This may sound crazy, but like every other bike builder in the country, I’ve been dying to be featured on Hugh King’s Original Productions, Biker Build-offs. I called Hugh numerous times, sent flowers and postcards, nothing. So we decided that we would show Hugh and the gang what Bikernet was truly capable of, over a 6-month period.
I bugged the Bikernet team so much they all abandoned me and applied for jobs working for Russell Mitchell. I was stranded alone in the cold shop. I also needed a customer, a sponsor, someone with the big bucks to float a bike build for national television. My grandson came to visit. His 13-year-old budget was slimmer than our bank account, but when a man wants to be on Television, he’ll do anything, right?
Frank and I immediately hit the next Bike Swap Meet at the Long Beach Vets stadium. Everytime I stumble up and down the asphalt isles looking for that one golden Harley-Davidson part, every other booth contains various mini-chop frames. We didn’t find shit, one decent Sportster tank and one frame. The frame was stretched and raked too much for a kid’s first chop, so I passed.
Four three months I scoured connections all over Los Angeles and finally stumbled across the guy from the swap meet booth, again. “This is the last frame my manufacturer will ever build,” He said rolling out a complete chassis. It included that same goddamn stretched frame, a front end with a wheel and drum brake, a rear wheel with the sprocket welded to the hub and a mechanical disc brake that was set up like a Russell Mitchell hydraulic disc to sprocket job.
Frank came over for a weekend and we went to work. First we set up the engine-mounting base. We hooked up the chain and Torq-A-Verter belt centrifugal clutch primary drive from Comet Industries (TAV3-30 Asymmetric). It’s a torque converter system for final drive. We did our best to align the chain, engine and wheel sprocket. Then we welded the motor mount plate in place. Even at an anxious 13, Frank stayed focused and helpful. I told him it was for the Discovery Channel and he watched the shop door closely for the film crew to come busting in at anytime.
Scrambling around the shop I found some Custom Chrome tank mounts and we set up the Sportster Tank and tacked the tabs to the frame. It would be rubber mounted. Then we set to work on the Frank Kaisler seat mounting system for a smooth ride. We needed a rear fender, pegs mounts and a kickstand. Since I planned to powder coat the frame black and use the stock 5-Ball orange Sportster tank I dug around the shop for lights to accent the orange aspect. I was sure Hugh King, the executive producer of Biker Build-offs, would be jazzed.
Frank had to get back to school and peeled out. For months the chassis collected dust. My mission was to scour the city for a trailer rear fender, hook it up and ship the lot off to Foremost Powder Coating in Gardenia. Frankie didn’t call. His dad, my Son, doesn’t like me, for all my previous outlaw ways. I was felt the distance increase. Soon a motivating factor hit like a sledgehammer to my thumb. It was Christmas, and the Biker Build-off series was picked up by Discovery once again. I called the daughter-in-law and she needed a holiday break from the kids. I volunteered.
I hit Lomita Trailer for a fender, the smallest one they had, that didn’t exactly fit the radius of the wheel but the width was cool. I went to work with rebar and my MIG welder and John Van Trump, our Bikernet Product Manager, stepped in. He couldn’t escape. He had orders to fill. We mounted the fender, made a kickstand, narrowed the bars to fit the 7/8-inch controls, and designed a bogus headlight and Buell taillight mount. Off to the powder plant went the parts in the nick of time.
The kids were due to roll into the Bikernet Headquarters on Thursday after we completed the news. I prayed for a Friday Powder delivery. Esmeralda, from Foremost, made good, and the powder was ready Friday morning. We picked up the goods and by midnight the mini-chop was fired up and ready to rock.
Saturday morning Franky bounded out of bed, like a kid on Christmas morning with his sisters in tow, Olivia and Maxine. We loaded the bike and hit the harbor for a private test run. John, an experienced biker, rode it first, then adjusted the brake cables. It was Frankie’s turn. He wobbled, dipped and pulled her into line. Within two laps he was an old salt and ready for his first run.
Well, whatta ya tink? Will Hugh King be impressed? Will Bikernet challenge Russell Mitchell on the next Discovery Build-off program? “Hugh,” I said into the receiver, “are you there, man?”
