A Harley Ironhead Named “Ducky”
Every industry has innovators, craftsmen that take the exact same techniques everyone else uses but for some reason when they build it it looks better, works better, and stuns everyone who sees it. In the bike building world Yuri Shif Customs (or YSC) of Belarus is one of those shops and owner Yuri Shif is one of those men. A regular AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building contestant you know when they release a bike it’s going to be on another level. Let’s check out “Ducky”
Ducky was only finished a few months ago and it has already won the 2015 European Biker Build-Off and the 2016 Motor Bike Expo in Verona. The best part of this story is it all started with the little rubber duck that sits on Yuri’s desk. The first step was building the one off Board Track frame with mandrel bent steel that created the single down tube and back bone. A brilliant single bottom rail with parallel motor mounts act as the rear subframe fixture and does away with bulky engine plates and dissipates any vibration across the entire frame.
The period look girder fork is an incredible combination of machined leading links and round tube nostalgia that is coupled with a modern fully adjustable shock unit. The shock is positioned in front of the headstock that prevents front end dive. The rear end is a rigid and using the top cross bar to mount a tire hugging rear fender. The tank is based purely on Yuri’s design and it fits meticulously into the frame for a gap free finish. The part you don’t notice is that it a two piece unit and not the solid item it appears to be.
The fuel and oil are divided internally to remove the need for an external oil tank. The front half of the left side houses all of the bikes electronics and wiring. The hand crafted duck-tail seat is a sprung unit with a shock to make riding more enjoyable. Yes, this show winner is ridden. Isn’t that how it should be? Finally before it was all pulled apart for paint Yuri built the bars to give that board track feel and fit all of the other custom work.
A solid acrylic look yellow had been on Yuri’s mind from the moment he started the project. To showcase the metal work the tank sides and seat pan are unpainted. Tasteful pin striping further breaks the yellow and accentuate the bikes lines. The tank gets hand painted Ducky graphics and machined YSC badges. Simply because he can and because you don’t use off the shelf rims on a world championship build, Yuri designed and machined his own unique four spoke set from solid aluminum, painted them and then wrapped them Avon Speed Master 3.00-21’s front and rear.
Power comes from Harley’s Ironhead engine. Given its three decade production run and simplicity of design it gives classic looks, the ability to add some modern power parts and features the distinctive Harley ruble that works on any build. Internally the 997cc engine from 1978 was fitted with a set Screaming Eagle pistons squishing power against a pair of YSC modified heads. The stock Keihin carb was ditched for a bigger Mikuni 41mm unit mounted on a custom YSC manifold that turns the enormous velocity stack into the on coming air. The Screaming Eagle ignition brings modern reliability that leaves just the raw metal of the Harley V-Twin on display.
Brass look hardware is featured all over, blacked out barrels and raw metal finish cover many other parts to complete the vintage look. The exhaust is a classic Board Tracker item, individual pipes that run from each cylinder with slight bends finished off with brass lips on each end.
The rear sets were entirely designed and fabricated in-house at YSC while the kickstarter embossed with he YSC lets everyone know whose boss. The levers are another YSC creation but what they operate are two of the more brilliant design achievements of the build.
Yuri built fully functional and hidden drum brakes front and rear for the ultimate in clean styling. Not too bad for a motorcycle that was based on the humble yellow rubber ducky.
[Photos by Hors Rosler]