So imagine if you will, you put everything into building your own Panhead chopper and after riding it in events all over the country you discover that an iconic piece of your home town chopper history, an original 70s era bike built right down the street from you has surfaced after decades of being pushed into the corner of a garage. A true survivor that has been lost since the early 80's and instead of watching it get passed off to another several decades of unappreciative owners you search it out and bring it back to the town where it was originally built. Just imagine though in order to do so you have to sacrifice trading your own custom built Panhead.
The XS model has been a pretty iconic vintage bike to build a custom with. We saw a boom in the mid 2000's with XS650 bobbers and choppers. Now it seem's like the XS is making a comeback with trackers, scramblers and cafe racers. Columbus native Derek Horton of Electric Soul Cycles recently finished up this awesome build for a customer and we had to hear more about it!
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.
In partnership withMama Tried&Flatout Friday, Old Bike Barn is proud to offer you this full line of amazing merch available for the first time online! The team at Old Bike Barn has been working behind the scenes supporting the Mama Tired Motorcycle Show since the beginning. Both the show and Flat Out Friday have grown to be a highlight of our year and a model of the boots on the ground effort we provide helping the motorcycle community.
