What did you think when you were selected as a born free builder?
I'll never forget the day I got the email from Mike & Grant. I woke up Tuesday October 1st, grabbed my phone to check emails, the subject line on one email read "Welcome Born-Free 11 Invited Builders". Confused by this I clicked into it and there was a graphic with my name on it along with 29 other builders... I audibly yelled out "What the fuck". My girlfriend looked at me and asked what was wrong and I proceeded to tell her I was selected as a builder for the 2019 Born Free Motorcycle Show. I was completely shocked by it, never in a million years would I have thought that I would be building a motorcycle for Born Free.
The tracker build platform is a well tread territory when it comes to 90's Evo sportsters but there are times when a builder takes a different approach to that platform and it makes you question everything you thought was possible for that realm. We came to appreciate the work of Porterbilt's Ethan "Porter" Stiles over several years of seeing him involved in many projects locally in the midwest with his shop being based out of Indianapolis. It wasnt until Born Free show last year that his amazing sportster tracker build was complete and we truthfully in the whirlwind of the show were not able to photograph and appreciate it fully until were lucky enough to get a second chance at seeing it presented at this year's Mama Tried show in Milwaukee.
We recently had the chance to speak with Bobby Seeger Jr. while in St. Louis when he had brought two of our favorite Indian Larry bikes to the Cycle Showcase event. The quality of an Indian Larry motorcycle is sincerely something you just need to see up close to appreciate and we were excited to take this moment to snap some photos of the bikes to illustrate just that. While its easy to see a custom bike and think "well that's a good looking chopper" when you really begin to look at the engineering that went behind making an Indian Larry bike you realize, these bikes were actually made to be ridden and ridden every day.
When it comes to vintage motorcycles there is growing demand for technicians who have the drive and the knowledge to actively take a role in preserving these machines for future generations to enjoy. Some might even go as far to say that shops that specialize in just vintage motorcycles are a dying breed and in a way they somewhat are.
I say she’s from 1977, but “The CheMistress” is quite a concoction of parts. As it sits now, it is an 88” Shovelhead motor with S&S internals inside 1977 Harley cases with an Andrews B-grind cam, and the trans is a close-ratio, 4-speed cowpie inside an STD case.
