Motorcycles and rock 'n' roll have been
linked together since the 1950s, and this connection is vividly made
with the introduction of Dirico Motorcycles.
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler lends his star power to the Dirico
project, boasting a love of motorcycling that he says creates a sense of
freedom he can’t find elsewhere.
Dirico Motorcycles is a collaboration between Tyler, his neighbor Mark Dirico, and his cousin Stephen Talarico.
“The talent and brains behind this is Mark Dirico,” says Talarico
plainly. The man whose name is on the tank has an engineering background
and specializes in machine design, a field in which he holds more than
20 patents. One of his other companies has the capacity to produce 4
million boxes a day!
 Aerosmith’s
Steven Tyler is getting into the bike-building business with his
engineering neighbor, Mark Dirico. Photo by the author.
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Talarico’s role is in providing marketing savvy as well as the
facilities to build the bikes out of his impressive Manchester
Harley-Davidson dealership in New Hampshire. Three full-time builders
work out of the shop, and the company says it takes about 10 days to
build a bike from start to finish.
 Steven Tyler poses on the hot-rod Dirico Speedster. Photo by the author.
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 A Steven Tyler autograph is a no-extra-charge option on every Dirico motorcycle. Photo by the author.
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As for Tyler’s contributions, the rocker says it’s mostly in “tweaks and details,” adding, “It’s an ongoing process with Mark.”
It was back in September 2007 when the company first announced its
debut under the Red Wing Motorcycles brand, a reference to Aerosmith’s
winged logo. But Honda didn’t take kindly to another motorcycle company
having ties to the red-wing theme that is part of its trademark. “It was
a fiasco,” Talarico comments. “Honda came after us and they were
relentless.”
And so the company’s name became the less imaginative Dirico
Motorcycles (I personally think “Aerocycles” might’ve been more
provocative…), launched at a time when boutique chopper brands aren’t
really in step with a tanking economy.
“The V-Twin market is really constricting right now, and we’re carving out a little niche” says Talarico. “We’re not giving up.”
“We’re trying to have fun with the products we’re doing,” Tyler interjects.
To get the word out, Dirico brought out a group of motojournalists to
sample its three-model lineup around the lovely New England area
surrounding Boston. Prior to our ride day, I asked Talarico what makes
Dirico’s bikes different from other limited-production cruisers, and he
responded with a cowboy boot analogy: “Some are uncomfortable, but a Lucchese boot feels like slippers.”
To maximize reliability and meet emissions requirements, Dirico uses
off-the-shelf Harley-Davidson engines, both standard lumps and also
Screamin’ Eagle versions. They are said to be 49-state emissions-legal
if the muffler baffles are installed, which they weren’t. Ease of
servicing is also ensured by the fitment of H-D switchgear, gauges and
various other bits. The frames, however, are proprietary pieces drawn up
by Mark Dirico and built by Rolling Thunder in Canada.
Custom options are virtually unlimited, and nowhere else can you get a
Steven Tyler-autographed electric guitar in the same shade as your bike
(for an extra $250). Signed fenders are free if you want ’em. Each bike
comes standard with a 2-year unlimited-miles warranty.
Flyer
The retro-themed Flyer is perhaps the most appealing bike in Dirico’s
lineup, offering cool, throwback styling with company’s lowest price
point. Now, $31,900 ain’t chump change, but it’s not outrageous in the
custom bike world.
 The Flyer, with its springer front end and deep fenders, looks vintage but isn’t.
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The Flyer is defined by three elements: the springer front end, large
vintage-style steel fenders, and the spoked wheels with color-matched
rims. It’s a tidy package with 61 inches between its axles, and that
old-school springer fork is raked at a fairly modest 28 degrees.
Together with reasonably sized Metzeler rubber (130/90-16, 150/80-16)
and a 660-lb claimed dry weight, the Flyer is imbued with a charming
deftness unlike most contemporary choppers.
A 26-inch seat height combined with a beach cruiser handlebar and
well-placed floorboards keep a rider mellow, only becoming ungainly
during U-turns when the wide bar will test your reach. The H-D
high-mount speedo/odo is easy to see, and the bike ably fits riders of
various sizes.
Duke gives the Flyer a blurry thumbs-up.
Ride and handling qualities are quite good, and the springer front
end appears to have benefited from Mark Dirico’s “playing with the
springs,” as it offered decent compliance and control. A weak front
brake (Harley again) is disappointing but not entirely unexpected from a
bike of this genre.
The Harley-sourced seat on the bike I rode was mismatched for this
chassis, as the seat back rubbed obnoxiously on my tailbone. It turns
out that Dirico is instead choosing another H-D seat for its production
versions, and a quick test-sit revealed that it immediately feels much
more hospitable.
To keep the Flyer’s price in the low-$30K zone, Dirico uses a stock
Twin-Cam 88B Harley motor for power. As you’d expect from the 1450cc
Harley lump, it’s very well behaved and offers great throttle response,
even if it won’t yank your arms out of their sockets. Still, it feels
sprightly enough for its intended purposes, and its counterbalancer keep
unwanted vibes at bay. However, I was less appreciative of the
two-into-one Thunderheader that had its baffles removed from its
flat-black muffler. To my ears, the popping on the overrun sounds like
firecrackers going off inside a trash can, but your ears may disagree.
 More options...
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The Flyer – with the new seat – is an enjoyable place to watch the
scenery go by as you rumble through. The production versions of the
Flyer will have pan-style heads, a kickstarter and body-color frames.
Though a list of options wasn’t available to peruse, there’s a veritable
cornucopia of accessories for the Flyer, everything from chrome fork
springs, fender lights and bolt-on windshields.
Speedster
 The Speedster, the bike we never rode...
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Although built in the same vintage style as the Flyer, the Speedster
is the hot-rod in Dirico’s lineup, as it boasts the 110-cubic-inch
Screamin’ Eagle motor. It’s safe to assume that it has a much bigger
kick than the TC88B in the Flyer, but assume is all I can do since
another journo hogged the only one on our ride! It lists for a spendy
$39,900.
Pro Street
There’s nothing vintage about this low, stretched-out chop, throwing
out a 36-degree rake with a 71-inch wheelbase to create a stylish
contemporary cruiser. A nice line extends from the headlight through the
tank and over the 25.5-inch seat height. Dual frame downtubes bend
inward in a stylish flourish, while the rear is punctuated by a fat
chunk of 240mm Metzeler that rides on a Softail-style rear suspension.
 This
is Steven Tyler’s personal bike. To our knowledge, this is the only
bike in the world that has had the asses of both Duke and Tyler on it.
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The Pro Street is comprehensively slathered with deep chrome from the
headlight housing and Marzocchi inverted fork to the wheels, motor and
Samson Big Guns 3 exhaust. Braided cables add some more bling, while H-D
switchgear and gauges don’t look out of place and function well. It
even uses the H-D fuel gauge incorporated into the faux filler cap. Turn
signals are nicely integrated into the mirrors and the brake light for a
clean look.
The Pro Street isn’t the only one with a good stance, as the rider
layout is accommodating for a bike of this ilk. The stock bar position
puts a rider into a slight reach for the grips, creating a curved spine
that is good at counteracting big bumps. I also got the chance to ride
Tyler’s personal Pro Street,
 The
Pro Street has a preference for straight lines, but it is also quite
content on the backroads of New Hampshire. Note the running lights and
turn signals in the mirrors.
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If Duke could figure out how to write while he’s riding, he’d be a lot more productive.
harley davis
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and
it was equipped with taller bar risers which also provided a
comfortable position. Grips are chrome jobbies with rubber inserts that
were more comfortable than expected, and I was happy to feel forward
controls that weren’t much of a stretch for a 32-inch inseam. The only
comfort caveat is a scooped Corbin seat that rubbed me and my lower back
the wrong way.
Despite the 21-inch front wheel residing in the next zip code, the
680-lb (claimed, dry) Pro Street isn’t overly cantankerous in its
slow-speed handling. Metzeler has done a fine job producing a wide rear
tire (240/40-18) that doesn’t radically spoil a bike’s handling. Not
that the BG3 exhaust system allows much lean angle in right-hand turns.
Also earning demerits was the frame of one bike that suffered a cracking
effect in the powder-coating, but Dirico assures us this was the
result of an improper finishing process that has since been rectified.
The Pro Street’s suspension works surprisingly well for a fat-tire
bike, aided by the long wheelbase and a well-damped fork. But the
massive weight of the rear wheel and tire makes it impossible for the
rear to smoothly follow bumps in the road. Although the brakes are just
standard Harley items, they offer decent power and feel though
braided-steel lines.
Unlike the more docile Flyer, the Pro Street uses a 103 c.i.
Screamin’ Eagle motor that produces bigger bangs which can be easily
felt on the butt dyno. The 1690cc V-Twin feels vigorous when the
throttle is pinned, yet it also reacts coolly when just puttering around
thanks to H-D fuel injection.
A revelation was found when I experienced a Baker Drivetrain 6-speed
transmission for the first time. It shifts with much more precision than
the 5-speed Harley tranny in the Flyer, a
ka-click rather than a
ka-clunk, and is a pleasure to use. Harley, call Burt Baker!
The Pro Street looks great and works well, but it might be held back by a shrinking market for riders looking for a $39K bike.
The Pro Street is a nicely finished, bad-ass-attractive scoot that
will appeal to anyone in the market for such a machine. But at a list
price of $38,900, it’s hard to figure out why it costs $14K more than
the similar-themed Big Dog Coyote we recently tested, even though that Dog is more of a chopper than the hunkered-down Dirico Pro Street.
And this high-end price tag is what will hurt Dirico the most in
these trying times. The days of a quick re-fi to fund a chopper
fascination are behind us.
“In some respects we may have missed the bus,” says Talarico, “but we
don’t care. We never designed this business to make money. This is a
passion for all three of us.”
That passion, and presumably some deep pockets, are hitting a certain
market. Dirico has already put 47 of its bikes in the hands of
well-to-do riders, and one of its current customers is the wife of
Russia’s Minster of Fisheries, a six-foot-one model. A custom Boston
Bruins theme bike is also in progress, and a distributor has been set up
in Japan.
 This
Pro Street will be sent to the wife of Russia’s Minster of Fisheries.
We’ll guess she didn’t have to pay the extra $250 for the autographed
matching guitar.
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We’ll leave you with a statement from Dirico about the positioning of
the company: “Designed and hand-built for seamless function, Dirico
motorcycles are statements of craftsmanship, style, detail, and
innovation, expressed through modern-age components yet assembled with
old-world skill. Clearly not for everyone, Dirico motorcycles are
designed to resonate with the more experienced rider who wants to be
distinctive but not entirely different.”
The lingering question only you can answer is, how much is that (and a Steven Tyler autograph) worth to you?
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