Custom F4 Fighter | WILD FILE

Once he was sure that his club-racing days were behind him, Daniel O'Brien, a 51-year-old British-born resident of Southern California, delivered his 2006 MV Agusta F4 1000 track bike to AIP Racing in Santa Clarita for a complete urban assault makeover. O'Brien's F4 was a regular at local SoCal venues including Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca, Fontana and Willow Springs, and still in near-perfect condition when he decided to retire it from the track.

Not the typical candidate for a fighter makeover, AIP builders Chris Jones and Clint Solomon worked closely with O'Brien on a plan to shed the exotic MV bodywork and expose the F4's true beauty. With only the factory fuel tank remaining, AIP stripped the Italian sportbike down to its bare Trellis frame, shaving every tab and then paneling the main sections between the tubes before starting the rebuild. A Fight-Machines fiberglass tail was grafted onto a custom subframe with Stalker exhaust pipes snaking their way back. A Kosman-widened rear wheel beefs up the rear profile while the front end gets the Euro headlight treatment with a relocated dash, Pro Taper dirt bars, Euro Components hand controls and Rizoma grips and mirrors.