In fall of2002 I was entering my senior year at the University of Cincinnatichasing a bachelor degree in mechanical engineering tech. To graduateeach student is required to take a problem or project from start tofinish along with attending your regular classes. This meant not onlydid I have to come up with an idea, I had to prove to the faculty thatmy problem/idea was worth doing, calculate a solution to thisproblem/idea before I built it, and then build and reprove what I hadalready proven on paper. A lot of convincing people, which was troublefrom the start considering I was not the ass kisser who stuck aroundafter class and I defiantly did only enough to pass a class. While manywere doing test station for the university (too smart to come up with anidea of their own) I decided to chop up my 01' wide glide.
For about ayear I had been thinking that I could fit a 200 tire on the back and nowwas my chance to prove it. Fitting the 200 I knew was no problem, itwas making a swing arm that looked better than the stock one that wouldbe a challenge. Plus, this was the only thing that would carry myinterest long enough to keep me from suffering of boredom, making for along intense senior year. Long story short I hacked up the bike,impressed some faculty, and was riding high from making something fromnothing.
I graduated college on a Friday and started as an official hireat a company I was working part time the following week. It was adesign job that taught me design and detail of parts, assemblies,packaging, etc. for machine shops and in house assembly. Wouldn't beable to do any of the shit I do now if I hadn't learned so much fromthis job. Anyways, back to the story. Through out my wide glideproject I was stumbling in and out of a chop shop that was doing somemachine work and welding for me. They built full up customs and Ibecame really interested in building a chopper. One of the choppersthey built was a Custom Chrome Hardcore I kit. They shit canned the fatbobs in favor of a sporty tank, replaced the wide glide forks with aSpringer, made an oil bag and powder coated the wheels. There were alot of other fine details, but from what I could see the Hardcore kitwas a gold mine start for a chopper.
Fuck it, I ordered one and in amonth I had a pile of parts and a lot of learning and experience togain. What I thought was going to take 3-4 months to built would takeme over a year to finish (not that any bike is ever done).
After I unpacked all of the parts, I jumped in head first. Ibraced the frame up and with a Sawzall in hand, started hacking the shitout of the frame. I cut out the front down tubes, including the frontmotor mount, the neck and the top motor mount. I was fixed on putting asingle down tube in and raking this bitch out to accommodate a six overfront end.
I kept stumbling in and out of the chop shop I hadpreviously worked with and managed to get them to tack my neck in andbend up some lower down tubes to connect to the single tube. This wasnot going to work! I was bugging these guys and I was getting bugged atgetting nothing done. I was working out of a one-car garage with noheat (Ohio winters suck) and pissing off an old lady who rented theother port of the garage for tripping a breaker that I couldn't reset.I was determined to find a way to get this done without pissing peopleoff and without paying someone else to do my work.
I sat the bike on the back burner and started a plan to saveenough lute to buy a mill, a lathe and a small welder. But where would Iput it? Time to talk to the old man. I knew he was finishing up an oldbarn, turning it into a wood shop, with heat, but would he sacrifice some space formy shit? The dice rolled and luckily they turned in my favor. I gotthe O.K. for some space, but he lived three hours away, meaning I couldonly work on the weekends. I stuck with my day job and after saving afew months and selling a car, I had finally saved enough to buy an oldBridgeport, a lathe, a cheap tube bender and a small welder. I was backin the game.
I got back to redoing the frame tubes and in the mean timeordered some parts. I saw a bike in a magazine with some Black Bikewheels and some L.A. Choppers pipes. I knew both would be perfect forwhat I was trying to achieve. I finished the front frame tubes andstarted on the front motor mount/foot controls along with the brassknuckle shift linkage.
I also went ahead and made the rear axle hiddenand made the end of the axle mounts pointy. The oil tank was up next.Starting with some round tube and a press I squashed the tube oval forthe shape I was looking for. I made the battery box and included enoughspace to contain all my wiring and key switch. The bike was starting totake shape.
I moved on to making the motor mount starting with some flatstock. I milled the holes into each piece and then heated them up andbent them over a large tube. Got it tig welded and finished it forchroming. The BDL open primary plate was then cut up to accommodate theoil filter and to hide the coil behind it.
The Gas tank was the majorcomponent of this bike that would make or break what I had done to theframe. I wanted to have the tank follow the new motor mount gusset inthe frame and decided Joe Kerr of Concept Customs would manage thistask. Starting with a sporty tank Joe managed to section and shorten itinto the shape we now have. He also made the spinner gas cap for it.
I started EyeCandy Custom Cycles, LLC in the middle of this bikein hopes of offering custom and one-off parts to the public at areasonable price. If any one is interested in seeing what we do orseeing other projects come together, check out the website.
Model: Started as a Custom Chrome HardCore Kit
Frame: Hacked 2-4 Santee
Motor: 100″ RevTech
Trany: RevTech 6 speed
Primary: BDL 3″
Exhaust: L.A. Choppers
Wheels: Black Bike
Gas Tank: Concept Customs
Brakes: PM & Exile
Tail Light: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Motor Mount: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Foot Controls: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Oil Tank: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Mirror: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Risers: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Seat: EyeCandy Custom Cycles/King Pin
Shift Linkage: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Grips: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Web Belt Guard: EyeCandy Custom Cycles
Vincent Fries
EyeCandy Custom Cycles, LLC
Republic, OH
(513)312-1137
vince@eyecandycustomcycles.com
Check out their website for complete build photos!
http://www.EyeCandyCustomCycles.com
