Wednesday, July 27, 2011

AFT Customs Wins Best of LA Calendar Show

OFF THE WIRE
 
AFT Customs Sentoh  Best in Show winner at 2011 LA Calendar ShowAsumati and the AFT Customs girls
 
Two of the FastDates.com Calendar girls pose with the bike that won 'Best in Show' at the 2011 LA Calendar Show. 'Sentoh' was built by Jim Guiffra and the AFT Customs girls. It sources an engine from a 1970 CB750 and features a hand-built perimeter frame. (Below) The AFT Customs girls pose with their second entry in the recent LA Calendar Show, a motorcycle called 'Asumati.' The girls are more than pretty faces. They helped build both bikes and several of the girls are certified TIG welders.
Big congratulations go out to our friend Jim and the AFT Customs girls for their outstanding showing at last weekend’s 20th annual LA Calendar Show. Jim and the girls have been busy building two custom bikes simultaneously, one with its sights on the AMD World Championships and the other a commissioned build for the Jackson Rancheria Indian Casino. It was an unforgettable weekend for AFT Customs who won both “Best in Show” for its retro Honda CB750 and second place in the “Pro Builder Class.” It is the fifth consecutive year AFT has won at least one class at the LA Show.

The “Best in Show” winner is called “Sentoh,” a wicked little bob job sourcing an engine from a 1970 Honda CB750. A single Mikuni HSR45 Carb with four-tract induction feeds the powerplant. Jim twisted up some sick custom exhausts to go along with it and generally hops up his engines with high performance pistons and cams. A floating tank sits suspended in a wicked hand-built perimeter frame. In conjunction with the old school mill, AFT kept it real with a kick starter, but it does get modern Race Tech racebike suspension and Beringer brakes. In true bobber fashion, the motorcycle has no fenders. A cool speed hump mounted on the top of the frame adds to its racy disposition.

The second motorcycle AFT entered, “Asumati,” is another bobber/street tracker built around a VT750 engine. “Asumati” helps dispel the myth that custom motorcycles are all show and no go as it sources a Yamaha R1 front end and Race Tech Piggyback Rear Shocks. Jim creatively used the front hub and brake from a Honda CR450. True to form for AFT, the motorcycle has details that don’t divulge themselves right away, one of them being a hidden radiator. There’s nothing hidden about the killer engraving on the cylinder heads and engine cover, though.

Based on this year’s builds, we like AFT’s chances in the Metric Class of the upcoming AMD World Championships held during Sturgis. We’ll be there covering the show and will let you know how the AFT fares. Until then, good luck, Jim and the AFT Customs girls!