Ethel Is One Mean Victory Octane Custom Bike

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Ethel Is One Mean Victory Octane Custom Bike

If you never heard of Rick Fairless before, we’ll tell you he’s one of the most colorful characters in the biking scene. He owns Strokes Dallas motorcycle shop and has been a Victory advocate for some time now, his joint being also a dealership. His latest work is named Ethel - a mean custom Octane inspired by his dog.

‘Ethel, the Evil Octane’ is a bit off compared to his previous custom jobs. It features aggressive lines and is finished in gray and brown accents, all contributing to a mean, dark look.

“I wanted to make Ethel a tough, street-fighting broad! I love the lines of the Octane, so I wanted to make one mean and nasty,” he explains. “My wife and I own three Old English sheepdogs. The youngest one is six months old, and she is extremely cute and lovable, but she is wild and crazy, like a demon dog. Her name is Ethel, and that’s why I named this bike ‘Ethel, the Evil Octane.”

It took Rick four months to built Ethel in his workshop and mostly used parts that are already offered to clients in his shop. He says the toughest part of the project was designing and making the Girder Front End, but that and the 180 mm front tire are the design features he is most proud of.

The front and rear fenders also got chopped and widened, while the whole bike got lowered a couple of inches. Another piece of design that hits your retina right from the start is the custom exhaust which comes into an unusual 2-into-4-into-1 configuration.

The rest of the custom parts on the bike, such as the seat, grips, handlebars, belt guard, license plate holder, gauge mount, fairing mount, headlight, rock guard, shift sleeve, skid plate, clutch arm cover, and radiator grill are all from RF Custom Parts and you too can buy them online.