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The Greasy Dozen: Fred Elwell Shovelhead

January 08, 2021

When it comes to the Greasy Dozen Builder Collective, you never know what you'll see. The range of makes, models, and even styles is so broad, when selecting builders each year we look for things you don't always see and Fred Elwell's submission was exactly that! Fred submitted a 1980 Harley Davidson Shovelhead into the chopper category. Along with his submission photos, he wrote a little bit about his plan to build a swing arm chopper... that got our heads turning, it seems to be a continuous debate within the "chopper world" if a swing arm bike can be considered a chopper. Could Fred's build change the mind of the naysayer's? We had alot of faith in him, and we must say, he absolutely knocked this build out of the park! Without further ado, let's dive into this interview and learn more about his build.

The Greasy Dozen: Nigel Mount Buell Lightning S3T

January 05, 2021

When it comes to the Greasy Dozen Builder Collective, you never know what you'll see. The range of makes, models, and even styles is so broad, when selecting builders each year we look for things you don't always see and Nigel Mount's submission was exactly that! Nigel submitted a 2002 Buell S3T Thunderbolt into the tracker category. It's not every day you see a Buell being used as the starting platform for a build. Some of you may have never heard of Buell, and that's not uncommon. The Buell Motorcycle Company had a short lived life, ex-Harley Davidson engineer Erik Buell founded the company in 1983, it was then acquired by Harley Davidson in 2003 and production was ended in 2009. The Buell was a unique motorcycle and many people think Harley's decision to end production was a big mistake.

The design of the Buell is intriguing to us, using a tubular frame, cradling a Harley engine... The possibilities with this starting platform seem endless, when Nigel submitted this, we knew we had to pick him. Without further ado, let's dive into this interview and learn more about his build.

The Greasy Dozen: Dan Swiderski Shovelhead Chopper

January 01, 2021

When it comes to the Greasy Dozen Builder Collective, you never know what you'll see. The range of makes, models, and even styles is so broad, when selecting builders each year we look for things you don't always see. When selecting our Lucky 13 builder we look for a compelling story, whether it's a first time builder, female builder or someone who had bad luck and needed a pick-me-up. Dan Swiderski's submission was exactly that! Dan submitted a 1980 Harley FXE into the chopper category, with his submission was a lengthy story on his build and the history behind it, when we finished reading his submission it was a no brainer, Dan had to be selected as our Lucky 13 builder. We won't spoil it for you, we can assure you it's a pretty incredible story, so without further ado, let's dive into this interview and learn more about his build.

The Greasy Dozen: Chase Sifford XL1000 Tracker

December 29, 2020

When it comes to the Greasy Dozen Builder Collective, you never know what you'll see. The range of makes, models, and even styles is so broad, when selecting builders each year we look for things you don't always see and Chase Sifford's submission was exactly that! Chase submitted a 1977 Harley Davidson Ironhead into the tracker category. It's not every day you see an ironhead built as a tracker, we got so used to trackers being Evo Sportsters that we had to give Chase a chance and see what he could do.

Over the years we've seen a resurgence of ironheads as the starting platform of builds, mainly being choppers and the occasional cafe racer. It's not every day you see someone building a tracker with one, chase caught our eye with his submission. It's nice to see a model that once dominated the chopper scene back in the 70s get a fresh new look. Without further ado, let's dive into this interview and learn more about his build.

1948 Flathead Chopper: Kenny Anderson Pt 2

December 22, 2020

A couple weeks back we ran an article on Dayton, Ohio's Kenny Anderson, a custom builder/painter who has lived here in the Midwest ever since the entire chopper movement began in the 60s and has been a part of it all. Working in Fred Millers "Chop Shop" in Dayton at the height of the 70's chopper craze he saw his share of just about every aspect of the culture. Fast forward to today, he currently has two 1948 bike projects in the works that covered two completely different styles and eras, the first a long and low Panhead chopper that we covered in his last feature and second an 80" Flathead bobber that was as clean as you can build one. So we spoke with Kenny about both bikes and his involvement in the chopper scene here in Dayton and in this interview covered some of his favorite techniques for custom painting. So now we bring you part two of our sit down with Kenny Anderson.