Shaw Speed’s – Miss Universe

We don’t see many Sportsters with this type of racy look. The normal approach is a flat tracker, high pipes, dirt tires and that high tail. This new machine from Shaw Speed & Custom shows a different approach and another possibility.

‘Miss Universe’ is a Harley Sportster 48 commissioned by Australian businessman Troy Barbagallo. He had noticed Shaw’s Nascafe Racer and fell in love. He got in touch with Shaw’spoint man Steve Willis, and they started kicking around ideas.

“Troy wanted a custom motorcycle in his garage, but it had to be his own, something unique,” says Steve. “Inspirations were his love of timepieces, working movements and details. He wanted a nod to the past with retro racers and bobbers, but with a twist of modern—a rideable piece of art.”

The English workshop set to work turning the humble Sportster into a classy retro-modern racer with British and European influences. There’s a lengthened swing arm, 21-inch wheels front and rear, and a mono shock rear suspension with a rising rate Öhlins tucked up between the tank and seat. Might want to keep the goodies back a bit.

At the front is a parallel-link girder fork built sporting huge 13-inch rotors and twin six-piston Performance Machine calipers. The remote oil tank is mounted under the back of the frame, and the gas tank hides a dummy front end that houses the wiring, battery, and ignition coils.

The frame has been modified with a twin perimeter rail, like most modern sport bikes, to surround the engine and lower the tank. Painted Perrier water bottle green. The upper half of the fairing is a modified Ducati Panigale item. The seat is finished in grippy Alcantara fabric used on many race bikes. The bars are not clip-ons, but what Shaw Speed refers to as “low mounted kick up bars.” The switchgear and master cylinders come from Performance Machine and Brembo. There is a fast ratio throttle with side pull cables to keep things clean and uncluttered.

The engine has been stripped, detailed, and de-cluttered before being fitted with new performance heads, a new throttle body, and a short but effective exhaust system inspired by the Britten race bikes.

Miss Universe is not your typical Harley Sportster custom, but she’s attracted a lot of admiration already. Harley-Davidson Europe shipped the bike to Biarritz, in France, for Wheels and Waves, later this year it will be at the EICMA show in Milan in November, where it will be showcased in the Öhlins stand.

Shaw Speed won the AMD Modified Harley-Davidson title in Sturgis in 2010—the first time a regular Harley Davidson dealer beat the custom workshops. What are the odds of a repeat performance if they enter Miss Universe into the next AMD World Championships? Hopefully we will find out.