The Best Of Both Worlds: Harley-Davidson and Bell & Ross Team Up For Iconic Watch And Bike Combo

Bell & Ross watches and Shaw Harley-Davidson – the current world champions in modified Harley-Davidson® motorcycles – have teamed up to develop a one-off custom motorcycle: the Bell & Ross-inspired Nascafe Racer.
 
Shaw Harley-Davidson is a leading Harley-Davidson dealership in the United Kingdom and a six-time award winner for Best UK Dealer.  They approached Bell & Ross about a bike design project that was to be inspired by the watchmakers’ vision on performance, precision and engineering.  The same technical exactness that Bell & Ross adheres to when creating its watches was taken into account in the building of this unique motorcycle.


 
The methods used by Bell & Ross master watchmakers when developing and assembling their timepieces was employed by the Shaw Harley-Davidson master technicians when building the project bike, which is based on the Harley-Davidson® FXSTB Softail® Night Train, one of the more radical Softails – long, low and naked and named by Willie G. Davidson.
 
The motorcycle was totally stripped down to the last nut and bolt in the Speed & Custom workshop of the East Sussex dealership, and every detail was taken into account on the rebuild.


 
Using the BR 01 Carbon – the iconic time instrument produced by Bell & Ross – the Shaw Speed and Custom team mounted the timepiece in a handcrafted center console using a machined piece of aluminum. The watch mounting positioned the timepiece in the ideal place for its function as a professional tool for the rider.  A combination of anodized blue, carbon and stealth-like matte black custom paint was used on the bike to reflect the design of the timepiece.


 
"We wanted to mirror the Bell & Ross timepiece wherever we could on the motorcycle to ensure that the essence of the finished product was never compromised by superfluous design or extraneous items," said Steve Willis, Shaw Harley-Davidson Sales Director and Head of the Speed & Custom design wing of the dealership.
 
“We were immediately excited by this project,” explains Bruno Belamich, Designer and Co-founder of Bell & Ross. “We identify with the values portrayed by Harley-Davidson, values that we share such as the search for the extreme, adventure and precision.”

The Bell & Ross mission statement is that every detail has its purpose and function. This technical exactness is expressed through pure lines and timeless elegance and is one that has inspired the Shaw Harley-Davidson team in the United Kingdom to design and build this one-off custom motorcycle.
 
The bike was a crowd pleaser in its debut at the American Motorcycle Dealer (AMD) World Championship round of Modified Harley-Davidson Class at the London International Custom Bike Show at the Alexandra Palace on February 26 and 27, 2011. The bike will be seen at other events including:
 

• The Dublin International Motorcycle Show
• Custom Chrome European Show Mainz
• St Tropez Harley-Davidson Euro Festival
• Bournemouth International Custom Motorcycle Show