Although his name can be found on some of the best custom bikes this fair isle has seen over the last couple of years, Paul Scott prefers not be called a custom bike builder. Instead he describes himself as an artisan, a designer/stylist.

This stunning and very unique bike is his own bike, and is the latest creation to spring forth from his workshops set in a beautiful farmyard location in Hertfordshire, an equally beautiful area of the country. He earns his living by doing a variety of engineering jobs. He describes himself as a basic all-round metal worker, and works on everything from routine agricultural repairs to specialised fabrication for some of our country's leading furniture designers. The most observant of you will have already noticed the white diamond emblem on Paul's jacket which identifies him as member of the Chopper Club, now the biggest custom bike club in the world. Of course not all high quality custom bikes are built by Chopper Club members, but the club certainly seems to attract Europe's top bike builders as members.

The market that Paul is aiming for now is designing and styling bespoke bikes for discerning customers rather than just modifying a frame. He is a professional craftsman, and workmanship of this calibre does not come cheap. When customers enquire about the potential price of a project they are reminded to bear in mind the old proverb; "If you have to ask how much, you can't afford it."

His quest in life now is to continually push back the barriers in the world of custom bike building. Given a free rein and sufficient budget, I think he is just the man to do it. He made the custom world sit up and take notice when he unveiled his last bike "T2", winner of more than a few custom shows and magazine prizes with it's adjustable rake, ride height and shock absorber angle. He then proved it's worth by drag racing it as well! "Road Creature" has purposely been designed to be a functional styling exercise. Paul took the initial elements of the bike, like the engine and the wheels, and then concentrated on how it was going to look. That's why the bike looks so small and squat in the photos, because it is, not that Paul is three meters tall.

Because there is no frame as such on "Road Creature", the bike being held together by twenty two individual aluminium castings, the only bronze welding on this bike is the rear swingarm which is also a product of both Paul's mind and hand working in perfect harmony. The engine is a Yamaha Virago XV920 bought in unknown condition from a friend and then put on his fully adjustable workbench/jig and the wheels and forks offered up to see how it looked. Settling on a 45 degree rake, he made the headstock from billet aluminium, which is where his departure from the normal process started. Bike headstocks are normally either turned, or cast, in a round shape. "Road Creature"s headstock is square. And remember, that's just the start. The differences between this bike and others, are many and manifold.

Paul came up with the organic concept behind "Road Creature" due to his influences from the furniture and design world he circulates in. He also has one of the biggest names in the contemporary furniture world as a neighbour, Mark Brazier Jones, who has supplied furniture to people like Sylvester Stallone and The Artist Formerly Known As Prince. This must help when it comes to generating new and inspiring ideas. Further inspiration came from advanced British designers concept sketches in the motorcycle press, the new Batman films with the anatomically styled props and costumes, and radical comic artwork like Judge Dredd.

His idea of the bike is of a predatory creature preparing to pounce. It's overall profile has been likened to that of a womans body, or been reminiscent of a whale or a dolphin. And then there's the front view. Very insect-like indeed. Paul actually drew inspiration for the one-off casting which holds the two Ring foglights from a sculpture by Barbara Hepworth. Road creature is truly all things to all people The value of having an open mind, and not being hindered in your thought process by thinking, 'that's the way it's always been done, so that's the way it has to be,' has never been better demonstrated than in this bike.

Another reason for the organic theme was that, in nature, you can see a myriad of perfect designs. An oak tree, for instance. The perfect form for not being blown over. The skeletal structure underlying a human being is nature's perfect, and elegant, answer to the particularly complex set of problems the design presents. And it was the skeleton that formed a key part of Paul's initial design work for this bike. Paul made his own skeleton to help with the build; well nearly, to help him get a better idea of how the bike was going to fit him and how it would look with him sat on it, Paul laid on the floor and drew round himself. He then took these patterns and made a hardboard mannequin with pivot points where all the body joints are. Attention to detail or what?

The bike took 18 months to construct, due in no small part to the fact that everything on this bike is hand made and one of a kind. No bolt on custom catalogue parts for our man Paul. He even made the rubber castings that make the seat, well the bits of rubber that fit into the cast tail piece. By his own admission, it's not the world's most comfortable seat, but it looks really good. He says the hardest job of all was the left hand exhaust pipe from the rear cylinder. This is made up from many small pieces welded together, and follows the shape of the engine casings perfectly. The hours of work that went into this are almost beyond belief, but it's details like this that separate the great from the good. Both exhaust pipes meet up in a silencer, again made by Paul, which gives the bike a snarl to match its feral appearance.

The belly pan represents the adrenal gland, connected with tubes, sending signals to the rest of the body. It actually houses the horn, starter solenoid, light relay, CDI ignition module, starter button etc. It has a strong piece of steel running down the centre of it, shaped like a skate blade, to avoid any risk of damage to vital components caused by the bike's lack of ground clearance. Foreseeing problems like that before they occur can only come with years of experience building bikes, something, undoubtedly, which Paul has. Mind you, that should be immediately obvious to anybody looking at the photos.

Paul normally paints his bikes drab colours, so as not to distract from the engineering that has gone into the bike. This bike would have been a subtle shade of matt black as well, had it not been for the fact that the guy who owns the Joe Bloggs clothing empire came to buy some furniture one day. When Paul saw the rather fetching shade of silver on his Bentley, and thought, hmmm. So base silver it was, and I for one think it fits in really well with the whole bike. The fuel tank is fabricated from sheet steel, and fits around the carburettor, a Ducati 906 Paso item. The air filter can just be seen through the slots in the rear of the fibreglass cover that goes over the fuel tank. The carburettor is operated by a Honda C50 throttle slider which sits at the end of some hand built handlebars.

Each time you look at the bike, you see something different. Like the brake discs. Paul didn't think the standard ones looked quite right, so he made some of his own in stainless. It's the attention to the small details like that, plus the sheer skill and effort that went into building "Road Creature", that saw Paul win the trophy for Best Engineering on his first trip out with the bike to the Rock and Blues Custom Show. I'm absolutely convinced that that will just be the first of many. I'm also equally convinced that Paul will go on, not just to be one of the best, and well known custom bike designers in this country, but possibly also the world.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

Engine; YAMAHA VIRAGO XV920
Engine Modifications; CARBURETTOR FROM DUCATI PASO 920
Frame; NONE, BOLTED UP FROM 22 INDIVIDUALLY HAND MADE ALUMINIUM CASTINGS
Front Forks; APRILLIA 125
Front Wheel; KAWASAKI KR1
Rear Wheel; YAMAHA V MAX
Brakes; HAND MADE STAINLESS STEEL DISCS, BREMBO MASTER CYLINDERS, PERFORMANCE MACHINE CALIPERS
Rear Shock Absorber; HAGON/BMW K75

Design, Manufacture and Assembly by; PAUL SCOTT +44 1763 274700
Aluminium Polishing; PT'S POLISHING SHOP
Assistant Pattern Maker; MARK BRAZIER-JONES
Engine Graphics; MARY SCOTT, ALI DANDO
Fibreglass Laminates; NICK VINCENT AT PROLAMINATES
Chroming; VEHICLE AND GENERAL
Metal Casting; TAYLORS FOUNDRY
Machining; BEACHAM ENGINEERING, PHIL @ CURTIS STAR, CHOP & CHANGE
Painted by; G & B AUTOSPRAY.

John Bolt