CW Garage: Ian McElroy's Hurricane - First Look

Over the years, people have nicknamed the CBR1000F Hurricane "the refrigerator" because of the ugly rounded bodywork that covers everything. The Hurricane for which I had traded a perfectly good car was a basket case. At first, I just wanted to strip it down and build a cheap streetfighter, but after removing all the bodywork I found out why it was there to begin with. It was even uglier without the body. I decided to fabricate a new body for it, but at some point the project got very far away from me. I put in time after work and on the weekends for over two years. I ended up fabricating a lot more parts than originally planned. I can't seem to leave well enough alone, so I figured it would be a good test of my abilities.

During the build, I picked up a lot of new skills. The frame, motor and suspension are mostly original, but everything else was built from scratch. Aside from the gas tank, I fabricated everything from aluminum. I learned a lot about welding in those two years. I only outsourced a couple things. The welding on the subframe was done by GT Welding, and the final paint was by Hondo at Rust to Rods in Salt Lake City.

I am very pleased with the finished bike, but unfortunately now that I'm done I am too afraid to ride it. Not only is it my baby but it's also my first streetbike. If I dropped it, I would probably cry. I'll probably end up just selling it and starting another bike.