STORY: Matt Mansfield
PHOTOGRAPHY: Douglas Little

Trevor Wallace had driven motorcycles all his life. Growing up as a kid on the farm, riding them was a part of daily life both for chores and for leisure. Despite that, he had never actually owned a street bike. When he first laid eyes on a yellow 2003 Victory Vegas motorcycle, he knew instantly that had to change. "I had never really been into street bikes until I saw it and then I had to have one."

Incorporating styling from esteemed father and son custom bike builders Arlen and Cory Ness, the Vegas introduced an entirely new chassis design, 70 upgrades to the V92 92-cid Freedom power plant and a new suspension that dropped the saddle height almost two inches to a total of 26.5 inches. The innovations paid off when the Vegas was named best cruiser motorcycle by four different motorcycle enthusiast magazines.

Wallace said what caught his eye was the way the bike looked from the rear. He said the lines from the low-profile rear tire, up over the frenched-in LED taillight, past the seat and over the split-tail gas tank with flush-mount gas cap was what ultimately won him over after the yellow colour caught his eye. While Victory offered a unique customization system where customers could have their bikes custom made at the factory prior to delivery, Wallace couldn't wait for it. Instead he took the bike as-is, with only a set of billet aluminum wheels.

With the bike now in his hands, Wallace set to work.

First he upgraded the engine. Not satisfied with the 80 horsepower of the stock 92-cid, he upgraded to 100-cid. To help it breath better he added a custom exhaust and then applied the new computer and fuel mapping software upgrades in order to maximize the resulting power. "These things go as it is," Wallace explained. "It has a good motor, I've run it hard and haven't been back in the shop since."

Aesthetically, Wallace changed out the drop links to reduce the motorcycle's already peg grinding stance another three inches and swapped out his handle bars for authentic Arlen Ness Pull Back Bars and headlight with a Jack Pot. Perhaps most notably, he has had over two-dozen different parts chromed including: rear swing arms, pulley, rear passenger foot pegs and brackets, front foot pegs, master cylinder cover, shock tubes, triple trees, calipers, brake levers, headlight, starter cover, shifter lever, signal lights and signal light brackets.

One chrome part he is particularly proud of is the air cooler lines. Wallace thought the stock lines that run to the front mounted air cooler were "ugly." And were only made to look uglier when surrounded by so much additional chrome. So he custom designed stainless steel and chrome replacements that have proven so popular in the Victory community that he has begun to sell them.

Wallace said the combination of the bike's relatively unique make and his modifications has made the bike a bit of a traffic stopper when he takes it out on the road. I don't ride it a tonne, I enjoy working on the bike more," he said. "It doesn't matter where you stop with the bike there is always someone coming over to look at it."

For Wallace, he reported the build as being almost complete. The only thing he desires now is a custom rake kit to further exaggerate the bike's 33-degree rake and stretch out its front wheel. "It's good now but that would make it perfect."