B-T Racer: Scott Fox and Capone’s Street Rod and Chrisy Lee

If you take a trip to a shop called Capone’s Street Rod Motorcycles, the name is a clue to the attitude/bike building philosophy, then emphasized when you check out its website taglines that include “Capone’s…Established Sometime in the 1920s” and “Sometimes We Rob Banks” and bikes with names like “Chicago Typewriter.” If you know your American cultural history the name Al Capone makes the connection clear…”Chicago Typewriter” being the nickname of the Thompson .45 sub-machine-gun, another American cultural icon. But what about Chrisy Lee. I can’t figure her out. Is she a stone knockout or a pumped-up stoner with too many tattoos.

While his gun-toting business partners operated out of Chicago before Al took
up residence at Alcatraz for tax evasion, Capone’s Street Rod Motorcycles is located in the bucolic town of Shelbyville, Indiana, about a half hour putt from Indianapolis. Shelbyville has some history of its own being the birthplace of Thomas Hendricks, the 21st Vice President of the United States under Grover Cleveland, and also home to the world’s tallest woman, Sally Ellen and three times Indy 500 winner Wilbur Shaw. More recent history, or at least what we’re interested in this case, is being made by Scott Foxx, CSRM’s honcho and the mind behind the extremely “bad to the bone” cream and wood “B-T Racer” pictured here in the The Girls of Bikernet gallery of “I Wish I had Built that Bike.” And I wish I was on hand for this shoot. Redheads always drive me crazy.

Scott’s show winning homage to vintage boardtrack racers features a masterful old timey wooden 23-inch wheel recreation airbrushed into virtual existence by Brad Bole of Terra Haute who then added tasty dollops of candy crème to the extreme paint them. But what’s the function of the massive 22-inch/117 tooth rear wheel sprocket? Scott ratcheted it up to do double duty, first to yank on the 110 HP drive chain (triple row primary), then to harness the rear sprotor/rear perimeter brake assembly. The sprocket with Great White set of teeth was produced by Jerry Meek, CSRM’s go-to metal magician whenever they need special machine work. Was it designed for hill climbs, and was she designed to rock my world, or are there no guts behind the soft exterior?

What with the long, long chain on one side and pipes on the other side of bike producing a high decibel duet, the bike is just the thing for bar-hopping and making people duck for cover. All kidding aside, there’s plenty of “greatness in the details,” for instance, what looks like an antique fire extinguisher is a polished copper 3-quart oil tank connected via caps carved out of an acetylene torch and all plumbed into a cool sprangle of polished copper tubing. And she is detailed to the max with luring bolt-ons and an ass that would stop a freight train, but what about the heart and mind? I can’t tell if she’s ditzy or devine?

You want some “go” with the “show?” Scott and the crew at Capone’s took one of their custom frames and stuffed in a hybrid motor, what started out as an Ultima, then assembled by Indy’s SMW into a retro style Panhead. Inside lurked updated components, a perfect blend of past and present. Speaking of past and present, what’s in her past, and could I be apart of her present?

Scott Fox and his crew manage to hit the streets with 30 new rad custom bikes every year, plus their 300-tire production line of bobbers as well as swoop-fast Pro-Streets and some very trick Luka Brazi trikes as well. Hit up their website for more tasty treats. Treats? Could she be a treat or trouble, tempting or terrible? Should I run now, shoot myself in the foot, or wade in to adventure-lucious and pray for the best? Hang on.

Bikernet Extreme Capone Tech Sheet

Owner: Scott Foxx
City: Shelbyville, IN

General
Designer: Scott Foxx
Fabrication: owner/Capone’s Motorcycles
Year/make: 2011 Custom
Model: B-T Racer
Assembly: owner/Capone’s
Time: 2 months
Chroming: Tony “the Sicilian”

Engine
Year: 2011
Builder: Ultima
Displacement: 100 cubic inches
Cam: Ultima
Ignition: Ultima
Pistons: Ultima
Heads: Ultima
Lifters: Ultima
Carb(s): Mikuni
Air cleaner: S&S
Pipes: loud

Transmission
Make: Baker
Year: 2011
Modifications: polished
Shifting: 6- speed foot

Painting
Painter: Brad Bole
Color/Type: crème and wood
Special paint: PPG candy

Frame
Year: 2011
Builder: Capone’s Motorcycles
Rake: 35 degrees
Stretch: none
Shocks: rigid

Accessories
Bars: Capone’s
Handlebar controls: handy
Fenders: Capone’s
Headlight: e-Bay mystery
Taillight: Model A Ford
Speedo: no
Dash: no
Front pegs: DNA
Rear pegs: no
Electrics: Capone’s
Oil tank: Capone’s
Oil system: Ultima
Seat: Dan Kincade/Capone’s
Sissybar: no
Mirrors: no
Grips: rubber bicycle