American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 181 August 2014 | Page 55

The name of the motorcycle entered in the Freestyle class at the 2013 World Championship of Custom Bike Building by Maik Morató Güell describes the machine perfectly – Minibike 74. For Minibike 74 is about as minimal and small as it is possible to make a Sportster M Written by Duncan Moore - [email protected] >> AIK Morató Güell is no stranger to modifying HarleyDavidson Sportsters, but for his latest build he decided to go for a full custom build. The result was Minibike 74, which he then entered in the 2013 World Championship of Custom Bike Building. With Minibike 74 Maik has built what must be one of the most minimal, not to mention smallest custom Sportsters ever seen. The build only includes the bare minimum needed to make the bike www.AMDchampionship.com rideable; there’s no front suspension, no front brake, no lights and no fenders either. The starting point for Maik’s build was the acquisition of the motor from an ’88 883 Sportster. This engine was chosen rather than a Big Twin because not only of its more compact size but also its unit construction with the transmission included. The motor itself was basically untouched with the only changes being basically cosmetic with the exception of an S&S Cycle Shorty card and a pair of one-off exhaust pipes. One area where there have been dramatic changes is the primary drive. The outer cover has been removed and the chain drive replaced with a custom open belt drive. Due to the minimal design of the bike, the foot controls on the left side of the bike share a mount with the outboard bearing carrier for the clutch pulley. The controls themselves are one-offs by Maik. On the other side of the bike there is just a simple lever to active the master cylinder for the single piston Brembo brake that grips a sprotor on the rear wheel. The motor and transmission package are housed in a one-off frame that features a gooseneck at the head tube as the down tubes follow the engine as closely as possible with the front wheel also being tucked in close, too. Following the example of the whole build the frame is as simple as Maik could AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - AUGUST 2014 55