Nicholas Hoult, an English actor with toes dipped into celebratory action flicks such as Mad Max and X-Men, has just had an Indian Super Chief Limited in the Brat Shop – home of none other than Brat-Style founder Gō Takamine – and to say he’s happy with the results is a slight understatement.
Takamine’s shop is based out of Okinawa and has been churning out Brat-Style bikes since the early 2000s.
“Back in 1998, well before the term took off, ‘Brat Style’ was simply the name of a custom shop in Kita, Tokyo,” says an article on Steemit.
“From there, the man behind the style, Gō Takamine, started turning out bike after bike— crafting each with his unique style.”
“The ‘Brat Style’ brand grew over the years and propelled Gō to the top of the custom world. He eventually achieved such a high level of respect and notoriety within the moto community at large that he was commissioned by major manufacturers like Yamaha and BMW to promote their new models with custom builds.”
We’re assuming that Takamine had the license to do whatever he wanted to the bike (more or less) since one of the ingredients for the bike involved the ‘mad’ addition of a “1937 Ford truck fender that was transformed into the rear fender of Holt’s bike,” according to the press release.
“Rather than creating a flashy look, I wanted to create a simple customization,” Gō says in an article from CycleWorld.
That customization involved the following list of goodies, taken from the press release:
Nicholas Hoult’s Brat-Style Indian Super Chief Limited: Mod List
- Converted the rear suspension from a swing-arm/Softail to a rigid hardtail by installing cross members from the rear axle to the mainframe
- New Brat Style bars and brass risers
- Relocated the digital speedometer to the lower left side of the bike just below the fuel tank. “I did this by fabricating a special mounting system for the speedometer, rerouting the bike’s existing wiring to this new location,” Takamine states
- Cut two inches out of the center of the tank to narrow it from its stock size
- Installed a new leather spring-loaded solo seat
- Utilized the spare tire fender (originally mounted to the back liftgate of the old truck) from a 1937 Ford Truck and converted it into the new rear fender for this Chief. Finished the rear fender with an original ornate fender end piece from a 1940s Indian Chief
- Fabricated short, low-profile sissy bar for the rear fender
- Fabricated and installed a new set of custom cone-end exhaust pipes
- Installed brass, gnarled footpegs, and shifter pegs, including actual U.S. Buffalo Nickels at the ends of the footpegs
- Installed new headlamp with integrated vintage Indian Motorcycle brass coin
- Created upper fork leg covers to create a muscular old-school look for the front end
- Installed side mount (left side) Brat Style/Shi-Sa tail light and license plate holder
- Repainted the bike gloss black, with silver scallops on the tank and gold Indian script logo
For the full process, we’ve embedded two videos at the top of the article. The first is about the bike’s creation, with part two featuring Hoult himself in chats about his new machine.
Be sure to check back for updates, and drop a comment below letting us know what you think of this Brat-Style beastie, and enjoy the photo gallery, posted below – we certainly did.
*All photos courtesy of the relevant press release
