluminum. Roland forms the dummy bodywork and can make tanks and seats from the sheet metal himself, but time restraits ment one of his small team of fabricators at RSD/PM made the body parts. The front fender is a modified Ducati part. No Regrets makes the best use of its Performance Machine infastructure support using PM's four piston radial brakes, master cylinders and one-off wheels machined in-house. RSD grew up under the wing of Roland's dad's company, Performance Machine, but someday soon Roland plans to move into his own premises and stand on his own as a custom bike desinger and fabricator while still designing for PM. He hopes that this bike will start a trend for sportbike inspired V-Twin customs, a trend that he plans to capitalize on. Return to Iron & Lace Garage Index
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