Think about this: I’ve been writing bike features for 35 years, and it’s never boring. Once in a while an owner will say something like this, “Ya can’t mention my ex-wife. I don’t ride much, but we need to talk about all the cool parts I paid a guy to make for me.” That makes is tough. I send a couple of staff members over to the guy’s estate. We break in, drag him to a strip club and begin the indoctrination. By the end of the weekend, he’s cured and has a handful of fantastic stories to tell. Yeah, right.
Generally every owner/builder has a story packed with passion for the build, heart for the lifestyle and desire for the future. In each case the owner is a devout individual, who is cutting his way through life, usually against the grain and without consideration for upscale security issues and retirement. This is one of those cases. Jon Fox, from St. Paul, contacted Bikernet.com with his first sorta ground-up custom representing a new Minneapolis shop, called The Shop. At 32 years of age, he has a Masters in finance under his belt and several years experience at a Boston banking firm as a stock analyist. Hell, his folks wouldn’t let him ride as a kid. He was what we considered, in the ‘70s, a straight citizen. He was toast, destroyed and demoralized. Okay, I’m pushing the point. Then he met a girl.
”I loved motorcycles, but couldn’t ride as a kid,” Jon said. The girl rode a ’99 Sportster and encouraged him to ride. He bought a 2000 Sportster and felt the wind, the freedom, her tits and life began to change. Growing up his folks were academics, father a consultant and mother an elementary school teacher, but he liked messing with this hands. He built skateboard ramps and enjoyed fucking with tools. So, he decided to build a chopper and started to hang around Steve Stone’s shop outside Boston. “I want to build a gas tank,” he told Steve.
Steve pointed him to Dave, a welding instructor, then to a Fay Butler’s sheet metal seminar of metal shaping and metallurgy. “It was so much information,” Jon said. “I forgot more than I learned, but it got me started.” He quickly became disillusioned with the banking industry, excited by the prospects of building bikes, home sick for Minnesota and ditched by the broad with the new set of bolt-ons. There you have it. Another brother enters the fast-action fold of being a biker, hell bent for nights on the road, non-stop creativity and action.
He returned to the Minneapolis area and took up residence at The Shop between two major twin cities biker bars, the Joint and Donnie Smith’s Whiskey Junction, just off I-94, where there’s a party every night and an event every weekend. In fact, The Shop is having their grand opening this coming weekend (June 15-17th, 2007) with bands, Donnie, Mike and Christian with their Sucker Punch Rig and the Wall of Death.
Jon has been in the bike fabrication business for four years and although the 10,000 square-foot Shop, owned by Billy Wingert, works predominately on repairs, it’s Jon’s mission to build more ground-ups and expand fabrication abilities. The Shop contains machining capabilities, welding, service, Lance Goodmansen runs the parts area and they only lack a paint booth and powder coating facility.
This project began as an asset Billy acquired when he took over the business. It was a project for the Minnesota Vikings with high bars, long front end and a sky-high sissybar. “We basically stripped it down and started fresh,” Jon said. He built the bars, the tank, the pipes, the fender rail, top motormount, you name it. “It’s The Shop bike and it’s for sale,” Billy said. “Until it’s sold we’ll display it at Donnie’s show, local dealer shows and all the area’s ride-in shows.”
In the meantime he’s building two ground up Detroit Bros based choppers for a husband/wife team. “I continue to e-mail Fay for more schooling,” Jon said. “I can’t learn enough. We will continue to refine our skills and bring more fabricating abilities to The Shop.” There’s the metal flake and moonlight hook, the shape of a woman’s breast and the style of the perfect gas tank that drives good men over the brink. It’s those elements that push us to ride faster, build finer more creative bikes and test them with our lives at 100 mph on city streets. So what’s wrong with that? Man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
–Bandit
Regular Stuff
Owner: The Shop
Bike Name: Wingnut
City/State: Minneapolis, MN
Builder: The Shop – Jon Fox, Steve Novotney, Billy Lachner
City/state: Minneapolis, MN
Company Info: The Shop, 815 Cedar Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404
Web site: www.theshopmpls.com
Fabrication: The Shop, Jon Fox
Welding: The Shop, Jon Fox
Machining: The Shop, Jon Fox
Engine
Year: 2005
Make: Harley-Davidson
Model: Twin Cam A
Displacement: 95 cubic inches
Builder or Rebuilder: The Shop, Steve Novotney, Billy Lachner
Cases: S&S
Case finish: Wrinkle Black
Barrels: Harley-Davidson
Bore: 3 7/8″
Pistons: KB
Barrel finish: Wrinkle Black
Lower end: Harley-Davidson
Stroke: 4″
Rods: Harley-Davidson
Heads: Harley-Davidson, Steve Novotney porting
Head finish: Wrinkle Black
Valves and springs: S&S
Pushrods: S&S
Cams: S&S 585
Lifters: Harley-Davidson
Carburetion: S&S Super G
Air cleaner: Arlen Ness
Transmission
Year:2005
Make: Roadmax
Gear configuration: 6-speed
Final drive: Belt
Primary: Harley-Davidson
Clutch: Harley-Davidson
Frame
Year: 2005
Make: Dakota Thunder
Style or Model: Chopper
Stretch: 3″
Rake:40 degrees
Front End
Make: Pro One
Year: 2005
Length: 8″ over
Sheet metal
Tanks: The Shop, Jon Fox
Fenders: Dakota Thunder Blanks, Jon Fox modifications
Panels: Jon Fox
Oil tank: Dakota Thunder
Other: All other brackets hand built by The Shop, Jon Fox
Paint
Sheet metal: Tanner Howard Concepts (THC)
Molding: THC
Base coat: Pearl White with Burgundy Metal Flake, Silver Metal Flake outline and Gold pinstripping
Graphics: THC
Frame: THC
Molding: THC
Base coat: THC
Graphics or art: THC
Pinstriping: THC
Wheels
Front
Make: Black Bike
Size: 21×2.15
Brake calipers: GMA
Brake rotor(s): GMA
Tire: Avon Venom
Rear
Make: Black Bike
Size: 18×8.5
Brake calipers: GMA
Brake rotor: GMA
Pulley: GMA
Tire: Avon Venom
Controls
Foot controls: Supreme Legends
Finish: Chrome
Master cylinder: Supreme Legends
Brake lines: Goodrich
Handlebar controls: Arlen Ness
Finish: Chrome
Clutch Cable: Stainless
Brake Lines: Goodrich
Electrical
Ignition: Crane Hi4
Ignition switch: Toggle Switch
Coils: Crane
Regulator: Accel
Charging: Accel
Wiring: The Shop, Jon Fox, Steve Novotney, Billy Lachner
Harness: none
Headlight: Arlen Ness
Taillight: Lick's Custom Cycles
Accessory lights: none
Electrical accessories: none
Battery: Odyssey
What's Left
Seat: The Shop, Jon Fox, covered by Roberti Customs
Pipes:The Shop, Jon Fox
Mufflers: Nada
Exhaust finish: Black with Heat Wrap
Gas caps: NYC Choppers, Hot Rod Spinner
Handlebars: The Shop, Jon Fox
Grips: Arlen Ness
Pegs: Supreme Legends
Oil filter: Harley-Davidson
Oil cooler: nada
Fuel filter: Pingel
Throttle: Exile Cycles internal throttle
Throttle cables: Exile
The Shop
815 Cedar Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-333-0223
