A Discovery Channel TV show, a best-selling book, appearing on The Joe Rogan Experience and touring the globe, it’s all just part of the world of Richard Rawlings. The fast, loud and proud Texan has been turning his love of cars into a wild success for decades now. But he’s also a bike nut too, he owns plenty of cool motorcycles, competed in a biker build-off and successfully sponsored a team to victory at the Isle of Man TT. Then, in recent times, the Gas Monkey Garage head honcho has been stepping firmly into the custom bike scene, pairing up with some of the best builders to create kick-ass, one-off rides. The latest of which is this collaboration with Dutch outfit CNCPT Moto, a street fighter Harley-Davidson Pan America that proves orange is definitely the new black.

If you haven’t heard of CNCPT Moto before, it’s the relatively new offshoot of Powerbrick in Rotterdam, which are behind some of the best custom parts you can buy, particularly for BMWs. But as they have been diving further into the world of Harley-Davidson, they decided to come up with unique branding for this sector of their business, and at present, they produce and distribute products for the Sportster S and the Pan America. So, when Richard Rawlings saw what Tim and the guys were doing, they all agreed that a collabortion was in order. And armed with all of the parts they needed, the CNCPT Moto team headed for Texas, to transform a Harley, Gas Monkey style.

Now, you might think a Pan America is an odd bike for a custom, let alone one on which to base a whole product line of parts. But in 2025, few styles of motorcycle deliver so much, in one package, as the Adventure segment. And the big American is no different, packed full of features, a brilliant electronics package, semi-active suspension and an engine that can elicit heaps of horsepower. But in stock trim, it’s an absolute mess, so having arrived at the Gas Monkey Garage, one of the first things the guys had to do was strip the bike of a truckload of unwanted parts and pieces that simply get in the way. Of course, being in Texas with Richard Rawlings meant the first step was to have a beer, even if the time was 10 am.

In stock trim, the Pan America weighs 254kg, but with a ten-foot table of stock parts removed, it’s fair to say that this beast is under the 200 mark. Plenty of that weight comes from removing the huge factory subframe, designed to support the two-up seat and solid panniers. But in its place goes one of the best bits that CNCPT Moto have developed, a full billet subframe, which raises the seat height and drastically shortens the tail. Starting with a block of aircraft-grade billet alloy, seven individual pieces are machined before being hard anodised in a matte black finish. There’s an aluminium ECU tray to ensure that the vital component is properly secured, and all of the stainless bolts are supplied.

Everything has been brilliantly thought through to ensure a sleek finish, with two-piece integrated LED indicators, finished with OEM connectors for a straight swap. The same is true of the license plate holder and the Koso light that illuminates it, while the taillight from the stock bike is cleverly retained, with a cast ABS cover to keep things tidy, finished in the stock HD vivid black, so that you don’t have to pay to spray these components. Over the top of the new subframe, the seat pan has been fashioned from stainless steel to ensure it’s not going anywhere, and then it’s all topped in a high-end Alcantara seat, this one with orange stitching to suit the Gas Monkey theme.

At the front end, the aggressive look comes by way of a custom front subframe, which lowers the entire nose piece and headlight. This has the effect of making the top of the tank, the highest point of the body work, and with some of the fuel cells’ plastic removed, it’s all dressed up with a new billet filler cap. Then, to rid the bike of the big factory front indicators, the guys use a set of slimline LED units, which are neatly fitted into the factory side covers. To finish off the look and with only three days to get the bike built, Gas Monkey Garage’s own Mike Coy handled the paint, with the two teams working together to make sure the striking HD orange was the perfect match for the pieces that had been prepared back in the Netherlands.

Speaking of orange, it would be impossible to miss the Samco hose kit, which provides the complex water-cooling system not only a serious dress up, but also improved temperature resistance and durability. And because one good turn deserves another, the entire 42-piece hydraulic system, including the ABS brake lines, are all replaced with braided items in the same orange hue, from UK firm Venhill.

A neat set of clear fluid reservoirs finishes out the system, and they sit on a pair of wide LSL handlebars for improved leverage, with billet aluminium risers to bring them up to the right height. What doesn’t come off the shelf is the full stainless exhaust system, built by NIUS Moto, and terminating under the seat via a pair of Powerbrick mufflers.

The engine gets a custom cover, with the logos of all involved laid down in neat graphics, and with DNA filtering on the intake side, the guys have had the Revolution Max engine lay down a thumping 165hp on the dyno, when properly tuned. But understanding that the best single modification you can make to any motorcycle is ultralight wheels, the guys go all out, fitting the big Harley up with a set of stunning RotoBox carbon fibre wheels.

The huge reduction in unsprung mass improves performance in every way, and the new sprocket reduces the mass even further. These are wrapped up in quality Pirelli Diablo Rosso II tyres, and then all that was left to do was for the Dutch and Dallas teams to take turns tearing up the Texas tarmac. To build your own, head over to the CNCPT Moto website, and the entire plug-and-play kit can be put together with just a few basic tools. 

[ CNCPT Moto ]