Hot Wing

HOT WING

The anti-Gold Wing

BADASS" AND "MENACing" are not words that typically end up in sentences that include "Gold Wing." Even after its great makeover in 2001, with flashy color options, an aluminum frame and an extrta 300cc added to the signature 1500 Flat-Six, the Wing's image remains somewhat, shall we say, staid.

But here is a custom Wing that combines badass and menace in a most subtle and cool way. From the cutdown windscreen and major removal of lower plastic pieces to the chopped top case, this product of Cobra's Special Projects Division cuts a full-rig-tourer profile like no other.

Originally built for Wing Nut Emilio Escotto-a native of Argentina who conquered the world several times (to the tune of 485,000 miles) on a 1980 GL1 100 he dubbed the "Black Princess"-the Hot Wing

was so cool Honda kept it around for a little R&D'ing and gave him a new stocker instead. Before he gave this one back, Escotto was honored for his Wingliness by being selected as the Grand Marshal for the 2004 Honda Hoot.

At the core, what we're looking at here is sort of a "Winnebobber," a chopped and channeled motorhome of bikes.

With all the cut-down bits and ditched bodywork (the antennae are internal, now, too), the bike definitely looks as though it was lowered, but the suspension remains stock.

"Visually, it kind of fools you," said the bike's builder, Cobra's Denny Berg. "With all the bottom fairing pieces off, it just looks a lot smaller and lower. The biggest trick was trimming the hump off the rear seat and top trunk."

The House of Kolor char coal-gray paint adds to the illusion of lowness, but to

keep it from looking too dowdy, they mixed in a subtie rainbow metallic, for a little sizzle in the sunlight.

One of the coolest touch es, though, is the blackedout headlight treatment.

"I took the headlights out and split them open like an oyster so I could paint the chrome reflector surrounds," says Berg. The other lights were sprayed with Nite Shades, a rattle-can coating made by VHT that puts a smoke tint on lenses.

The engine remains stock internally, but like the frame and crash bars was painted mostly black. The now-exposed exhaust head ers are stock, but were ceramic-coated ("They're gorgeous! Why would you want to cover them up?" says Berg), but the brushed finish slip-on mufflers are one-off Cobra creations.

Well, they were one-offs. The pipes were such a hit at the Hoot, Cobra is now offering them for sale, in a chrome finish only.

Of all the work on the bike, Berg is most proud of the front-end treatment, from the heavily modified front fender to now-naked wheels and brakes.

"I chamfered the crossdrilling on the discs and they catch a lot more light when it's rolling," says Berg. "I did a lot of subtle stuff on the bike that you don't specifically notice unless somebody tells you or you park a stocker next to it."

What about the out-ofcharacter leather grips and lace-on lever covers? That's a nod to Escotto's original globe-conquering bike: "That was his thing," says Berg. "He liked leatherwrapped crash bars and stuff, too. We didn't do all that, but the grips and levers were a tip of the hat to him." We're just glad he didn't like Beenie Babies or wolf murals. -Mark Hoyer