the making of

Dethgrip

Dethgrip

From Heaven to hell

They don't all start like this. There's no paint by numbers, some assembly required, plug-n-play formula when it comes to the inner workings of the ICON Garage. Nay. Instead, it's a collective and evolving family recipe that usually spends a good 2-3 years in the slow cooker until it's built, ridden, shot and served for you - our adoring fans. Dethgrip started off as a solid entry-level-dad-pants commuter - a 2015 Kawasaki Vulcan 650S, an unlikely candidate for a tracker from the pits of Hell. But hey, we're ICON. We'll always keep you guessing.

Hello Father

When we got it, it looked  similar to this. Any dad could pick up one of these bad boys at his local dealer and expect to put a lot of comfortable miles on it. Just cruising along, not a care in the world about getting laid. The Vulcan is an A-B kind of ride, not an X-OHHH!!!

Step by step

Through our mind and to your eyes, there is a general idea of where we're going to take you on the ride. Never to nail it on the very first go because everything is a process. Our process consists of taking the bike apart, and putting it back together 20+ times until we can step back, take it in, and say, "yeah... that's the one".

When Kawasaki commissioned us to do the build, the one caveat was that we not modify the tank in any way. So didn’t. But we did cut almost every other piece of the frame away. The early beginnings started with Invader wheels and cardboard. Some people would stop right there and call it a day, but we decided to buy another 6 pack and press on. After all, this was for Kawasaki.

Springer tech

The forks were the main component in the ‘neo’ part of the build. We've always wanted to use a springer on an ICON build, but they never really fit our previous concepts. The fork ‘tubes’ are actually repurposed 650 Ninja swing arm components, used for the oval tubing. Running the dual Nitron shocks seemed appropriate given the performance needs of builds.

first shot
Second run
mmmmm... close
ahhhh, yeah

Seal of approval-ish

We took the Vulcan 650S and ran with it. Some of you out there may be wondering what Kawasaki thought of Dethgrip. Did they love it and immediately insist on giving us another bike to tear apart? Did they hate it and tell us we're all good for nothing so-and-so's? Well, ol' Kawasaki's thoughts are like the wind, but if you turn your head to the night's sky and listen closely you just may here the wind say, "nice job".