Torn between 200 lovers
Daan Borsje from the south of the Netherlands is a well-known figure on the custom scene. He has been professionally customizing bikes for quite some time under his brand name ‘Moto Adonis’.
His reputation led the marketing staff of MotoShare (a peer to peer rental platform) to invite our builder to produce a special bike for them.
Ride it like you rented it
Rental disruptor MotoShare have a reputation for coming up with innovative ideas. They launched their bike sharing vision in 2016 and have since grown into the largest European rental platform, also adding dealer rental to their portfolio.
For three consecutive years they commissioned a build, renting it out for a maximum of 200 days and giving it way as a prize to one of the lucky riders who bought a rental ticket.
Quite a unique way of playing in the lottery we think. A chance of 1:200 to win the prize and have a fun day of riding included in the excitement.
We know of no lottery in the world that offers such a chance.
The two previous builds by Wrench Kings and Ironwood Motorcycles created quite a stir in the market and resulted in substantial publicity. MotoShare is expanding rapidly into other European territories and will use the same method to generate attention to their proposition.
Sportster gone wild
Daan decided to start off by giving the V-twin a good overhaul and some extra ‘oumph!’. A 1200 cc kit was mounted and to improve exhaling he and his team choose to incorporate pipes from their sub-label Mad-Exhausts.
We have written about these exhausts before. They sound great, look even better and increase performance.
Cooperation
To stay within the € 13 K budget, Moto Adonis set up a partnership with Choppershop.com. They delivered many of the parts that transformed the 1997 Sportster into a modern bobber handling and stopping as good as a modern bike.
Looking at the front the front wheel is quite wide on the hub, ‘making it quite a challenge to fit’ Daan explains. The front wheel is held in place by an USD fork which started its life on a Suzuki GSXR1000.
Stopping power is sponsored by the wave discs by Moto-Master. According to Moto Adonis the first time ever a set like this to be used on a Harley.
Calling card
As the Moto Adonis team have a reputation to uphold and the bike was going to be ridden by no less than 200 different riders, Daan wanted only the best for the second life of the Harley. He is used to working only with the best specialists when it comes to outsourcing work.
Regular partners Mopak supplied the gas tank and the beautiful work on the seat was provided by leather magician Marcel Miller of Miller seats. A Motogadget relay makes the new led blinkers smile. To get riders home safe at night a whole new set of front and rear lights was installed. To top it all off, the frame was coated to make it shine like a new born baby.
Having partners to take some of the work off your hands is nice, but there was plenty left for Daan to come home at night greasy handed.
All work on the engine was done in-house, as was designing and constructing a new rear end. A lot of old fashioned hard manual labour, but with a rewarding result to the builder and the future winner of this bike.
Happy clapper
Daan Borsje has a sunny character to begin with, but working on this project in close cooperation with his friends from MotoShare and Choppershop.com was ‘stimulating to all senses’ he says. He loved taking on the challenge of building a bike that would be used as marketing instrument, enabling a lot of different riders to experience his craft as a builder.
“It was a lovely project to work on” he continues. “I get my inspiration from the beauty of the world around me and it makes me very happy to see all those smiling faces when riders come pick up the bike for a day legal joyriding.
Especially since one of them will be the proud owner of this ‘Mad Harley’ one day very soon.”
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