Trust me when I tell you this gets harder every year.... this year's entrants killed it.... so many good bikes and so many talented people.... but at the end of the day there can only be 1 People's Champ for Born-Free 7 so we had to get the ball rolling... Being a judge sucks and making big decisions that affect others (both positively and negatively) is never something we take lightly.... unfortunately we can't make everyone happy and if being angry at us helps have at it BUT our not choosing a particular bike doesn't mean it won't RULE all when you're done.... it just means that we didn't choose your project to move on - that simple.... I couldn't build a bike that I would choose to make the cut, for the record.....
Anyways, without further babbling from me, here's the list...
If anyone is so outraged or stoked that they wanna get in touch with us feel free to send all the love/hate mail to info@showclassmag.com....
Again, thanks to ALL who entered... it takes a brave soul to put it out there and give it a shot.. and thanks to Mike and Grant for letting us do our best to fuck up their amazing show... haha....
Also, special thanks to our sponsors for this year's fun... The Chop Cult, Biltwell, Lowbrow Customs and Visionary Cycle Products!
It's just gonna get better from here.... now all the pressure is on you guys (the public)....
Here we go again.... it's time for you, the public, to get involved in the fun... time for you guys to vote for your favorite.... the top 13 will make it through to the next round and be one step closer to making the FINAL Born-Free 7 Builder Invite spot...
We are running polls on our site and on the Chop Cult as well as letting the Born-Free organizers and former People's Champ finalists weigh in on the decision.... vote as often as you'd like because we'll be culling the double and triple votes to do our best to keep things on the up-and-up.... KEEP IN MIND IF YOU VOTE MULTIPLE TIMES WE WILL DELETE ALL OF YOUR VOTES... so, run the risk if you want....
Without any more of my gator chomping here we go....... Here's a photo and a few words about each bike being built straight from the builder themselves...
I'm planning on riding this bike to Born-Free so my main goal was to build a chopper I can RIDE. I chose an Evo powertrain for the reliability & wanted to make it aggressive so I went with 8 up, 0 out, and 30 degrees of rake on the frame. Almost every piece on this bike is hand fabricated, machined, and welded by me. Lots of work into all the polished stainless and aluminum, but it'll all be worth it once I get this bike on the road.
I'm building my chopper around a 1942 Magnum 45 motor which is a sportster top end on a flathead bottom end. I'm putting it in an old Knuckehead chopper frame which will be molded to the high heaven. Running dual WM16's & a 20 over narrowed wide glide front end. I've got a bunch of crazy stuff to throw at this project... Handmade fiberglass tank, a 1930s dutch oven for an oil tank, Nick-E Shift, M88 Linkert, Morris magneto, some 2 into 1 pipes I'm gonna build, tons of polished parts, and eventually a bunch of chrome. I'm going to have local legend Mark Conforth do the paint to put the final touch on this beast.
I'm building a fully polished matching Motor & Trans 1951 FL Panhead with an L carb on a Harold's Panifold. Frame & springer are custom one off pieces built and designed by Andy Carter of Pangea Speed and myself that will both be chromed. Wheels are dual 18" American Racing 12 spokes. Belt drive/pro clutch inside a polished Imperial finned primary cover. Tins will have some ribbed body work with chrome accents and paint by Harpoon.
The chopper I'm building is based around a mag fired 1977 88" Shovelhead with a 4 3/4" stroke & 10.8:1 compression. Gonna be pairing that with a 4 speed ratchet top trans in a 2 up 0 out 28° Mullins Chain Drive single downtube looped tail frame. I've got an 18" laced for disc in the rear & a 21" dual disc in a 2" over anti dive 35mm front end up front. I'll be making some stainless T-bars and exhaust & for the tin I'm using a friscoed Wassell tank & a rear fender from Cooper Smithing Co. I'm going for a very 80s street racer club bike style. No frills just a business built chopper meant to crush the streets. The bike will be blacked out with some simple orange & white crab claw flames for paint.
I'm building my version of a digger in show bike fashion. I'm a big fan of swingarm bikes and an avid collector of all sorts of vintage junk, so I chose to modify a late 60's HD frame while attempting to dive into my personal stash of old parts. The front end I'm using is an old Ness low bend springer. The gas and oil tanks will be removable, but I will add some tasteful molding to blend it all together. Keeping the prism/squared off lines throughout, I chose to construct the fender out of steel while honoring the look of a Ness fiberglass fender with a Lucas taillight. The rear suspension is a set of SB&F sprung struts set to a round swingarm. 21" laced to a hex spool hub up front and a 16" juice drum in the rear. The power train is a fully polished 55 pan bottom with a shovel top end & a fully polished 4 speed. A bit of chrome & a tidy paneled type paint job should bring it all together!
Whats up everyone? I'm building a completely uncut OEM frame alcohol fed dual carb 1961 Panhead chopper. My goal with this bike is to build a skinny, light, agile chopper that uses a stock frame. There's a lot of handmade parts on this bike, from the foot controls to fender mounts to radiused washers for the 12-Point Hardware & much more. Since I decided to use a completely uncut OEM chassis, it's presented some unique but fun challenges to achieve the look I'm wanting with the skinny split fuel tanks, but I got them all dialed in to where I want them. I just got some fork tubes from Forking By Frank this week, so I'm about to start getting my handlebars dialed in with an internal throttle setup soon. Jasin Phares of Harolds Iron Works and I decided to cast a dual carb intake for M53 Bombsite Linkert carbs & he is also supplying the primary cover on this build. Once I receive a few pieces I'm waiting on I'll be able to finish my foot controls, clutch pedal bracket, and the list goes on from there! For paint the frame will be HOK Kandybrandywine, and the tanks will be 2 toned, chrome & Kandybrandywine. I'm also chroming the rear fender, but unsure If it will be 2 toned as well.
The chopper I'm building is an 81 Shovelhead I got in a box with the engine torn apart, a trans, and the stock frame. I'm rebuilding & repairing the engine and trans back to stock specs. On the motor I'm going to run a dual webber carb with split cast mushroom covers, a burkhardt magneto setup and bigger cam. Going to be kick only with a cast imperial panhead primary cover, modified rocker clutch, and some high & tight mids. Gonna run a small drum brake laced to a 19 up front and an HD juice drum laced to an 18 in the back. The tin is all going to be shaped out of aluminum and given a brushed finished to top it all off!
It's been a long minute since I've built a full frame custom bike. I was constructing a couple Motorshop replica frames winter of 2011-12 and bending the loop tails when I came up with the idea for my "Super Loop" frame. I do all my own work so I'm building my motor starting with HD Panhead cases and want to run a mix match set of Pan & Shovel heads. I'll probably make myself suffer over some dual carb madness too! Just finished up my one off peashooter/Ibeam and I'm ready to turn the corner and see what lies ahead while building this bike!
The first conception of this chopper started when I got my hands on a 57 straight leg frame & a 55 Panhead motor and trans. I laced an Ironhead hoop to a star hub for the rear and an HD hoop laced to a Union Speed spool up front. To finish off my roller I knew I wanted something a bit different for the front end, so I got RKB Kustom Speed to build me a one off narrow girder. I'm currently working on all the fab, mounts, and a couple of small details on the frame and then it's off to paint. l'll also be machining a few one off parts, including pressure plate, distributor cover, shift knob, and more! My idea for paint at this point is some light molding on the frame & tins to smooth out the welds, and I'm leaning towards three shades of candy purple with some silver leafing to add some classy touches to the finished paint job. Once paint starts I'm going to tear into the motor and trans for a rebuild before final assembly.
I'm building a chopper around a 68 Shovelhead motor. I want the bike to have a very aggressive short wheel base stance. The cherry on top of this project will be making a one of a kind CNC billet sportster tank out of a 100lb chunk of aluminum. I just finished up the big mods to my frame with a double windowed neck, now it's time to tackle all the small mounts & tabs. I'm going to be painting the frame bridgeport grey, and everything else will be bare aluminum and black for the entire bike. I'm going to be narrowing a late model HD springer and running a 23" spool/16" juice combo for my wheels. I'm using my new production wooden magneto cover and have a few more crazy, yet classy parts in store for this build.
My name is Jeremy and I'm building a long Panhead chopper. This bike used to be a radical chopper that belonged to an old club guy from Ventura. He tamed it down and gave it to his son who wasn't interested, and now it's landed in my shop being built for a customer. The inspiration for this project come from a Finch front end my customer had laying around. I heavily reworked the trees and made them fit this frame. A lot of Finch front ends have these grooves turned in the legs in groups of three, that of course inspired me to do the same with my sissy design. When you see this bike in person you will notice the number 3 a lot. I whipped up a seat pan has a lot of hidden structure built into it with the idea to keep the tall sissy bar from shaking itself in half & give the passenger a safe spot to lean against. I laced up Harley hub and put on a Model A excelsior tire for the rear end. Reworking a Lowbrow fender, horse shoe oil tank, and a Paughco gas tank. I'm using the bars & exhaust my customer provided me. I've got a lot more work to do, but it's exciting to see all the people who are supporting the contest & all the builders.
I'm building a '57 Panhead Chopper. Polished cases, wishbone frame, invader front wheel and Ness Springer. I've modified a GME tank with a tear dropped accent on the sides, fabbed a sissy bar from 1/2" stainless, and made a 16 gauge rear fender from scratch. I'm running a sprotor and custom machined oil tank to match the rear stainless wheel covers. The paint will be candy red with variegated gold leaf panels.
My name's J.J. Flairty from Genesee WI and & I'm building a 49 Panhead chopper. My main goal was to try and build, fabricate, and machine as much as I possibly could from scratch. I've ridden BMX my entire life so I decided to build my frame using .875 and 1.250 4130 chromoly tubing and made a super narrow wishbone style frame. I've machined my own flangeless "Hallcraft" style front & rear hubs out of 4150 heat treated material. I'll be running an Ironhead drum brake setup in the rear. I've started making my own 35mm fork lowers that will use a hidden axle I designed and are also made from 4130. I plan on topping off my roller with a set of super narrow trees I'm going to machine out of some 316 stainless & then moving on to all the little details to get this bike going down the road!
I'm building my chopper around a 69 Shovelhead & a 4 speed ratchet top drivetrain. I built a skinny springer and a rigid goosenecked wishbone frame to match. When I decided to use the American Racing 12 spoke in the rear I knew I wanted a 21 up front. So I filled, filed, and sanded the 40 spoke holes on an aluminum high shouldered front hoop to "blank" and made an "American Racing" 12 spoke spool to match. I'm going to be making the gas & oil tanks along with the rear fender, then using a lot of zinc and anodized coatings to finish off the bike.
Building a 48 Panhead. The goal for me was to finally build the bike I've always wanted. I found a deal so good I knew I'd never get again on the motor and trans, so I'm trying to do it right. I got a 22 over front end with a 21 spool up front and a 19 in the back. Old straight leg frame that we cut up and stretched to 4 up, 3 out, and some rake. Trying to keep it tall, thin, and simple. Can't wait to get this bike done and rip on it.
I'm working on a 77 Shovelhead with polished cases & a polished kick only 4 speed rachet top. Putting a primo belt drive & a pro clutch inside of a vented primary w/ an MPD finned primary cover. I've got a Weber dcoe40 2barrel that's swept forward w/ Velocity stacks. Started out with a modified D&Z Engineering single down loop with a bunch of up and out & I molded in a bobbed fender with hidden struts and a narrowed a Lowbrow DIY Wassell tank. I worked out a two tank fueling system that fills from the rear of the seat. Running an early Gatto springer, and tucking in a 21 akront laced to a Wargasser spool & an Allstate 2.75 safety stripe up front, and a 15" Cragar S/S mag converted to take a juice drum in the rear. Got some 60's Pontiac lights for headlights & Finch lights with lenses from Psycho Resin in the rear. Shack Cycles is doing up my seat and I chopped and modified some Cycle Goods & Pangea Speed foot controls to make my high mids.
I'm building a Shovelhead chopper using a 7/8" tubing frame that me and Paul from Bareknuckle built using some factory casting pieces. I narrowed an old coffin tank & did the same thing on the Panhead oil tank, trying to keep everything skinny. I whipped up a version of a Crazy Frank inspired fender for my rear end and am running an old K Model front end in a set of narrowed trees. The motor cases, heads, and transmission case will get a full polish & my dad and I will shoot the paint for the bike.
I had the idea in my head to build a frame as if HD had made a rigid frame Sportster. I started with a 1970 front loop I had & a set of panhead axle plates that I modified for right side drive. I switched the frame to a single seat post & made some "cast" rear motor mounts from scratch (complete with casting #'s) that slide down the seat tube just like on an old factory frame. I modified the primary cover by cutting off the electric start hump, welded up the foot peg notch, and removed the ribbed recess on the outside to give it a smoother look. The tank will have a polished stainless rib to match the ribbed chrome fender. Front end is a shaved 33.4 with a set of one off trees I drew up with the same rib as the tank and fender. 18" knuckle star hub in the rear and a spool laced to a skinny 21x1.50 hoop up front. Can't wait to see how it looks after paint & chrome!
Hey everybody, I'm building a '57 Panhead chopper. The "survivor" or "barnfind" of my dreams. My direction has come mainly from a couple pieces. The straight leg pan frame chopped in a very bizarre fashion by some Iowa EFMC members in the 70's & the homemade passenger seat/sissy that took a couple Davenport swap meets to find its way home to me. Using those two pieces for my creative direction, I made or am currently making the tank, fender, handle bars, fender struts, and a few other doodads to go along with the bike. The front end is an old 20" over that a friend ran in the 70s and 80s. The rest of my gaps will be filled in by old parts from mine and some of my friends part stashes, a hint of flair, and only the finest offerings of doodaddery I can conjure up.
I started building this 66 Shovelhead chopper as soon as I heard y'all were putting on the People's Champ competition again this year. The first thing I decided to do was build a stainless steel one off frame. I've never done one before so that had its fair share of learning curves. I wanted to make this bike different but still keep things clean so I decided to do an oil in frame build, the oil tank is in the backbone and the return comes out in the downtube. The next process was splitting a set of sportster tanks and mimicking those tanks with a raised oil tank in between. I built a pogo style springer front end, sissy bar, motor mount, & fender mounts after that, and now I just keep moving down the line on to everything else. I was inspired to build this bike by the people that take the hard way through life rather than the easy, folks who build the whole bike and do it well! I'm gonna put a lot of time into this bike & I hope that shows through in this build.
I'm building a Harley Magnum chopper using an HD 45 bottom end & an Ironhead top end. I've machined and built this motor myself & I'm putting it in a modified 45 frame with an early RL springer. Pretty much all of the bike will be one off & built by myself. I'm using 19" British rims in front and back with a QD rear hub and a WR spool on the front. I wanted this to look like a factory race with tons of style but not going too over the top. That being said there will be some pretty trick parts on the bike. I'm using 5 gallon tanks that I've slimmed down and reprofiled to fit the motor. I'm thinking a simple black paint with some gold pinstripe which I plan on having Myk Roc from Vancouver do.
I'm building a chopper based around a 58 Tr6 Triumph in a 51 frame. I'll be using the original Triumph rigid frame, some collected old parts that will get a 21st century chrome treatment, and some custom fabricated things to bring this bike back to a whole new life. I intend to do most of the work outside of a high tech shop and challenge myself with 50 year old tools and machinery. The motor will make a visit to Four Aces Cycle and whatever I can't get done at the cave will be done with the help of my good friend Close Fab. I'll be using an early 30s Indian Sport Scout girder front end, with a modified stem and top clamp/bars to work on the pre unit triumph look. The aesthetic of the bike will be a tribute to old So Cal custom culture. I'm gonna take as much inspiration as I can from the greats like Watson and Von Dutch to make a classy 50s charmer. The paint will be white pearl base with minty green panels.
I'm building this 51 pan I picked up a year ago. The motor runs strong so I've decided against tearing it down, but it's getting a mag and all cleaned up. I put it in a straight leg pan frame that I deraked & reshaped the neck casting on. Running an inline springer that I dished the rear legs on to give it sort of an "I-Beam" appearance, and laced up a matched set of 19" star wheels. I'm trying to make as many parts as I can myself and give them all a cast/OEM look. Currently working on the exhaust, trying to pretty up the "B side" by running the front pipe along the left side of the cylinders. My goal is to have the bike ready for paint, powder, & chrome by early March. Gonna keep it pretty simple with a two tone paint scheme and a bit of striping. I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve so don't be surprised if some things are different next time you see this thing.
The chopper I'm building is based around a 1939 Harley WL motor & a BSA trans in a one off hardtailed Triumph front loop. My vision is to build a modern spin on a 60's show bike. For the motor, it's had some slight tuning done by my mate Baz, I milled the heads flat to fit in the frame, and I smoothed out the timing case to look more like a UL. I made the moulded flame tank and wanted it chromed, my first efforts wouldn't work to make it out of lead so that's chrome paint you see there. I made the whole rear end myself using modified WL axle plates and all handmade castings to replicate Harley castings. The sissy bar and pipes were all fabbed from scratch, and I modified an early Harley peashooter springer to fit the Triumph frame. I laced up a small TLS brake for the front wheel, the oil tank has been chopped in every conceivable direction, oil lines will run on the inside, and the old outlets on the oil tank will house the switches for the bike. I've decided to go with a hand shift/foot clutch setup keeping things as clean & simple as I can. By the time I'm done pretty much every piece of this bike will have been modified or made by me.
CAST YOUR VOTE NOW!!!!
Vote for your favorite builder/ bike for the People's Champ 3
So, last year as you may remember our buddy Bobby Good Times with the help of Bobby the Leg from King Kustoms took the People's Champ by storm taking the TOP PRIZE... then they took Born Free by storm winning BEST KNUCKLEHEAD... well, we were really stoked to see Bobby the Leg get picked as a Born-Free 6 Invited Builder....
BGT will be the first to tell you that the White Wizard would never have made it to the finish line if not for the help of his friends.... especially Bobby the Leg....
Well, the boys over at Born-Free just released Bobby's (the Leg - just in case you're keeping up) builder video.... pretty cool.....
I'm personally really proud just to have been a little tiny part of the White Wizard build and a small reason why Bobby the Leg got the love he deserves in getting invited to the big show...... Stoked for you man!
Here's your chance to ask Denver Dan whatever you want to know.... Maybe get a little insight into one of the guys behind the scenes at Speed Merchant... We asked one of Dan's buddies to write up a little intro... as usual, Marco killed it.... here's what he wrote....
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Greek Mythology 101: Apollo, Zeus, Achillies, Denver Dan….. (((Record Scratch))) Denver who? Denver Dan Begakis…Thats who! And if the name doesn’t strike a chord in the bank of memory, perhaps you need to check your chopper timeline for gaps. Sure the name wasn’t mentioned in 1812 when Homer penned the Lliad but in 1970 So.Cal birthed a surly spawn of punk rock attitude and future, man, myth, legend all of its own. While most legends encompass finite areas of interest, the mythology behind Dan of Denver is broad beyond comprehension, so in the tradition of Socratic Method…. ShowClass Magazine presents the “Denver Dan Innerview”
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Anyways, I want to thank Dan for being part of the fun.... and I'll start the questions off: What made you guys start Speed Merchant? What was the hardest part of getting SM started?
Leave your questions below in the COMMENTS section and if you're lucky Dan will write back.... haha....
Milwaukee is always the BEST.... Always great seeing good friends... Dusty, Justin, Luke and Nate always take the best care of us and this time was no exception.... plus our brothers one from the arctic tundra, Zac, and other from the West Coast, Steve, came out to party too.... plus Scott and Warren put on one hell of a show.... made the snow and long fucking drive worth it all....... we had a blast... too many people to mention - or maybe I'm just too lazy.... anyways, next time they put this show on I hope we are asked to be part of the fun and we won't miss it so, if you skipped it you made a mistake.... don't let it happen again.... haha.....
We'll have more shots from the show in Issue 18 which will be out in April....
ALRIGHT FOLKS!! HERE'S THE RULES. VOTE ONLY ONCE FOR YOUR FAVORITE BIKE. OUR POLLS FLAG MULTIPLE/DUPLICATE VOTES AND AT THE END OF EACH DAY WE WILL GO THROUGH THEM AND DELETE THEM COMPLETELY.
PLEASE DO US A FAVOR AND DON'T BE A DICK AND TRY TO VOTE A BUNCH OF TIMES BECAUSE ALL THAT DOES IS MAKE OUR LIVES HARDER AND MAKE YOU A TOTAL ASSHOLE. KEEP IT FUN & FAIR AND EVERYONE GETS TO GO HOME FEELING GOOD ABOUT THEMSELVES.
NOW... ON TO THE IMPORTANT DETAILS: THIS IS OUR FIRST ROUND OF VOTES WHICH NARROWS IT DOWN TO A POOL OF "LUCKY 13" GUYS. THANKS FOR HELPING US DECIDE WHO THE FINAL BORN-FREE INVITED BUILDER WILL BE!!
INTRODUCING: ALEX LERNER
This bike is mechanical first, aesthetic second. A 1300 mag fired evo and a 4 speed suicide shift setup. The exhaust wraps around to the left, and twists through the modified Acme frame. Things to come are the fine details. Like dual adjusters for the axel. Cracking the engine to do external oil lines, as well as the oil return. Shaping the cylinders and heads ... And then we'll see where that leads us when we start to put on all the finishing touches. This bike is being built as a daily rider and will be ridden from coast to coast in June.
INTRODUCING: BRIAN DURK & CHARLIE DORIUS
We're just a couple harelips out in Minnesota choppin our hearts out. We're reworking stock pieces and cherry picking some of our favorite Harley lines, shapes and parts to elaborate on. Our bike will feel recognizable but ultimately unique to itself. You're looking at an ultra-narrowed swingarm with Wishbone front legs and a Bullneck up top. The motor is a pan right and a shovel left case. We're also adding Dual carbs, Akronts and a set of custom made "Charlie's" legs all with full polish and Cali show chrome finish. We've got lots of additional trick parts and ideas to come. We genuinely want to honor the idea of being a "people's builder" so we're gonna let it all hang out. We hope you'll throw us a vote come March. Many thanks!
INTRODUCING: COREY LEKAS
I'm building a 1955 pan/shovel long bike that I'm fucking stoked on! 18" rear & 21" front wheels with a 30" over offset Harley Springer in a 4" up wishbone frame with a 4' tall sissy bar. I'm gonna weld a narrowed flat bottom sportster tank to it & run a foot clutch, looking to make it a high bar wheelie machine!! Thanks!
INTRODUCING: DARIL BORBA
Sup guys! Just checking in with some progress pics of the Panhead!! Things are going pretty good, the fab work is coming along. I'm just about ready to pull the engine apart and send stuff out to chrome and polish!! I've got the gas tank bolted down and a few other parts to build but I think we're doing pretty good over here on Mulberry St!! Had a nice long talk this weekend with my buddy who's painting the bike and I think it's gonna be fuckin killer!! Thanks again guys can't wait to finish my chopper!
INTRODUCING: ELIAS KLEIN
"Crystal Beth" 84" 1968 FL - I put this bike together using all my favourite stuff, it's a 1951 wishbone frame I de raked to 25 degrees, VL rear leg with a big twin front leg to raise it up a little extra, 2" offset risers, mouse trap and kick shift, seat was done by Adam at river seat co, I sprayed 2 shades of blue candy over metallic silver and fine silver flake, heavily influenced by Larry watson and gene Winfield but no were near the quality haha. This bike isn't ground breaking or crazy by any means, it's old parts I've collected for cheap as possible, trading, fixing and making things work together and that's way I like it. Thanks!
INTRODUCING: FRANKIE KLEPADLO
What up guys! Everything is moving along smooth on my build. I have the motor 100% done and is now in my roller. I finished up the rebuild on my WLA springer with an original WLA brake/ hub laced to a 21" Dunlop wheel. The rear wheel is a original 18" Triumph wrapped in a zig zag Firestone. I have the rest of the bike mocked up and I'm ready to start making everything permanent and get everything functioning correctly. Still a lot to do but she's looking like a bike! Thanks.
INTRODUCING: GREG HEBARD
I'm building a chopper with a 1965 pan-shovel motor. I'm trying to modify stock harley components, and make custom parts that could be mistaken as OEM. My goal is to keep people scratching their heads, because I always get stoked when I can't figure out how someone made something. I'm making due with what I have and trying to set myself apart by using non-traditional fabrication techniques. There will be a handful of one-off cast parts, as well as some blown-glass components on this bike. I want to build something original and timeless, without it being over the top. Thanks
INTRODUCING: GREG PENNINGTON
The bike is based off a concept that Harley could have produced - the '36 Knucklehead with big twin flat. The bike's nickname so far has been the unobtainium because its taken myself and a few of others years of scavenging and collecting to find all the right pieces. As of right now I'm focusing on getting the original internals in order on the motor. The short cut is to buy all new pieces, and slap it together but like with anything, we're doing this right and it starts with original parts. Over the next 20 days we'll be hand picking our front end out and tins. The image I have is a sleek clean front end, fully chromed, followed by narrowed flat tanks that hug the frame. Once again, all original parts we're either chopping or totally bastardizing to make this build work. We feel like a lot of guys will probably bust our balls for derestorizing parts and completely "ruining" them but then again, we wouldn't be having fun if we had to build shit by the book. Thanks.
INTRODUCING: JAKE KEOUGH
The Sorceress is the match to my Custom Van The Sorcerer. The bike is being built in the style of a late 70s early 80s club bike, with the small exception of a vintage, narrowed and twisted 40" over stock Harley Springer. The survivor Ironhead frame will be converted to house a high performance Shovelhead motor. Running a shovelhead mag on the rear goes along with the "club" look as do the tall panhead style risers. Dual throat Weber carb and van/Hotrod inspired exhaust should give the bike some go. Subtle molded rear "cowl/seat pan" will hang a ribbed chrome Wassel style fender. Bike will be painted black with a mural on the tank.
INTRODUCING: JAMES BLOOMFIELD
I'm Building a 1954 45 flathead servi-car chopped Ed Roth style. 12’’ over front-end, with turbine rear rims, and the original 1970's muscle car rubber BF-Goodrich Radial T/A's and 21' spool front hub w/Avon Speedmaster. I plan to do a crazy ass psychedelic paint job. Even though I have all the tooling in my shop I’m doing this 1970’s traditional style, with basic tools you would find in any Motorhead's garage. The way it would’ve been built back in the day and how I was originally taught when I started building in the early 90’s. I can't wait for you to see it completed! I can't build this beast fast enough! Other than the body everything’s going to be chromed. "I’d rather be homeless then chromeless!"
INTRODUCING: JEREMIAH JURGESON
For People's Champ 4 I'm building a 1950 FL Panhead with a matching 4 speed ratchet top. The motor is being built as a stock 74" and will be all grey/chrome/polished as well as the transmission, the transmission will be hand shift with a VERY unique yet subtle shifter. The motor will be fuel fed from a Lake injection carb, bike will sit on a 18/21 wheel combo with the 21" nestled as tight as possible between 49mm fork tubes.. Yea narrowed 49mm fork tubes that will be 2-4" over not sure yet. Doing some secret Modifying additions to a narrowed Wassel tank from Throttle addiction, crazy up sweeps as you see and stock dimension 1948 wishbone frame with all the modern day chop jobs done to it. Still figuring out the rest but this bike will be great! Thanks to Show Class & Born-Free for the opportunity!
INTRODUCING: JOHNNY BRANCH
This bike is my artistry in iron build so I figured I'd make the push to have it done for Born-Free as well! It's a 120" John Harman shovelhead & I'm doing a Hilborn injected turbo setup on it with a Tim Doherty Machine 4 speed ratchet trans. I'm making my own wheels, an 18" rear 10 spoke 4.5" slick paired with a 21" front 10 spoke 2.75 Goodyear. I'm also going to hand make a 3/4" tube frame, a springless "springer" front end, & all sheet metal and every other component will be built by me in house! I've been through this fiasco once before and I won't disappoint! Thanks!!
INTRODUCING: JOREL SHOCKLEY
My motorcycle is a 1952 BSA Drag bike that I will race and ride on the street frequently. My goal is to have at least 100 hp in a light weight, narrow design. The frame is a BSA A10 Plunger that has been chrome plated. The mill is a polished supercharged 684cc BSA twin that will have a custom one-off grind cam shaft. I will either run two Lakes injectors or Amal GP's for the induction. The front end is a shortened BSA Bantam with a 21" Akront spool, while the rear is an 18" Akront laced to a BSA quick release hub wrapped with a NOS Avon 4" slick. This bike will also have a fully engraved tank strip and engine side covers along with many other custom details. I have started making a set of detachable wheelie bars for those race days! Thanks again!
INTRODUCING: JOSH ALLISON
The bike I'm building for the comp is a 1951 Harley panhead. It's in the fab process now along with the motor and trans getting rebuilt. I love one of a kind builds so I will be building a truly handmade bike. I really enjoy custom sheet metal work and design with a lot of different influence and I will be focusing a lot on that. I have started with a 21" front wheel and a 16" rear to give it a low stance with a custom handmade 5" under springer. I also want to incorporate a bunch of different metals and fab process into this build, so I'm doing brass inserts with my handmade tank, rear fender, and seat. Then I will tie it all together with a copper oil tank, a matching copper headlight and stainless exhaust system. There will be accents of different metals to bring it all together in the end. I want this bike to be a rolling work of metal art and design! Another big part of this build for me is to make it very rideable! What's an awesome bike if you can't rip on it! So that's about it for now! Thanks for looking!
INTRODUCING: JUSTIN WALLS
What I will be building for this years People’s Champ contest might be a bit different than anything else, but I think you will dig it a lot! Back in the 20's and 30's guys that weren't factory sponsored, or didn't have access to factory race bikes would take stock bikes and chop and hack anything off of them that wasn't necessary, in effort to make them lighter and lower, aka faster and more agile. In doing so, some amazing looking minimalist bikes were created, and that is the feeling and look I am going for. The run down on my bike: I will shorten the frame in spots, add bracing where needed, and lower the overall look and stance of the bike. I will be hand building a set of tanks to replicate what they would have built back in the day. I will try to use as many parts as I have laying around the shop, as well as hand building what I don't have, just as they would have back in the day. The motor will be just as wild as the rest of the build, I will be lightening, polished, and modified every bit that I can to make this little motor breath fire, did I mention it will be ran on alcohol!? This is a very tight budget build, not just something I am throwing money at. I want it to have the heart and soul of an old custom race bike, and that doesn't get created just by throwing money at something! I look forward to bringing some history to this event, I also look forward to talking with and meeting many new faces while working on this build.
INTRODUCING: KEVIN MCKAY
My name's Kevin McKay. I'm from Concord, North Carolina and I'm building a panhead. More specifically, a clone of the red and white bike from The Wild Angels. It has a wishbone frame, Dellorto SS1 carb, early sportster gauges, wassell tank and fender, Bates ride off stand, and 19" rear and 21" front wheels both with mechanical brakes. The frame I started with was raked, extended, and so messed up the engine mounts wouldn't line up, so I put it back to stock. I made the sissy bar, handlebars, and a bunch of mounts, and chopped up a few different sets of exhaust to make everything look just right. I'm doing all this myself including the paint job to come. The only thing sent out will be chrome plating. Thanks for digging on what I do! High Style til I die.
INTRODUCING: LINCOLN POWER
I'm just a dude who likes to ride motorbikes, working in my home garage with basic hand tools. Last summer I rode about 6,000 miles across the US to get to & from the Born-Free Show. The bikes there were amazing, and during the People's Champ party at Cooks, I started to wonder if I could build something myself. So as the world turns, here I am trying to create my idea of a perfect chopper... a 1970's era Nor Cal club bike. Performance & reliability are an absolute requirement for me, so I'm using an S&S 93HC cone shovelhead engine, and a Baker 6-speed transmission. No apologies for these 'period incorrect' mechanical choices, as they improve, not replace classic form. My goal is mechanical simplicity and bullet proof reliability, across town or across country. Something made to be ridden hard, scratched, dented, tested, and proven. It's really difficult to make anything that is completely functional but artistic as well... but in that purity of function lies the highest form of artistic expression. Less is best, in my opinion. Thanks for following my build!
INTRODUCING: LOUIE & NORMAN HARTLEY
My Father Norman and I are building a 1970s style Panhead chopper. We're building the chopper my father would have loved to build in the 70s but in England panheads where pretty unobtainable so they could only build Triumph's and other English bikes. So now we're basing this chopper around a tricked out Panhead stroker motor with Andrews cams, Jims crank, Delkron cases, and obviously a bigger bore. We put it in a 53 wishbone frame that we have stretched 2" up. We're welding a lot of round bar to the frame to give it a twisted look and all the tin will be plated and welded in. Everything on the bike will be hand fabricated or modified then there will be extensive moulding and extremely psychedelic paint and a purple crushed velvet seat. Cheers.
INTRODUCING: MATT PARIS
I wanted to do something a little bit different so I decided to build a stainless single down tube frame to start with. I plan on a majority of the bike to be stainless including the gas tank and oil bag which I'll be making. Front end will be a super narrow 39mm with 21 akront high shoulder rims laced to a 3-piece spool. The rear rim will be a matching style 18. Motor will be a 96ci stroker with an xr configuration matched to a ratchet top 4 speed. Hope you guys like what you're looking at!
INTRODUCING: REECE ZYLSTRA
I'm trying my best to build a true Tough Guy bike, and fighting the urge to put a 21" spool on currently. Waiting on dual disc front brake stuff, finishing up fab work, and having heavy conversations with Darryl about paint. My seat is out getting upholstered and I'll hopefully be breaking down for paint and chrome prep in the next few weeks. Thanks.
INTRODUCING: REUBEN MCCHANCEY
Hello all, what we have here is my Peoples Champ 4 build. It's a 64 pan. The frame started out as a early wishbone frame with bad rake job. Never really liked it so, with the help of Dave at Speed Metal Cycles we turned this frame into a ripper and floated the tank with hidden mounts. My plan for building this bike is to do so with little amounts of machining or modern technology. I want to show that a People's Champ bike can be built by anyone with a vision and a good set of basic tools. We all have our circle of friends where each one has a talent of their own. This is how a bike was built "back in the day" and this is how I've chosen to build this bike. I hope you like what you see. Thank you.
INTRODUCING: RHETT HOLLEY
I'm building a 1975 shovelhead that's centered around a early 70s style chopper with a lot of twists that lends itself to my style. My intentions are not to build a "period correct" chopper but instead, a one off bike that can be ridden hard and performs well while doing it. So I heavily modified the original swingarm frame with a narrowed rigid rear section that has a slight swoop to the top rails to lower the seating area a little more. The original hour glass neck was retained and the front tubes were stretched with no stretch of the backbone to give it a more aggressive and better handling set up. The rake is at 36 degrees and I'm going to modify the original narrowglide trees that hold the 6" over tubes along with shaving the lower legs. I'm currently waiting on the shipment of the 18" rear wheel that'll be used and I'm rolling a loaner right now. I just finished and mounted the hand made gas tank. Next up I'll be making a rear fender and stainless sissybar then on to a one off wrap around oil tank. There will be tons of one off stainless pieces on this bike as its my material of choice. I hope y'all dig what I'm doing and stay tuned for more updates as I'm just getting going good! God Bless!
INTRODUCING: STEVE DAVIS
Well it's been a hectic month, I'm nowhere near where I was hoping to be at this point. Bouncing around between employers had made for a hectic winter. However I do have more than a few iron's in the fire. Hopefully you'll see some real progress as I complete all the things that I've started through out February. Well enough with my excuses I'll just tell y'all what I have planned.... I've always had a real hard on for century sportsters, and the Nor Cal/East Bay style of the early 70's. So that's the look I'm going for. The handlebar/ riser combo that I was hoping would be done at this point will mimic the wishboned front legs on my Ness style Springer, and be super narrow, they will also have OEM internal throttle, and spark advance to open up my Webber (THEE carb to have back then) and to also advance/retard my mag. The sissy will be short and narrow, the seat will be a little cobra style, and everything (gas tank, oil bag, and fender, tail light) will get welded and molded to the frame. My foot controls are probably a lil over engineered... I'm planning on running the brake line through the frame... I have my materials, I just need to get started on them. As far as paint goes BLACK!!! And lots of it.... Still not sure about tank art.... I'm thinking early 70's Italian sexploitation / horror movie art! Don't lose faith in me, I was always told slow and steady wins the race. Thanks and I hope to see y’all at cooks corner in June!
INTRODUCING: VINCE NYGRA
I'm building a 1979, 80" shovelhead. I wanted to build a long, clean, and classy chopper. I made the frame using most of the stock castings cut out of the oem swingarm frame and went 7" up and 50° in the neck. The narrow springer I made is 24" over with 3.5" between the rear legs. Motor and Trans were both in good working order when pulled. They were cleaned up real nice, all new gaskets, hardware, parts polished, Morris Magneto, S&S carb, Heckman bird deflector. For the wheels I went with a 16" invader with a juice drum in the rear and a 21" spool invader out front. Most, if not all, of the remaining parts for the bike will be made from stainless: oil tank, kickstand, exhaust, handlebars, sissy bar, foot controls, wheel spacers, motor mount, and anything else I'm forgetting. Tall king/queen seat has a stash compartment and will have all the old style flair: piping, chrome buttons, and a bitchin stitching pattern. For the tank I used a Throttle Addiction shell and made the bottom and tunnel to match the curve on the frames top tube. As far as finishes, Darryl Rotten is going to be painting the tank, frame, and fender. I'm thinking black with a little gold leaf and a nice small mural on the back part of the tank. The only thing that should need chromed is the springer. All the stainless parts will be polished. Thanks for looking. Go vote!
