I flew in the night before the kick off of the 2010 Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show in Detroit. The show was brilliantly displayed inside the Progressive International Motorcycle Show… a show within a show. That evening while watching the news I listened to the anchor of the local CBS affiliate talk about how the Mayor of Detroit was going to bulldoze 100,000 houses in 2011. I sat back and pondered the bleak snow-bound Detroit economy. If it was that lousy then maybe I shouldn’t expect much from the show.
Much to my surprise, the bikes looked tits. The fabrication, paint, and design that rolled into the auditorium was outstanding.
Even though the snow was slamming down hard and fast, builders started showing up at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning. After the bikes cleared registration they were carefully positioned on wide red carpets at the entrance of the show.
If you are into custom bikes then the Ultimate Builder is the bike show to attend. Throughout the three-day show builders stood by their show customs talking about each creative build and giving pointers about how they do what they do so fine. In Detroit, we had over 30,000 enthusiasts checking out the wicked custom rides.
Gary Mauer‘s “No Reservation” won the FreeStyle class. The bike includes a rod of surgical steel from his partner Julie Giulford, which was installed in her leg after she hit a deer on her bike. Julie’s hit was so hard that she almost lost her leg. Gary said with pride that she is an accomplished rider and didn’t drop her bike after the accident.
Inspiration has a lot to do with what you see at a Custom Bike Show. Don Weimer, of Weimer Original Designs, built Revelation to honor his father and his Dad’s hillclimb roots. This bike sports a 1973 triumph 750 mill and is a combination of triumph, motocross, and hillclimb influence. Don pounded metal for 150 hours and produced an impressive gas tank for his effort. One-off handmade features included the front end and rear swingarm, triple tree/gooseneck combo, aluminum seat pan and tooled leather cover.
Steve Broyles of Stevenson’s Cycle brought “Deuce’s Wild” to the show in which he placed the front head and cylinder of a Shovelhead motor on the rear and the rear head and cylinder on the front. In doing so, Stevenson’s Cycle created one of the first reverse flow V-Twin engines. Steve said that the bike now sounds more like a hi-po Chevy engine with a few cylinders loped off instead of Harley. Deuce’s Wild took 3rd in the Freestyle class.
Baggers came out and took control in the Modified Harley Class as they placed four out of the top five spots. Huck Hemphill’s sled from Radical Baggers took the top spot with a smooth sled that boasted an asymmetrical paint job. It has been on the cover of HOT BIKE BAGGER/Sept 2010 and Thunder Roads Michigan May 2010.
The Detroit area King of Kustomizer, Ron Finch, made an appearance at the awards ceremony. Bob Kay, the Ultimate Builder MC, interviewed Fitch before the trophies were handed out. Bikernet carries all the builder interviews in Bikernet Studios. Check ’em out, and remember, all the winners from the Ultimate Builder Show Series are invited to the AMD World Championship Finals in Sturgis this August. Don’t miss the next show in Washington D.C. this coming weekend.
Results From Ultimate Builder Detroit
Freestyle Class
1. Gary Mauer, Kustom’s Inc. – No Reservation
2. Don Weimer, Weimer Original Designs – Revelation
3. Steve Broyles, Stevenson’s Cycle – Duce’s Wild
4. Chris Phillips, Doomtown Choppers
5. Don Weimer, Weimer Original Designs
Modified Harley
1. Huck Hemphill, Radical Baggers Inc.
2. Brian Ratkos, BRC Creations
3. Jerry Motz, Detroit Harley-Davidson
4. Jody Jendon, Reflections Polishing – Green Ambition
5. Ron Harris, Chop Doc Choppers
Performance Custom
1. Jody Jendon, Reflections Polishing
