Buell Custom: Santiago Chopper's 'Bucati'

Alain Bernard is one of the most unpredictable builders in the US: You can never guess what he’ll come up with next. The bread-and-butter of Santiago Chopper’s business is trike conversions, but Bernard also turns out traffic-stopping two-wheelers on a regular basis—like this Buell custom. This is his latest, nicknamed ‘Bucati.’ Believe it or not, the bike is based on the 1998 Buell X1 Lightning, an oddball roadster with a 1203cc v-twin. But on the plus side, the X1 had a top speed of just over 125 mph (200 kph). Bernard and mechanic Mike Lima have boosted the pushrod lump...