The son of an artist, at an early age Nicolas Chauvin impressed his teachers with his artistic talent. Moving from paintbrushes and pencils to metal and rubber, Nicolas eventually began customizing two-wheeled machines starting with his firs 50cc mini bike then moving onto his friend’s mini bikes. As he got older his talent grew and so did the size and displacement of the two wheeled machines he was creating.

As one of the top European custom bike builders with a host of awards and magazines spreads to prove it, Nicolas was hand selected to compete in S&S; Cycle’ 50th Anniversary custom bike building competition back in 2008.

Starting with one of S&S;’ 124ci V-Series engines as his basis, Nicolas meticulously crafted this amazing pro-street dubbed Wild Night. A mix of curves and points, the bike is elegant yet aggressive with many unique features. Where a traditional frame would have the downtubes running down in front of the engine to help cradle it, the downtubes on this bike flow with the arch of the backbone (or should we say backbones, as it splits off the neck and gradually widens out to the seat area) and run along the sides of the engine and then down. Like the wings on a beetle, the split gas tank meets up perfectly down the center. Every piece of the bike just flows and draws your eyes from the front to the back and side to side. Even the pieces that Nicolas didn’t create himself fit organically with the bike such as the Lighteon wheels, Ultima belt drive and Baker transmission.

Evidentially, Nicolas’ work is appreciated as much in the US as it is in Europe as he ended up taking first place in his class (V-Series) at the S&S; competition. To see more of Nicolas’ work visit: nicolaschauvindesign.free.fr