| All revved-up It's one thing introducing a 100-cube motor but people want to see it. Best way to make sure they can is to stick it in a well-sorted custom bike, which is exactly what CCI Europe did with Tribal Iron.
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Tony Blanco is one of custom biking's real characters. An affable and surprisingly large
Italian, he cut his custom teeth working alongside the Batts in Bournemouth before moving to a new job working for Custom Chrome Europe in their new complex in Bad Kreuznach, Germany as their representative for France and Spain (and not to mention his vast experience of the British scene). One of the huge advantages of working for - let's face it - one of the biggest, if not THE biggest aftermarket American twin custom and
performance part manufacturer and distributor is that you get the chance to ride and then, if you want, buy the odd promotional custom project ... 
well, like Tribal Iron for instance.
Tribal Iron was originally envisaged by Californian based Custom Chrome design supremo John Reed, to utilise a selection of the new range of after market parts he'd designed, in the best possible light - like on a stonky custom motorcycle. That range of bolt on parts Reedie had designed was dubbed 'Tribal Iron' and so naturally, the promotional motorcycle which was to bear them, bore that same name. Originally the bike sported more of John's Tribal Iron accessories but in order for Antonio to get the bike fully road legal he had to get it past the notoriously strict German TüV regulations, so quite a few changes, mainly aspirational, had to be made. You can see the slight differences from the original promo photographs hereabouts taken a couple of years ago when the bike and range were first launched, to the fully Euro-Legal variant when I tested and photographed it in August.
Despite its use as a rolling test bed and advertisement for many of the parts CCE manufacture and/or distribute, Tribal Iron comes out of the deal very well: it hangs together a lot more convincingly than many other promotional customs you see on stands here and there. That may be luck, but I think it's far more likely because Tribal Iron is a real, honest road going motorcycle with a legit' TüV ticket and a respectable mileage clocked up. It hangs together simply because it has to.
Called with endearing logical simplicity 'The RevTech Engine¹ and based rather obviously
on the original Harley-Davidson Evolution 1340 Big Twin, they come in two sizes: 88 and 100 cubic inches, or 1450cc and a nicely excessive 1700cc to you and me. The motor, despite its looks, has been designed to be better than its illustrious stock predecessor in almost every respect. With a long and respected a
ffiliation with Harley and after years of experience, accumulation of knowledge and gradually improving Harley's Evo big twin with a huge range of their own aftermarket parts, RevTech were able to virtually redesign the basic concept when they came to build their own motor, and, unlike Harley, were free to experiment and modify, improve and upgrade from the original early eighties design.
The most immediately obvious alteration from stock H-D is the cubic capacity, those extra cubes alone allowing the motor much more low down grunt, but allied with many other technical improvements, both externally and internally, the Rev Tech does look a winner. On the performance improvements side, the stock RevTech boasts a Mikuni HSR42 carb allowing more performance and a better spread of power than a poor strangled Keihin 40 set up to keep
the sodding Californians happy, and mates to the heads via a redesigned manifold which should allow better mixture flow. D-shaped exhaust ports from the head have been redesigned too, to allow greater gas velocity than the Evo¹s original round ports. The RevTech engine features as standard, a 495² High lift cam, featuring less Californian
friendly timing, allowing for a good spread of torque and a ThunderHeart high-performance ignition. Most owners immediately swap the ThunderHeart for a Crane HI 4 Single Fire simply because it's better and allows the option to use twin plugs, which the heads come tapped ready to accept if you so desire. On the reliability front, the motor features more and longer cooling fins to
aid the engine cooling process ... as does the RevTech oil pump. Weak areas like the familiar weeping head and base gaskets for instance have been replaced by O-rings and high stress areas on the original have been tackled simply by adding more metal, specifically, 356T6 cast aluminium which is claimed to be stronger and is used throughout the casings. Also stronger are the redesigned horizontally locked liners
for the cylinders, the flywheels which are forged from 4340 steel and the main bearing inserts.
Built in Taiwan, the RevTech Engine comes complete ('just add oil¹ says CCE) with a 2 year/22,000mile warranty. And - here¹s the really good bit - because the motor is built in Taiwan, the motors are competitively priced.
I'd first seen the bike in 
early 1999, when as editor of SuperTwins, I'd travelled over to Germany to see the grand opening of Custom Chrome Europe's new operations base. Between running round trying to photograph everything that stood still long enough, roadtest a stock 88
injection Road King and having my ear bent by the aforementioned Mr Reed every time he got bored and needed to wind up a West Country dimmuck for some light relief, I spied his creation and it was lust at first sight. It wasn't until the 2000 Bulldog Bash at Avon Park near Stratford that I saw the bike again though, but this time Tribal Iron was outside, and bearing proudly the unmistakable patina of use, it looked even better.
As I sat in the sunshine nearby, close to the BSH tent, Antonio bounced up, drew my attention to the bike (as if he needed to) and much to my delight and surprise offered the bike to me for the Saturday afternoon (and also allowed my mate Neil Dalleywater of AWoL to play with another, even more extreme CCE creation 'Biker's Lust'). We were not going to turn a chance like that down and, rather nervously we grabbed the keys.
The 1700cc motor started neatly on the choke and quickly settled down as it warmed through to a very slow off beat tickover. The engine note was fairly loud, but not excessive, deep and 'warm' but with t
he crisp crackling bark when you blipped the
throttle of a well tuned twin. This was going to be fun. Stretching forward, because of the wide bars, and wisely locating BOTH forward pegs before I set off, to avoid the majorly uncool right foot pedalling in mid air stunt as you try to locate the peg, I pulled in the not particularly heavy, long action clutch and selected first with a snick rather than a clunk. Impressive.
Gingerly I let out the clutch, and spun the bike about carefully on the grass: the incredibly low centre of gravity allowing me to confidently keep my feet up as I ran down the slope to the dirt track and out of the custom show. Again I was impressed by the gearbox as I selected neutral easily at a standstill while I waited for Neil, coping with a virtually hardtailled lowrider with quarter mile long forks.
Even in one of Britain's premier bike shows, where superb customs abound left, right and
centre, the two CCE bikes caused a sensation - hardened badass muthas paused mid ice-cream to gawp as we rumbled past the centre of the show out onto the pitted tarmac which led us out back into the real world. At the gate stood the usual bike coppers directing traffic and lending the passing public the reassurance that everything was in control 'in there'. Despite them and my better judgement I just had to discover
what I was riding here and I gave the 100ci motor a handful and blasted through 4 of the 6 gears. Wow, that was special, it l
aunched like a rocket and pulled cleanly through the gears, great gobbits of torque ripping the bike forward.
Having taken Neil by surprise I throttled back behind a couple of sports bikes, blipping and snicking the bike up to a more sedate sixth gear and waited for him to catch up. At a gentle 50, 55mph in top gear the bike behaved beautifully, wonderfully smooth for a solid mount 1700 but with tons of grunt to draw on - with no delay or snatch (with a terrific bark from the exhaust too) - and immediate acceleration.
A couple more experimental twists of the throttle as I
waited, a couple more neck wrenching thrusts forward - I was grinning - sod it, I'd wait for him at the roundabout 5 miles further on, and I gunned the beautiful beast past the sports bikes and into open road. Here the Progressive Suspension sprung rear and Spyke B17 upside down front forks came into their own - I didn't expect Tribal Iron to handle like a sports machine, and it didn't, but it felt firm, assured and comfortable with the high speed sweeping bends. I didn't feel at any stage
that I was riding beyond the bike's abilities and with the powerful RevTech 4 pot brakes front and rear, allied to good old Avon tyres, I wasn't. If it was raining p'haps I might have done 
... Avons in the wet plus speed equal skid marks ... and I don't mean on the
road surface. Despite the wide bars, forward set pegs and minimal LePera single seat, the bike wasn't massively uncomfortable, nor was it the epitome of first class travel, but to claim that I wouldn't like to ride the bike any distance would be a downright lie. Looking this good, I'd ride Tribal Iron anywhere. The couple of thousand miles on the clock had appeared to loosen the plant up nicely, it purred at legal cruising speed, though it's conceivable
that the 100s are that smooth from the start. I would love to ride one with a few thousand more, however, as I bet that's a rewarding experience.
I was expecting the RevTech 100 motor to behave like the the hooligan oversize S&S motored beasties I'd ridden before - snatchy, snarly and definitely not at all happy unless on a very long road. But the RevTech had been well thought out, the gearing was spot on, as was the carburation and even as we got caught in the tourist meleé of Stratford Upon Avon's high summer Saturday afternoon, the motor remained calm and assured, with only the merest hint of overheating; none of that clutch-slipping, carb-coughing, motor-cutting, desperate throttle-blipping I'd had with S&Ss in hot sun and hotter traffic. Blimey, nearly sophisticated.
Side by side at the lights, tourists stopped mid crossing to stare - if the bikes had caused
a sensation at the Bulldog, here in straightsville they 
made the highlight of their trip to England, Japanese and Americans clasped expensive cameras to their eyes. I was able to maintain a nonchalant, 'I do this everyday' expression only for as long as it took me to catch
Neil's insanely grinning face and I too finally broke into a ear-to-ear face-splitter the Cheshire Cat would have been proud of. Even more impressive, of course, if I'd remembered to put me teeth in ...
While Neil was having some serious difficulties steering 'Biker's Lust', especially around roundabouts, Tribal Iron fell into them, and accelerated out of them with aplomb. The wide bars, low
centre of gravity and fairly short wheelbase made short work of town traffic, cutting between cars and quickly changing direction much easier than I would have suspected, which was made even easier by the the sweetly responsive motor. I was under no illusions, it was the motor I was really testing - not the motorcycle, and, as far as I was concerned the RevTech 100 passed with flying colours, a very impressive alternative to stock Harley or a full on S&S, and at the right price too.
Specifications
Make & Model: | Custom Chrome Europe Tribal Iron 2000 |
Engine: | 6 speed RevTech 100 (comes complete with with Mikuni HSR42 carb) and Crane HI 4 Single Fire ignition |
Exhaust: | White Brothers 'LowBro downpipes (headers) Fred Kodlin 'Heartbreaker' Silencers (mufflers) |
Primary Drive: | PRIMO 'Brut III' |
Frame: | Santee Longneck paired with a Santee Wide Drive swinging arm sprung with Progressive Suspension rear shocks. |
Forward Controls: | Recently TüV approved Custom Chrome |
Frame Modifications: | 3inch stretch, 35º of rake at yoke |
Forks: | Spyke B17 USDs |
Front Wheel: | CCE Chrome 3.5 x 16 inch, shod with a 130/90 Avon |
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Front Brake: | RevTech polished disc (rotor) with RevTech 4 pot calliper |
Front Mudguard: | Milwaukee Iron 'Gunslinger' |
Rear Wheel: | Custom Chrome 'Wide Steel' 5 x 16 inch shod with an Avon 200/60/16 tyre |
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Rear Brake: | RevTech polished disc (rotor) with RevTech 4 pot calliper |
Rear Mudguard: | Milwaukee Iron 'Sheriff' with Catseye rear light and Kellerman rear indicators |
Seat: | LePera 'Silhouette' |
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Petrol Tank: | Smooth Top with 4inch stretch |
Oil Tank: | Custom Chrome 'Winged' |
Risers: | Custom Chrome, 4inch |
Handlebars: | LSL 'Roadster' with Kellerman polished aluminium bar end indicators |
Switchgear: | Smooth 96 |
Headlight: | Arlen Ness 'Grooved' |
Bike kindly loaned by: | Custom Chrome Europe: Tel: +49 (0) 671 888888 0 email: info@cceshop.de
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