V-Racer: Mark Hawwa’s Harley-Davidson V-Rod café racer

Who would be deranged enough to commission a custom café racer with a Harley-Davidson V-Rod as a base? Only Mark ‘FKN’ Hawwa.

You may know Mark Hawwa as the founder of the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (and Drive), the man behind the Throttle Roll custom bike show, or the owner of Sydney’s newest donut joint, Donut Garage. We know him as a total motorcycle nut with a penchant for café racers. But what we didn’t know, is that he’s always wanted to own a Harley V-Rod.

Given the V-Rod’s inherent style, most custom examples are wide-tired, chrome-slathered brutes. That’s never appealed to Mark’s sensibilities, so he’s long imagined a V-Rod with a sportier bend. When he met Noel Muller of Black Cycles in Brisbane, he knew he’d found the right person to execute his wild idea.

“I met Mark Hawwa when delivering bikes entering in Throttle Roll,” says Noel. “He asked me if I’d ever be interested in building a V-Rod. I said it’s not really my thing, but then he said ‘A V-Rod café racer‘ and I said ‘Hell yeah!’”

“Mark had this project in his head for eight years since his first ride on a V-Rod, and wanted one transformed into more of a café-slash-sportbike feel. He fell in love with a turbo Ducati Monster I’d built and decided Black Cycles was the place for this task.”

Noel found the perfect donor for the project—a 2006-model Harley-Davidson VRSC Night Rod, imported from Japan. The idea was to fuse the V-Rod’s muscular nature with the sporty lines of the café racers that got Mark into bikes in the first place. Dubbed ‘V-Racer,’ the project was now in full swing.

With 120-ish horsepower from the V-Rod’s rev-happy Porsche-designed motor, Mark and Noel had a good foundation to build on. So most of the project’s focus was on improving the Harley’s geometry, rider ergonomics, and aesthetics.

Once the bike was torn down to its bones, Noel started by addressing the 38-degree rake with an overhaul of the front end. The inverted forks from a 2006 Suzuki GSX-R were rebuilt and lowered internally by Ride Dynamics, before being fitted to custom aluminum yokes from MDS Fab. Those mods brought the rake down to 34 degrees.

Canyon Motorcycles sent over a pair of 18” TT Custom wheels; laced tubeless items with billet aluminum hubs. They’re wrapped in Metzeler Marathon Ultra tires in sensible widths, and stopped by Beringer braking components with twin front discs. The new brake lines are from HEL Performance, and the rear shocks are fully adjustable YSS parts.

Keen eyes will spot the V-Rod’s new ‘laced’ rear belt pulley. That was the work of Justin at PopBang Classics, who built it using bits of the OEM pulley to mimic the look of the new wheels—and to ensure proper clearance between the belt and swingarm.

Noel’s biggest challenge was wrapping the V-Rod in café racer-esque bodywork. First, he scalped parts from a Honda CB and Ducati Monster to create a bespoke fuel tank cover. Then he modified the front and rear of the frame to improve the bike’s lines, adding a kick in the tail for a more aggressive silhouette.

The rear cowl was handmade from a Harley-Davidson Street 500 tailpiece, the seat pan was formed from aluminum, and the seat was covered in leather by Carman’s Auto Trimmers. Hiding underneath it all is a custom fuel tank that replaces the stock item.

Flipping up the seat reveals the tank’s filler cap—and storage for a couple of essential items. Further forward, the tank cover is hinged to offer access to the bike’s electrical bits. Out back, custom aluminum panels envelop the underside of the tail, culminating in a license plate mount that’s flanked by Kellermann three-in-one LEDs.

Being a perfectionist, Noel went through three different handmade aluminum fairings before he was satisfied with the look of the front end. The final component uses a sleek bikini fairing up top, with generous side fairings that protect the radiator. Working around the Harley’s cooling system was a pain, but in the end, the hot-rodded vibe that Noel managed to create was worth the extra lift.

The details on Mark’s V-Rod are endless. Noel added a handmade aluminum belt guard, front pulley guard, overflow bottle, horn cover, and keyless ignition cover plate. The cockpit wears CNC-machined clip-ons, kitted with Beringer controls and matching switches from Estonia’s Renard Speed Shop.

A Motogadget dashboard hides behind the fairing, with both mounted custom bracketry. Bar-end turn signals and mirrors finish off the controls, while a powerful LED lights the way.

Nearing completion, the bike went back to PopBang Classics so that Justin could go through the painstaking process of preparing it for paint. Mark settled on a livelier version of the sandy finish that the V-Rod used to come in, complemented by countless chopped and twilled carbon fiber touches. Finally, Competition Coatings added satin black Cerakote to myriad parts to tie the whole thing together.

Other stand-out features include the bike’s brawny handmade stainless steel exhaust system and the clear stator cover from DGD Customs. And if you really scrutinize the build, you’ll notice that every last stainless steel fastener has been machined with a 10-degree taper—a process that took over 20 hours.

Mark’s outrageous dream of a Harley-Davidson V-Rod café racer has finally come alive, and it’s a jaw-dropper. If you’d like to see it in person, head on down to Donut Garage, where it currently shares floor space with two classic Mazda Cosmos, a Series 3 RX7, and a DeLorean.

Mark’s next project is there too, waiting in the wings—and it’s even more unhinged. “The team is building the ultimate sleeper soccer-mum SUV,” he smiles.

Black Cycles Instagram | Images by Pat Stevenson

Mark would like to thank Black Cycles Australia, PopBang Classics, MDS Fab, Carman’s Auto Trimmers, Motogadget, Canyon Wheels, Beringer Brakes, YSS Suspension Australia, Oberon, HEL performance, DGD Customs, Metzeler, Motul, Competition Coatings, and Ride Dynamics.