Metric Thunder News

A Piece Of Metrically Cruisin' History From Cobra

As originally appeared in V-Twin

The folks at Cobra Engineering in Anaheim, California, make no bones about their status in the metric custom cruiser field. They know they stand out like a beacon on a stormy night in the aftermarket metric world. That's because they've been around for quite a few years, manufacturing, distributing, and creating many of the cool custom parts and accessories fans of Japanese cruisers take for granted these days.

They have no intention of going away any time soon. The bike seen here proves Cobra's stamina in the market.

"We built this bike, because, at the time, there weren't any Japanese custom cruisers around, period," said Blaine Birchfield, sales manager at Cobra Engineering. So, what you are looking at is actually a piece of custom history. Whether or not it's really the first custom cruiser of the metric persuasion is about as easily answerable as the age old chicken-and-egg question. Most certainly, this excellent bike represents the early stages of custom designs specifically aimed at this metric species.

Built in 1994, this awesome Intruder has been around quite a bit already, and according to Blaine, it started as a showcase for what you could do with a Japanese bike in terms of customizing it and dressing it up.

"We had it at the Cincinnati Trade Show back in March of 1994, just to see if there was a market out there for Japanese custom cruisers, and we ended up manufacturing a whole series of parts and accessories for it."

In fact, nowadays, Cobra makes and sells parts and accessories for all Japanese cruisers, things like light bars (or freeway bars, as they call them), billet accessories, floorboards front and rear, luggage racks, sissybars, and a whole slew of dress-up parts. They even have stuff for Harley's... Dial us TOLL FREE (866) 744-7900 at Metric Thunder if you can not find what you are looking for.

The main wrench on this Intruder was Denny Berg, who, together with Ken Boyko, is an instrumental force in Cobra's Special Projects Division. The two of them have put together many an awesome metric cruiser so radically altered that even the less erudite connoisseur of motorcycles cannot help but notice just how different they are.

In a way, this Suzuki is a testament to Cobra's strength and endurance in a highly volatile custom bike market. "We still have it," confirms Blaine. "It's sitting right here in our showroom."
So, do yourself a favor.

August 29, 2005 06:56 PM