Rick Fairless

Rick Fairless is a wild, tye-dyed, psychedelic kind of a dude, no doubt about it. So what is he doing designing a bike that is, well, not so trippy, man?

For the last two years, Arlen Ness has been tasked with the design of Allstate’s ever-popular Sweepstakes bike build. But this year, Allstate shook things up a little by asking a different custom builder to come up with a design. When Rick got the call, he knew he was going to have to push the envelope for what he does.

“I had big shoes to fill following Arlen,” admits Fairless, who wanted to build something that was a little different than what he normally does and appeal to a wide range of riders that make up Allstate’s customer base.

“I knew I had to do something that was pretty crazy but it had to be something that was different than what I normally do, because, you know, Allstate represents a very diverse group of riders. So I wanted to step out of my normal tye-dyed, psychedelic image that was still mean and low down and cool, and that people could really get their teeth into,” he snarls.

Fairless and his crew at Strokers Dallas chose the Victory Vegas 8-Ball, not just because he is a Victory dealer, but because they are also a really great handling machine, he points out.

Fairless was on hand to help debut the new custom machine at the Allstate Rider Protection Zone, which was located at Daytona Speedway during Bike Week held last month. Riders in attendance got to see the bike in-person and learn from the man himself how the Allstate Victory Vegas 8-Ball came to be. Bike Week riders also got the chance to enter the sweepstakes to win the motorcycle, as well as see some of the other custom bikes Allstate owns, including Arlen Ness and Dave Perewitz originals.

Fairless’ reimagined 8-Ball is definitely unique: “I had those chrome cages put around the motor,” he explains. “It’s something that’s never been done before and it’s kind of unique. I like mesh, and you can see that I used a lot of it on the bike. I wanted to do some aesthetics to the motor, too. We’re making a lot of Victory parts and that’s going to be one of my new parts. I really love it because it looks cool, it looks mean, it looks urban, it looks kick-ass – all in one whack.”

In addition to winning the motorcycle, Allstate will give the winner a trip for two to Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas shop for a free custom paint job consultation, personalized by Fairless himself.

Following the unveiling, Allstate’s Victory Vegas 8-Ball, along with their other custom creations, will be on display in 2014 at the Allstate Rider Protection Zone at several motorcycle events throughout the year.