His name is Mark Hawwa, the larger-than-life character behind the global phenomenon that is The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride, and its cousin, The Distinguished Gentleman’s Drive. When he’s not donning the dapper, he has his finger in many pies, such as Donut Garage, a tasty mix of sweet treats and automotive nirvana. He’s also the brains and brawn responsible for the epic custom bike show Throttle Roll, which last year saw fifty of the best builders vie for the crowd’s attention, and turning up with no less than six amazing machines was Noel from Black Cycles Australia. At that moment, the man who runs many things, fuelled by his Middle-Eastern heritage, knew Noel was just the right guy to make his dream a reality. It’s a Harley-Davidson V-Rod like nothing you’ve ever seen before, a café racer muscle bike built to incredible standards and known simply as V-Racer.

“In September 2023, I met Mark Hawwa while delivering bikes entering Throttle Roll. 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!,’” Noel told us. Mark first rode a V-Rod years ago, and it’s a bike that has always grabbed his attention. If you’re not from Australia, you need to know that’s no surprise. The Western Suburbs of Sydney are filled with Mark’s Middle-Eastern brethren, burning rubber on their ape-hanger-equipped V-Rods, with loud pipes and usually dripping in gold chrome, which is only matched by the amount of gold around their necks. The problem for Mark is, that he’s not really a ‘Harley guy’, and it was only when Noel agreed to come on board that he could see his boyish dream becoming a reality.

Noel went on the hunt for a suitable donor and found a low-mileage 2006 VRSCD, and then promptly called Mark to ensure he hadn’t changed his mind. Nope, it was full steam ahead. The concept was simple but daring: a fusion of Harley-Davidson’s iconic V-Rod with the aggressive lines of a café racer. The love of café bikes is what got Mark into motorcycling and inspired the phenomenon of the worldwide motorcycle charity event, The Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride. Now Noel had the mammoth task of making it all happen, and the two men collaborated heavily throughout the process. So, with the big bike stripped back to its bare bones, the first task was addressing the huge 38° rake, of which 4° is built into the stock trees.

Noel found the solution by brilliantly utilising a set of 2006 GSX-R inverted forks, which were completely rebuilt by Ride Dynamics to lower the internals. These were then paired with custom triple trees machined by Michael from MDS Fab. Expertly drawn up on CAD, Michael produced the finished product from 50mm 6061 aluminium, which is paired with billet clip-on bars equipped with the best gear: Renard switches, Beringer brakes and levers, and Motogadget electronics. The rear shocks are fully adjustable, built by the talented team at YSS Australia, precisely to Noel’s specifications, factoring in Mark’s weight and the bike’s overall geometry.

The stunning rolling stock is the work of Adrian from Canyon “TT Wheels,” who expertly built up the custom 18” tubeless spoked wheels with billet hubs and also supplied the ultra-high-performance Beringer brakes. Then there is the drive pulley, a masterclass in custom building by Justin from Popbang Classics. Based on a stock item, he meticulously crafted it to mimic the wheel design, while engineering the new pulley to resolve any clearance issues. This allows Mark to ride on beefy Metzeler Marathon Ultra tyres, 120 front and 200 rear, providing both looks and performance. Every detail is flawless, such as the fact each stainless steel bolt was machined at a 10° taper to enhance the bike’s sleek appearance, a task that took over 20 hours.

And then there is the bodywork, the element that truly brings this epic transformation to life, all engineered by the master Noel himself. He carefully combined parts from a Honda CB and Ducati Monster to create a unique tank cover, with further modifications to the frame to enhance visual flow. The rear was raised 60mm to give the bike that long and low profile, and the tail section was crafted from a Harley-Davidson Street 500 tail shroud, with an aluminium seat that flips up for access to the newly designed fuel tank, replacing the stock under-seat unit.

At the rear, the black leather seat was crafted by Carman’s Auto Trimmers, and aluminium panels were shaped to completely infill the rear and continue out to the number plate mount, which uses Kellerman micro all-in-ones. Finally, the aluminium top fairing, which took three iterations of creation and destruction until Noel was satisfied with the result. Justin was tasked with laying down the paint, and his preparation is absolutely flawless—a must to achieve this high-quality result. The main colour is a subtle throwback to the production matte sand hue that these bikes were presented in from the factory, now revised in an understated and sleek gloss finish, paired with a warming grey accent colour. All delicately topped off with the V-Racer logo while paying homage to all hands that worked on this masterpiece.

The Revolution engine is a beast, the liquid-cooled V-Twin having been developed by Porsche Engineering and members of the HD racing program. To elicit the perfect sound and give Mark a few extra ponies, the exhaust created for the project is a work of art, handcrafted from over 45 pieces of 316 stainless steel. Each side of the engine looks stunning too, with a clear stator cover by DGD Customs allowing you to look inside the monster motor, and on the other side, an Oberon Performance slave cylinder and cover. But there were hurdles for Noel too: “The trademark V-Rod radiator/oil cooler covers were a challenge, so I made up more flowing aluminium full-length covers, including a full aluminium and stainless mesh front piece which fully encloses the cooling system and wiring, and modified the oil cooler to narrow the lower section.”

To bring the bike to a production level of fit and finish, Noel engineered a handmade aluminium belt guard, front pulley guard, lower front frame fillers, overflow bottle, air box, horn cover, and keyless start cover, which help make this seem like Harley-Davidson’s never-released prototype café racer. Over the weekend, the V-Racer was spectacularly revealed at Mark’s Sydney venture with friend Simon Francis, Donut Garage.

The Black Cycles build joins other automotive marvels as part of the Donut Garage line-up, there’s a ’67 Mazda Cosmo, a 20B Cosmo, a Series 3 RX7, and a fan-favourite DeLorean. There are more incredible vehicles to come, and not only can you enjoy Sydney’s best donuts, but the venue acts as the ultimate space for gearheads, with meet-ups, events, vehicle launches, and a shared love for incredible automotive engineering, creativity, and craftsmanship; the V-Racer is going to fit right in.

[ Black Cycles | Donut Garage | Photography by Pat Stevenson ]