DP Customs are famous for their clean, motorsport-influenced Ironhead customs. They’ve now taken the racing concept to the extreme, with a 154 hp street-legal drag bike.
“The idea for the Turbo Destroyer came up when we were delivering a build to a race car driver in Denver, Colorado,” says Jarrod Del Prado. “As we were leaving to head home, he said, ‘Would you guys be game to build a bike that’s insanely fast?’”
Of course DP Customs were up for it. Their client wanted a drag bike with a stance that prevented unwanted wheelies, with big power coming from big cubes. “We love the slender package that a Sportster provides, so we talked him into getting horsepower and torque from a turbo motor instead,” says Jarrod.
Within minutes, the Del Prado brothers had sketched out the basics of a hardtail drag bike for the street: “A straight line bullet that’s long and low, with excellent brakes. And the finished product is just that. It is fast.”
An Evo-engined, 2008-model Sportster 1200 was secured, and the engine work was entrusted to Trask Performance. The heart of Turbo Destroyer now features a welded crank, Screaming Eagle heads and a ThunderMax computer. “On a very street-able tune, with 14 psi of boost and 91 octane fuel, it makes 154 hp and 132 lb.-ft. of torque,” Jarrod reports. “Special thanks to James at Trask—his wealth of turbo knowledge and guidance with the electronics was invaluable!”
Jarrod and his brother Justin custom-fabricated a drop-seat hardtail with eight inches of stretch—enough to tame any inclination to raise the front wheel skywards. The oil tank, seat pan, rear cowl, and battery box are also hand-made, with fuses and circuit breakers hidden in a custom enclosure below the seat. The ThunderMax EFI module is hidden in the rear cowl.
The fuel tank began life as a Harley OEM fitment, but is now cut and re-shaped. Up front are Ducati 1198S Öhlins forks, with custom spacers from Kyle Racing. The brakes are Brembo Monoblocs—with a Brembo RCS master cylinder—and the front wheel is a carbon fiber BST.
The Ducati front end is hooked up to the Harley neck via custom trees from Chainsickle, who also crafted the custom forward controls. The rear wheel is a forged aluminum Marchesini, and the tires are Pirelli Diablo Super Corsa SPs.
“The Trask motor makes so much torque, and sounds trick,” says Jarrod. “It’s an excellent blend of speed and whistling glory. The riding position and rear cowl seat-pad do a great job of holding you in. It accelerates like a bat out of hell.”
It’s not the sort of bike you’d want for leisurely bar-hopping or switchback roads. But it sure looks like fun, doesn’t it?