Black. Intimidation. Muscle. Three words describe what is most quintessential Rough handicrafts Custom build. This long and thin Harley-Davidson Softmail Breakout, nicknamed ‘Asphalt Glider’, is Winston Yeh’s latest creation—and it tests those boxes harder than anything else he’s built to date.
Don’t get us wrong; Winston’s Taipei, Taiwan-based store produced some bright works in its day. But you can count them on one side. However, we wouldn’t do it any other way, and it seems his customers feel the same way – that’s why he’s constantly getting orders for style builds.” Rough Crafts”.
“People are always curious about how we build a bike that has never been made for a client who doesn’t necessarily know how to describe what they want,” Winston told us. “This time the mission was simple: the customer loved our World Championship bike, ‘Stealth Bullets‘but he wanted something more extreme, more exaggerated. “
Take a look at the Stealth Bullet, and you’ll understand that these two bikes are cut from the same fabric. They share the monochromatic black treatment Rough Crafts is known for. And both make the most of such a limited palette, incorporating a wide variety of colors, textures and finishes.
They also share an instantly recognizable pattern of custom parts that can only come from the Raw Crafts category. Deep, dark fins adorn everything from the headlight cover to the control box, and their intimidating uniformity looks like something straight out of the HR Giger show. The influence is obvious, but the bikes are very different if you know where to look.
Asphalt Glider’s suspension is a prime example of this. Like the bike that inspired it, it has telescopic forks up front. But this particular beam is nothing like the minimalist version that adorned the winner of Winston’s previous show.
Rather than build something in-house, Winston sourced a complete set of forks from FG Racing – an Italian component brand specializing in high-performance beam design. The FG unit is made entirely from billet aluminum and combines modern geometry with an equal vision of performance and aesthetics.
A custom handlebar mounts directly to the fork, fitted with Rough Crafts x Arlen Ness grips and a plug-and-play Rebuffini switch. Elsewhere, Winston has added a Thunderbike Custom foot controller, Rough Crafts headlights and Koso turn signals. There’s also a Rough Crafts exhaust and a Rebuffini hydraulic clutch auxiliary cylinder.
The Asphalt Glider’s rear suspension is also a clear difference from the simplicity of the Stealth Bullet’s dual suspension. You can’t tell by looking at it, but Softail’s single shock has been completely eliminated. In its place is a performance air shock from the folks at Legend Suspension, complete with an onboard air compressor tucked neatly behind the gearbox.
Winston says the option to go with air suspension is essential. He wanted the rear fender to be as tight as possible, but the car still needed to run well on the road. The Legend unit allows the meaty 230-wide rear tire to fit neatly inside the fender when parked, but can be raised on the move at the touch of a button.
Breakout’s chunky Avon Chrome tires are wrapped around a unique pair of wheels. Behind are standard 15” Harley wheels, a real solid metal block with a Roland Sands rotor and a Beringer caliper nestled inside. At the front, it’s the exact opposite; a large 23” Arlen Ness wheel looks like a skeleton by comparison, dominated by the prominent negative space like the beam it is bolted to.
According to Winston, the stark asymmetry of the Glider’s wheels gives the building a “strange balance of visual weight”. Open and unfasten at the front, dense and muscular at the back; If exaggerated rates were what this client wanted, he’s got them now.
Completing the build is the signature Rough Crafts fuel tank and deep-swept tail. Both are finished in carbon fiber texture, accented with subtle white stripes. Tank badges and push collars from 2Abnormal Sides also adorn the bike.
Winston enlisted regular Rolodex collaborators to push this man to the finish line. Rover Works Custom Paint handles the paint job, while SFC Simon Fiber Craft handles the fiberglass and carbon fiber parts. Fabrication was done by MS Pro and CT-Garage did the final assembly.
In addition to the striking appearance of the Asphalt Glider, the customer had another specific request: he wanted the car to be done in “shrimp style”. You may be wondering what that means — and you’re not alone. Winston wasn’t too sure of himself at first, but his client explains that the crawfish style means long reach pull bars combined with forward foot controls.
In other words, the client wants to sit low on the tank, legs forward, folded around the front of the bike, resulting in a body posture that resembles (you guessed it) a cocktail shrimp.
Personally, we prefer the name Asphalt Glider over other potential seafood-inspired alternatives. ‘Dark Shrimp’, ‘Midnight Crustacean’, ‘Walking Shrimp;’ none of them quite capture the ethos of a proper Rough Crafts machine.
But whatever you choose to call this particular rose, it’s undeniably pretty sweet.
Rough handicrafts | Facebook | Instagram | Taken by JL Photography
