“This is a Harley-Davidson Fat Bob,” Elliott says proudly standing next to his sleek performance machine, in the workshop of his inner Sydney terrace.
“It's a fire-breathing monster in there. We have customised it and stripped it all the way down, and then rebuilt it to be a land speed racer.”
It’s a passion project for Elliott and his business partner James Curnow, the result of two years hard work and quite a bit of money.
“So the bike we bought was $32,000. Since then, we have spent around $100,000 on it,” says James.
Their goal – to set a new land speed record on the salt plains of Lake Gairdner in South Australia.
“It's been designed to go over 200 mile an hour, that's over 321 kilometers an hour,” James says.
“We've actually had a former F1 engineer work with us on the aerodynamics for the bike. Yeah, I feel really confident.”
Founder Elliott Andrews developed a passion for Harley Davidsons as a child, growing up around his father’s motorcycle shop in Birmingham, UK.
“When I was a kid, my dad had a lot of Harley-Davidsons hanging around the shop and I was just always fascinated by them,” he says.
Elliott Andrews grew up around motorcycles. Source: Supplied Elliott Andrews
“They are loud and noisy and can be quick, and I’ve been obsessed ever since.”
Elliott later worked in a Harley-Davidson dealership in the UK.
His racing career took off when he migrated to Australia in 2012. A conversation in a pub four years ago led to joining forces with James in their own business – designing and building race bikes.
As well as making their own bike faster, they also upgrade motorcycles for their customers.
“This week we have two Harley-Davidsons in the workshop. These are projects for customers who have street bikes, they want to modify.
Business partners Elliott Andrews and James Curnow. Source: SBS Sandra Fulloon
“So we develop their race engines - taking an engine and making it perform better, by either giving it more talk or more top end power.
James says they chose Sydney as "a really good place for this business because a lot of people are interested in motor sport, and Sydney also has amazing facilities.”
However the past 18 months have been tough for motor sport, with most race events cancelled due to pandemic restrictions.
“One of the positives is that customers took the opportunity to improve the bikes they own,” James says.
“So business actually picked up during the pandemic, and accelerated the business which was quite surprising.”
Their focus for 2022 is look for a bigger premises, as the business keeps growing, and to set a new record at Lake Gairdner.
The team at Lake Gairdner, SA. Source: Supplied Elliott Motorcycles
“Riding this bike on the salt flats, there's nothing else like it,” says Elliott.
“Going at high speed and that sort of environment - once you do it, that you're addicted to it.
“If we set a record on the lake next year, it will be recognized as an Australian record, but it would actually break the world record as well,” says James.
“It is something that we've spent years working up to, so it would just be unreal.”
