The Jersey 550

This certainly isn’t anything I haven’t said before, but given the opportunity, I’ve always strived for a simple, “less is more” philosophy when it comes to bike design. As a default setting, I always consider what the factories would have done in the days of yesteryear if the only consideration were the bare essentials. With the aforementioned concept in mind, I strive to commemorate the factory choices that were made at that time, in order to pay homage to the privilege I have to modify these beautifully made machines. This bike, “The Jersey”, is no exception to that rule in that the stock blue paint scheme really allowed for this machine to harken back to its factory roots. The electric metallic blue brought forth the congruous line from the headlight to the SuperSport 550 tank and handcrafted steel seat. Black leather with an inlay of perforated black fabric gave the seat upholstery a more modern appeal, this in turn, allowed for the use of a GSXR front clip to be more readily accepted on a vintage machine, especially with its COGNITO MOTO components. The under belly of the machine was given an aesthetic heaviness with its black Buchannans Sun Rims, Bridgestone Spitfire tires and semi gloss black motor. Rebuilt carburetors, stainless exhaust and polished aluminum components provided highlights against the motorcycles stout silhouette.