By Steve Bohn
Photography: Howard Kelly

If you're one of the few people out there who have not yet heard of DaVinci Performance, keep your ears and eyes open next time you are attending a rally. There is a pretty good chance you'll see the '02 DaVinci Bullet either cruising the streets or gracing the DaVinci Performance booth.

We had the pleasure of meeting Dan DaVinci, CEO of the company which bears his name, a few years ago when he introduced the DaVinci Power Booster Kit, which is designed to enhance the performance of already capable performing parts — S&S carburetors. Dan has been tinkering with carburetion and induction systems for as long as he can remember. Most recently, before delving into V-twin carburetion, Dan spent the majority of his time supplying components to some of the biggest names in NASCAR. Since making the venture into V-twins, many people have taken notice of Dan's invention. So much so, his company was awarded HOT BIKE magazine's (our sister publication) 2002 Most Innovative Product of the Year.

When we got together with Dan and the company's president, Paul Hartman, at Sturgis '03, the pair were putting the finishing touches on the bike you see here. We asked Paul about the bike, and he explained that they were looking for a bike to fill a couple of different needs. The first was to have a motorcycle that could be used as a test platform to R&D new DaVinci products before they are introduced to the market.

In addition, Dan thought it was necessary for the company to have a bike which would convey the feel the company was trying to achieve, namely a powerful, no-nonsense machine built to get down the road in a hurry. Not only did the bike need a sense of power, it needed to grab people's attention.

More importantly though, the bike had to look asthough it was moving, even when standing still. Paul began the project by contacting Will Smith, one of the owners of Pokerville Ironworks, and laid out the parameters which the bike would be built around. Will knew exactly where to begin when he brought Paul to the back of the shop and showed him a rolling chassis he had just picked up from Redneck Enginuity. Paul liked what he saw.

The dual-downtube design Low-Life frame had 6 inches of stretch in the backbone and just the right amount of rake, which was set to 42 degrees, giving the bike a low, aggressive look — exactly what Paul was after.

One area that was particularly to Paul's liking was the way the 250 Avon and traditional Black Bike spoke wheel looked sitting between the rigid framerails. A matching 21-inch spoke wheel residing up front was straddled by the 6-inch-over frontend that Will built using Midwest 5-degree trees and lower legs. Floating rotors from Braking get the squeeze by a pair of PM four-piston calipers at both ends of the bike.

Paul began the motor work by cracking open a crate which revealed a beautifully polished 113-inch S&S Evo. Once on his bench, the motor was disassembled all the way down to the cases. The rods were removed from the flywheel assembly and replaced with a set from Eagle Forged. Before proceeding with assembly, Paul stripped the heads and went to work porting them. He did this to take full advantage of the increased capacity which would be provided by the new induction system being built for the bike.

Paul knew he would need an exhaust pipe that would be able to effectively discharge the combustion gases, but more importantly to add to the aesthetics of the bike. Will suggested Paul contact Martin Bros. to see what they had to offer. Paul needed to look no further than a set Martin Bros. Slickstas II's, a nasty looking 2-into-1 pipe that was just what the bike needed.

With a bike this good looking, the only way to go when it came to the primary drive would be with one of the open persuasion. For that, Primo Rivera got the call. Power transfer from the motor to the transmission was completed with a clutch pack, also from Primo Rivera. Paul knew this bike would be pushed hard, and often. Wanting to be sure the transmission would be able to handle and everything thrown its way motivated Paul to press a polished five-speed transmission from Baker into service.

Since this bike was to be a test platform for DaVinci products, there was no time like the present to begin. Dan, along with his long-time friend and manufacturing partner David Nickens, of David Nickens Racing (NHRA Pro Stock Specialists), began to design, test, and manufacture a new-style of intake manifold, complete with a plenum backing-up a pair of DaVinci's new Fire Power G carbs.

Back at Pokerville, the time had come for Will to hang the sheetmetal, and this was a pretty simple affair since the fenders, gas tank, and the oil bag were all supplied by Redneck. With just a bit of minor modification to the fenders, the frame and sheetmetal were sent over to Don Herring Customs for a molding session and a quick squirt of black paint topped off with Don's own style of dual red racing stripes.

Once the paint dried, Paul was chomping at the bit to get the bike on the road. Both he and Will dodged each other as they assembled all the parts. A set of Redneck handlebars painted black to match the bike were bolted to the top triple-tree and became home to a really sweet looking set of Joker Machine hand controls and a single Ness mirror. Controlling the rear brake and the shifting mechanism are a set of forward controls from Accutronix. A headlight from Headwinds handles lighting up front while a taillight from the Ness catalog is mounted from the left side of the bike. The finishing touch came in the form of a Redneck solo saddle emblazoned with the DaVinci logo on it.

From the little bit we've seen so far, this bike turns heads and gets attention wherever it rides. So, next time you're at a show, keep an eye out for it, and while you're at it, stop by and see what's new at DaVinci Performance.