DesJardins is one of those guys who can’t leave well enough alone. The tinkering started on his two-stroke Suzuki T250 and Yamaha RZ350 before he became obsessed with Yamaha’s R1. It was his 2002 YZF, for which he designed and built his own single-sided swingarm, that really got things going. As he started customizing other areas on the bike, he realized that there weren’t any aftermarket turnsignals available that met his requirements. So he made his own billet-aluminum LED units, including 10 additional sets. He quickly sold those and realized a business opportunity had just slapped him in the face. So in the spring of ’03, he walked away from a good job at Brooks Automation working with semi-conductors to start Gregg’s Customs. DesJardins concentrated on making the signals, while his girlfriend (now wife, Neda) helped package and hawk them. By ’05, he was selling 15,000 units a year through McCoy Motorsports (www.tobefast.com) and expanded the business into fender-eliminator kits and other accessories. But as the business grew, he wanted a way to showcase his company’s wares. Hence the creation of the motorcycle you see here. Others in the industry noticed DesJardins’ talent early on and tried to get the then-25-year-old on their payroll. The most prominent prospective employer was none other than Jesse James of West Coast Choppers, who was working on a project Honda VTX custom (“Red Rocker,” Cycle World, February, 2004) at the time and took an interest in one of Gregg’s single-sided swingarm designs. The two never came to terms, which in a way was a blessing in disguise as it allowed Gregg to forge his own path on this bike. 
He had a pretty solid idea of what he wanted to create. First and foremost, he desired a bike that braked, handled and accelerated like a sportbike, with the swagger of a showbike. This would require genuine engineering. The heart of the bike was always meant to be a V-Twin–primarily for the sound–and came in the form of a stock Honda RC51 engine purchased on eBay. A huge amount of work went in to placing the motor in the chassis. Making a suitable airbox was a challenge due to the custom gas tank, which required a different fuel pump for clearance purposes because the vee of the engine was rotated backward and upright like the letter “V” itself. This made room for the Ron Davis-fabricated front-mounted radiator, in place of the RC51’s side-mounted units. An aftermarket Ducati 916 oil cooler was added, as well. The twin-pipe, underseat exhaust system was hand-fabricated by DesJardins and uses a Dynojet Power Commander to optimize fuel delivery. Stainless-steel head pipes of dissimilar diameters were used because of the different run-lengths from the cylinders (a là Ducati 999). He then fabricated the titanium canisters and stylized-aluminum end caps to converge cleanly with the tailsection. Building the frame was the biggest task and took about two months to complete. He started by mounting the engine to a work table, using it as his jig. The trellis structure may look conventional at first glance, but it’s a combination of round 4130 chrome-moly tubing with streamlined chrome-moly aircraft stock for braces. Many of his design solutions were made due to space requirements, while some were purely aesthetic. Using a fuel-injected, liquid-cooled engine, for instance, meant there were a lot of wires and hoses to hide. There were other lessons to be learned, as well. Initially, he beadblasted the motor and had it powdercoated but wasn’t careful enough cleaning out some residual media, which ultimately caused it to lunch itself. Lesson learned, he chose to paint it the second go-round. Then he PermaStar-coated the cam covers, oil pan, crankcase and machined-billet clutch cover for added bling from its chrome-like sheen. 
The swingarm is a chrome-moly steel unit of his design braced with streamlined aircraft stock. The working bits include a Ducati cushdrive, sprocket and Brembo brake. The Öhlins CBR900RR rear shock is mounted on the port side to allow the exhaust cans to run under the seat, but doing so required that the engine be offset in the frame slightly. Using his ’02 R1 as the template for geometry, DesJardins built the chassis with a 55.0-inch wheelbase and 24.5 degrees of rake. No expense was spared when it came to selecting components for the chassis. The fork is an Öhlins Road and Track inverted unit with DesJardins’ own machined-billet-aluminum upper and lower triple-clamps. Black-powdercoated six-piston AP Racing calipers bite PVM rotors. The PVM levers actuate radial brake and clutch master cylinders with their reservoirs cleverly integrated into the handlebar–they only hold a few tablespoons of fluid each! The wheels are forged 10-spoke PVM units that have been PermaStar-coated. This bike has more tricks up its sleeve than Lance Burton. Starting at the front, a Harley V-Rod headlight unit was chosen for its diminutive size and nice styling. The headlight bracket itself is a work of art, machined from a solid piece of billet aluminum, with different-diameter top and bottom orifices to match the taper of the fork. The handlebar risers are aero-shaped to match the frame elements, while a painted RC51 digital dash assembly was used. Foot controls of his design feature radial-mounted rearsets that have three height positions and pivot on needle bearings, as does the sidestand. As an engineering student at Clarkson University, DesJardins spent a little too much time in the machine shop learning to use the lathe, mill and to TIG weld. Ultimately, his grades paid the price and he dropped out, but it also gave him the skills he would eventually use for Gregg’s Customs. 
When it comes to craftsmanship, the tank and tailsection stand out. Originally Gregg planned to make the tank out of carbon-fiber, but he decided to form it out of aluminum instead. One problem: He didn’t know how to form aluminum. Undeterred, he bought some books on the subject, purchased an English wheel on eBay and was in business. The tank you see here, believe it or not, was his first attempt. After seeing it in person, we almost didn’t believe him, swearing up-and-down that he’d made a hundred before it. It’s that good. The shape is unique, with its long concave teardrop-shaped top and flush-mount pop-up fuel filler. Deep indents give knees a place to hang on. The hand-formed aluminum tailsection is just as impressive, a shape loosely based on that of the Ducati 999’s. But what really sets it apart is the taillight. He created it by using LED circuit boards for illumination and then formed and shaped a beautiful solid-acrylic lens that is perfectly flush with the contours of the point at the rear of the piece. Hidden under the custom Corbin seat are a small Yuasa battery, the Power Commander and other electronics. Of course, any bonafide custom-built motorcycle that took almost three years to complete deserves fabulous paint. That was the job of Craig Fraser from Air Syndicate in Bakersfield, California. He sprayed the rootbeer-brown paint and pinstripe flames. A closer look reveals ghosted skulls within the flames, a very subtle but nice touch that adds to the bike’s level of detail. This bike was meant to be ridden, and we were anxious to do so, but jumping on someone’s labor of love can be quite stressful. Lots of expensive motorcycles roll through the Cycle World garages; thirty-thou’, forty-thou’ and even sixty-thousand-dollar bikes… They pale in comparison to the countless hours of fabrication, machine work and problem-solving that went into creating this motorcycle. Gregg claims that he only has around $15,000 into parts and materials, but we’d bet if you added up the labor, we’d be talking about a value closer to triple or even quadruple that. 
During a brief ride, we discovered that not only is the GC-1000 functional, it’s quite impressive. The seating position isn’t totally ideal due to the longish tank, but otherwise the ergonomics are good. The handlebars are mounted low like a sportbike’s, not moto-style as on most streetfighters. Steering is quick and precise but then again the bike really doesn’t weigh much (400 pounds wet). No surprise, acceleration is excellent. The sound booming from the silencers instantly draws a crowd, and the bike’s paint and never-ending array of details keep lookie-lous captivated. The chassis behaves quite well, with the top-notch Öhlins suspension eating up bumps with ease. Brakes are complete overkill, but one-finger braking is something we’ll never complain about. This bike isn’t one that you want to pound out the miles on, but for quick weekend blasts to a favorite hangout it’s a lot of fun. When we asked DeJardins if he was finished with the bike, we fully expected him to say that he was still making a tweak here or adding something there, but that wasn’t the case. It’s complete, and DesJardins is moving on to the next project. If he had to do it all over again, a couple of things might have been tackled differently; otherwise he is completely satisfied. The GC-1000 is very impressive, and we can’t wait to see what GC comes up with next, especially considering that now he actually knows what he’s doing! 
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