As one of its pre-eminent voices, Winston Yeh’s contribution to the modern custom motorcycle scene is undeniable. But where does he draw influence for his Rough Crafts creations from? This custom Harley Fat Boy offers a surprising clue.
“I’m a huge fan of the chopper era,” Winston tells us from his studio in Taipei, Taiwan. “West Coast Choppers, Motorcycle Mania, Biker Build-Off; these were my heroes when I was still in school. The wild, fat rear tire, high handlebars, and Frisco tank look was the pinnacle of badass-ness for me.”
Winston’s custom Harleys are far removed from the raked-out, gaudy made-for-TV choppers of yesteryear. But if you ask him, those old-school machines are never far from his mind. It’s why the Rough Crafts aesthetic rides the line between old and new so well.
It’s also why, when given free rein by his latest customer, Winston decided to explore the idea of a modern chopper-inspired performance cruiser. “The customer came to my shop,” he tells us, “pointed at one of my Softail builds, and said ‘How can you top that one?’ The only rule was that the riding position needed to be easygoing—but, other than that, it was basically an open brief.”
“That said, with Taiwan’s super-strict rule of no frame modifications I technically couldn’t call it a chopper, since I wouldn’t be chopping anything. So I set out to create as much of a chopper vibe as possible with the stock geometry. The idea was to create a chopper silhouette with all the right performance elements in place.”
Although it’s hardly recognizable, Winston used a 2022 Harley-Davidson Softail Fat Boy as a donor for the build. As its name implies, the Fat Boy wears a fat 240-wide rear tire from the factory, so it has the widest swingarm of all of Harley’s current Softail models. Putting a wide rear tire on this build was a must, so picking the Fat Boy was a no-brainer.
Straight out the gate, Winston swapped the Harley’s wheels for a pair of ultra-light carbon fiber hoops from BST in South Africa. The front wheel is a 3.5×21” five-spoke item, chosen for “that vintage invader-style look.” The solid 8.0×17” rear wheel isn’t in BST’s catalog, but it’s an older design that they still have a mold for, so they manufactured it as a one-off for Winston.
The front tire is a Pirelli Night Dragon, and the rear is a 240-wide Pirelli Diablo Rosso that was designed for the Ducati Diavel. The brakes are Rough Crafts-branded Beringer 4D parts. Beringer’s 4D system uses two stacked discs per caliper, offering maximum braking power from a small footprint.
Moving to the suspension, Winston specced the Fat Boy with blacked-out Öhlins parts at both ends. The forks are shortened Öhlins FF521 units, shortened to get the bike’s stance right. They’re dressed with Rough Crafts brake mounts and billet aluminum fork protectors from Kraus, and they’re held in place by a set of CNC-machined yokes.
A shorter-than-stock Öhlins HD503 shock props up the rear. Look closely, and you’ll notice that it comes with its own preload adjuster, mounted on the right where the OEM unit normally sits.
Despite the broad rear tire, the Fat Boy now looks much more compact than before. It also helps that it shed its stock bodywork in favor of a set of custom parts.
A custom-made Frisco-style fuel tank takes center stage, shaped with subtle scallops in Rough Crafts’ typical style. A BT Choppers seat (with fresh upholstery) sits behind it, floating above a blank-off plate that hides the stock wiring, but offers access to the rear shock. A bobbed fender hugs the rear wheel to finish things off.
Taking inspiration from the performance chopper heavyweight Roland Sands, Winston decided to forego typical chopper handlebar styles in favor of a West Coast performance-inspired setup. Rough Crafts handlebars are perched on tall Rebuffini risers, with a top clamp that integrates the tiny speedo from an H-D Street Bob. The new switchgear is from Rebuffini too—a plug-and-play kit that plays nice with the Harley’s OEM CAN bus system.
A Rough Crafts headlight and tiny Rebuffini LED turn signals sit up front, with a pair of three-in-one Rough Crafts LED taillights out back.
Winston not only has his own range of Rough Crafts accessories, but he also has a special range of Rough Crafts parts that are produced by Arlen Ness. This build wears Rough Crafts x Arlen Ness grips, floorboards, and foot controls. The teardrop air cleaner comes from the same collection, as do the cam and rocker covers.
The exhaust system is a twin header and box muffler combo that Winston’s been using on his more aggressive builds lately. Finishing off the parts spec are a Rough Crafts gas cap and a Rebuffini clutch housing.
As always, Winston built this Harley Fat Boy by tapping into his network of regular collaborators. CT-Garage handled assembly, while SFC Simon Fiber Craft added carbon fiber veneers to all the right parts. Rover Works Custom Paint handled the livery, playing with gloss and matte finishes over the carbon fiber, and punctuating the design with delicate pinstriping.
2 Abnormal Sides produced a set of stunning tank badges and pushrod collars. His jewelry-style handiwork is an unmissable detail on any Rough Crafts Harley, but here, he’s gone above and beyond with a special silver adornment for the top of the tank.
“It includes the Rough Crafts logo, the owner’s name, and even his personal logos all over,” says Winston. “The hardest part of this over-the-top request was how to add more, without making it too flashy. So I had to carefully choose which parts had to be shiny, and which parts had to be subtle—but still make something that the owner would be proud to ride.”
This luxurious embellishment, and the Fat Boy’s mostly murdered-out look, has earned the bike the moniker of ‘Sovereign Raven.’ Sharp graphics on the wheels add a final modern and sporty touch, while the super-sano space above the front cylinder head adds a nod to the stripped-down choppers of old.
“I’m not sure how people will react to the words ‘performance’ and ‘chopper’ in the same sentence,” Winston admits, although he doesn’t seem particularly fazed. As long as his customers keep asking for them, he’s going to continue exploring this new school take on the bikes that captured his imagination all those years ago.
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