Every man, from the Pope to Jimmy Carter to Santa Claus, has a dark side.
Some choose to ignore it. Some choose to embrace it. And there are some who want to ride it.
For those in the last bunch, Bandit9, the Saigon-based bike shop that has tantalized us with a number of bodacious builds over the years, has created a motorcycle that’ll scratch that itch.
Using a Harley-Davidson Street 750 as a base, Bandit9 built out the pitch-black “Dark Side” with a Revolution X 750cc liquid-cooled engine equipped with a 60° V-twin that’s been paired with a six-speed manual transmission delivering 57.6 ponies at 7955 RPM.
A concept bike that only came into existence after the shop took JFK’s statement that “we choose the moon not because it is easy, but because it is hard” to heart, the Dark Side’s body — which unifies the bike’s tank, seat, rear brake lights and signals — is hammered by hand.
With other custom features including a smoked windshield, radiator chin guard, hand-stitched leather seat, stainless steel chopped fenders and 16-inch spoked wheels, the Dark Side is priced at $32,000, and that reasonable figure includes door-to-door shipping around the world.
“We love its presence,” Bandit9 founder Daryl Villanueva told Pipeburn. “It’s hard to put into words and hard to portray in photos. It’s understated but has charisma — and it’s intimidating at the same time.”
Bandit9 is only making nine of the bike’s so if you’re going to go Dark Side, better do it quick.
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