Today's Xlcr

TODAY'S XLCR

THE JAPANESE TAKE UP WHERE WILLIE G. LEFT OFF

HARLEY'S 1977 CAFE RACER may have been a sales flop, but the dream of a truly sporting Harley-Davidson lives on. And that dream burns with a dazzling brightness in-of all placesTokyo, Japan.

That's where 33-year-old Takehiko Shibazaki runs his shop, Sundance Custom Cycles, which caters exclu sively to Harley-Davidsons. "He won't even put air in the tires of Japanese bikes," a friend says.

Shibazaki turned to American V Twins after an unfulfihling stint as a works mechanic on Nissan race cars. "I wanted a machine that I could use to express my own ideas. A Harley was the perfect vehicle. It has lots of character and charisma. Moreover, the men who have tuned them-O'Brien, Branch, Tilley, Sifton and Axtell-are as legendary as the bikes. Their work has always been an inspiration to me," says Shibazaki.

That devotion to the Milwaukee marque was apparent at the Daytona SuperTwins race this year, where Shibazaki and company showed up with the extravagant Sportster 1200powered racebike you see here, all dressed in gloss-black carbon/Keviar, with a multi-tube aluminum chassis and the best of everything-Ohlins suspension, AP brakes, Keihin slantslide semi-downdraft racing carbs. Reportedly bankrolled by a Japanese talk-show host and flying the Nordica banner, the Sundance "Daytona Weapon" was attended to by a large entourage-complete with video crew and nubile umbrella-carriers-but qualified a lowly 16th, and stopped in the race when its adjustable pushrods made their own adjustments.

Not to worry, Shibazaki says, the bike will be fixed and raced again, and besides, there's more to competi.. tion than the checkered flag.

"Because we did not have time to develop the bike before shipping it to the States, we could not demonstrate its full potential. But the support and encouragement we received from all of our American friends was fantas tic. In my view, that made the trip a success," he says with a smile.

David Edwards