About the Bike

The new customs from Intrepid.... How do they compare?

Mike Johnston from Intrepid Cycles was in the Valley promoting their new line of custom built bikes. While expanding their dealer network and to get more exposure on their products, I got the call to test ride their new motorcycles. How great is that. It isn’t every day that someone calls and asks you to ride their new custom creations.

Intrepid, located in Temecula, California, north of San Diego and south of Riverside, was established in October 2005 and is now building two great custom motorcycles for the dealer network.

The two customs that they offer are the Resolute, a 54-degree raked chopper, and the Steadfast, a 41-degree pro street bike. They are both softails with 300mm rear tires and a right side drive belt. Both models start at $36,995 and are listed in Kelly Blue Book.

These customs are not entry level machines. They are nicely equipped with a lot of goodies. Included on each bike is the Baker RSD 6 speed with a Primo Rivera Brute 3 extreme, Hawg Halter 4 caliper chrome brakes, a 300mm 18 inch Avon rear tire with a 21 inch Avon front tire, Pro-One hand controls and much more. They have been finished nicely too, right down to the hidden wires on the handlebars to chrome fasteners and braided cables. Both of these rides are very clean and good looking.

The standard engine is the 111ci S&S Twin Cam A motor that can be upgraded to the 117ci or 124ci. Other options include chrome wheels, open belt drive from Primo Revera and, of course, there are custom paint options and many more options you can ask for.

Both models are offered with either carburetors or with the VFI fuel injection system. Interestingly, the carbureted models that I tested were certified and compliant with the California EPA requirements. For more information on the company, go to their Web site at www.intrepidcycles.com.

Test Ride

After only a short ride, I can tell you this is a quality product. According to Mike, the sales manager, his favorite ride is the blue chopper or the Resolute. With a 54-degree rake, the Resolute is not bashful about having a good-looking chopper profile. After I rode it for a while, I understood why he likes it so much.

This was the first bike that I rode. I rode it south on Central Avenue and had to play in traffic with stop and go lights and slow vehicles. The engine was very smooth and the ride was surprisingly soft, better than I expected. The only distraction to the ride was on tight corners or turning around in a small parking lot. But that is to be expected on any chopper. This ride is meant to be ridden out in the open. And yes, it was a real head turner. People actually stopped in their tracks on the sidewalk to look and check out the ride. This is one great looking bike, a bike that you want to be seen on.

The chopper had an upgraded Vance and Hines after market exhaust installed and sounded great. It had plenty of power. In first, I could get the 300 to break traction with out a lot of effort. It was solid and stayed very straight. Very little engine vibration and because it is a softail, the ride was surprisingly soft.

Next was the ride on the Pro Street. This bike I took up South Mountain. What a great ride. If you have ever been up this twisty mountain road, then you know what I am talking about. I never got the bike above 45, but I could tell this was a solid little custom. Even with the 300-rear tire and all of the uneven payment, it did not pose any problems.
I did notice though, if you go around the speed bumps and you don’t clear the bump with the rear 300mm rear tire, the outside of the tire climbs the bump. When this happens, it has the tendency to push you farther to the right or in the opposite direction of the bump. Again, this is to be expected with any 300mm tire on any bike. Aside from that, it was a great treat to play with on the twisties.

I ended up making about 20 u-turns on the narrow road to get some good pictures. Glad I didn’t take the chopper on this ride. I found the S&S Twin Cam engine to be very solid and smooth and almost vibration free. The only distraction to the ride was the scraping of the exhaust on the tight right turns. After I got off the ride, I noticed there were some pretty good marks on the lower side of the exhaust pipes. Oops.

Summary

Both motorcycles are about as clean and good looking as any customs that I have seen for a long time. These bikes, right out of the shoot, are a nice package with all of the options that most riders want. From there you can customize the bike to your flavor as needed. This includes a bigger engine to exhaust pipes and paint schemes. Intrepid may want to look at putting different exhaust pipes on the Pro Street to get around the scraping on the right turns. If you are in the custom bike market, make sure you give these guys a call. You will not be disappointed.

Ride safe,

Kirk
www.phoenixbikers.com
www.motorcycletestdrive.com