Trask Performance 2018 Hot Bike Tour Softail
All of our invited builders for the 2018 Geico Hot Bike Tour were working on crunch time, including Nick Trask and Trask Performance. But he had some extenuating circumstances that would make some people go fetal and drool if they had to build a motorcycle in 30 days though. Earlier in the year, Trask Performance suffered catastrophic damage; fire consumed the entire fabrication department. So on top of rebuilding and keeping the business going during that cluster, the Trask team knocked out this 2018 Softail Breakout to boot.
Nick himself likes the new Softail platform in general, citing it as smooth with plenty of power and good handling as well. You know by now that he wasn’t the only invited builder who opted for the newer Softails as the clay with which to mold their tour creations. Choosing the Breakout was different, but Nick’s reasoning behind that was pretty solid. He wanted something less upright and sporty like a performance Dyna or FXR and more like a classic pro street custom. With its wider back tire and overall stance, the Breakout was a very good place to start for that because the pro street style is all about long and low.
The bike also helped with the time crunch, which was far and away the biggest challenge any of our invited builders faced. Factor in that earlier fire damage and you can see how this machine serves as rolling testimony to how good Nick’s crew is at excelling under pressure.
It’s the same sort of pressure we in the magazine business know very well and can appreciate. Hot Bike may have gone out of print, but for more than four decades it was our honor to showcase the work of shops like Trask Performance. More than once the shops in this industry stepped up to help us with articles or shows on the shortest of notices and we thank them for everything they’ve done and the lasting legacies they create to the world of motorcycling that we all love.