Indian Chief transformed by custom builders Paul Cox and Keino Sasaki
The custom 2022 Indian Chief is one of three upcoming builds to show off the bike's potentialTwo custom bike builders have collaborated to produce a reinterpretation of the all-new Indian Chief platform. Paul Cox and Keino Sasaki were approached to create a custom Indian Chief to celebrate the iconic model’s 100th anniversary.
Having worked together before, the pair agreed the 2022 Chief presented the perfect canvas for customisation.
“When Keino and I first spoke about the project, we already knew how the other thinks and works,” said Cox. “So it only took about five minutes of brainstorming to basically design the entire bike.”
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After deciding on a plan of attack, the pair split up and focused on specific tasks to achieve the build. Cox used his fine arts background to sketch out the project on paper and solve some geometry issues. Sasaki chose to handle the fuel tank fabrication and exhaust, while Cox chose to build a custom front-end for the bike.
“The Indian Chief already had an aggressive stance, with a shallow rake of manoeuvrability,” said Cox. “I built one of my Girdraulic front ends with a steering damper for high speed stability. We then deleted the levers and the front brake system, and mounted hand controls on a custom Drag bar set-up and Bare Knuckle Performance 6-inch risers.”
The rear-end was revised as well with a swingarm-mounted heavy gauge front fender from Led Sled. The taillight was borrowed from an old Indian front fender.
In order to maintain the bike’s modern features, while keeping a simple and clean look, the pair made a covered section under the seat which concealed a lot of electronic components and the smaller Antigravity battery.
The final key task was painting. Cox chose a custom Soylent Green metal flake paint for the bike and Sasaki’s custom fuel tank. Cox also hand tooled a leather saddle for the bike and added some black-rimmed wheels.
Cox and Sasaki’s custom Indian Chief will be presented to renowned tattoo artist, Nikki Hurtado, who owns the Black Anchor Tattoo shops in California.
Indian will soon present two further Indian Chief custom builds – one by freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart, and another by Go Takamine.
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