Diggers man… Diggers

That’s where its at (unless you go trike). Cant get me enough of that sh*t. All night long I’m dreaming molded fenders, stretched prism tanks, chrome, mega rakes, rabbit bars, and metal flake.

Garage Feature I – “Pinky”

If you’re even remotely serious about building bikes in the Twin Cities or Midwest for that matter then you probably know Rick. He’s a wealth of knowledge and quite a unique character. When I asked if I could get some pics for the site he responded with “I dont give a shit whatcha do.” Believe it or not, he and I get along really well. All the local bike and car guys gravitate to him when it comes to heavy duty fabrication work. He’s an all around motor man with decades of experience and experimentation.

I’ve heard him referred to as Handsome Rick, Fabricator Rick and my personal favorite… “Pinky.” Rick is one fine fella. He’s professionally or semi-professionally raced just about everything with a motor at one point or another. New rules have been written because he knows how to exploit the unmentioned details. He told me a little story about 3-wheeler ice racing in the 80’s. He asked what the widest wheel base allowed was. They said something like 3 feet. He went home and built a trike axle so narrow and with such narrow tires that you could canter around a corner like an 2-wheeled enduro. They showed up a couple weekends in a row. Won 1st place in their amateur division on every race they attended. The next season they introduced a minimum wheel base and that was that.

Rick’s really a bit of a living legend when I start to really think about it. I’m pretty sure he’s never had a “regular job.” At one point in his life he was racing 48 weekends out of the year at different tracks across the US. The last time I visited, the founder of House of Kolors Paint, Jon Kosmoski happened to drop by with a front end for Rick to work up. On top of it all, he’s a really solitary guy.

He’s good shit and he’s probably one of the most interesting guys I’ve met since my move to the Midwest. Who better to start off our first ever Garage feature than the one-man garage master himself. I shared all kinds of oddball ideas with him and he always says to me, “if you can imagine it, I can make it.”

welcome to the chopper blog Garage Feature I. More to come.

Goods are in the Mail

Goods are in the Mail. That’s right gang. If you’re still waiting on your chopper parts, please be patient. We’ve just made another trip down to the post office with trike loads of shirts and other goodies. All you UK folks, please be extra patient. It takes a while to cross the pond. See everyone on Saturday. Show some love – say hello to your local chopper blog and  pick up a speed club shirt at the show.

Slim Fab

This guy has been around for some time now. I remember first hearing about him through researching the crazy ass trike pictured below. And later, seeing him turn up in a cycle magazine I found at a grocery store. This guy is all about custom fabrication of metric 2-strokes. Slim has some serious skill and imagination. Everything he turns out has his style (and name) all over it. Literally. Dig it – Speed Club Approved. Check out his chop blog too.