Forming his own unique approach to bike building from what was effectively necessity; living in Japan in the late nineties and needing to get through Tokyo’s heavy traffic, Go’s ‘Brat Style’ was, and still is, about being simple and effective.
Having relocated his life and shop to California eight years ago, Go’s passion for building and racing vintage bikes became more achievable thanks to the scene being more active than in his native homeland. And of course, his exposure to Indian Motorcycle became even greater.
The build of the Brat Style Chief came from conversations with Indian Motorcycle’s Ola Stenegard, a friend of Go’s who had shown him some early sketches of the new Chief.
Like in so many of Go’s creations, his vision was to create something ‘simple not flashy’, and work began to bring Brat Style to the Chief. The fuel tank design was a big part of the core aesthetics. Taking the shape that Go loved but condensing the width and reducing the height. Next was the rear fender. Once again taking inspiration from great functional period design, Go went with a rear fender from a 1937 Ford, honing it to work and fit perfectly with the rear wheel and swingarm of the Chief.
As the Brat Style look began to form, Go selected and machined key components, like the fork covers and chain guard, handmade form sheet metal, through to the Brat Style original megaphone exhausts, the handlebars and unique brass risers and footpegs.
With such unique attention to detail, the final aesthetics needed to be just right, with Go selecting a simple yet classic paint scheme for the Brat Style Chief, featuring a scallop with the old Indian Motorcycle logo.
The Brat Style Chief is the second in the series of three renowned V-twin customisers selected by Indian Motorcycle to produce totally unique builds from the 2022 Indian Chief. The third and final project to be revealed will be from freestyle motocross legend Carey Hart. Stay tuned.
