Folks, I’m here to tell ya that I have heard more reasons than a hound has ticks when it comes to the forces, ideas and energy that’s behind creatin’ a standout scoot. Whether it’s lockin’ yerself in the garage to avoid the ol lady’s ranting, to simply knockin’ out another customer’s desires in yer 20-zillion-square foot shop, the only thing that seems to really matter to each builder, pretty much universally, is that another truly unique bike hits the asphalt.

The latest images Clean Dean sent had me zooming in close and scrolling relentlessly, taking in all the unique features of this latest feature bike---it had my attention. But it was when Dave Wagner hit me with his particular reasoning behind the serious amount of detail and one-of-a-kind hardware, I smiled a wry smile. Ya see, I know just what he meant, and so do you if you have ever busted knuckles putting’ up a scoot and felt the pride deep down when someone takes the time to really see what you’ve accomplished. What he said was, “…it would make a good conversation piece.” that statement might be taken with a grain of salt—that is until ya start takin’ a real close look at the bike printed on these pages then start to imagine the amount of hours and cases of brew involved in such an undertaking.

Now you might call this scoot a pro-street while your buddy over there---the one tearing the cap off a beer bottle with his teeth---he’ll argue all day with ya that what you’re lookin’ at is really la retro bobber. Whatever. The point is, grab a beer and a smoke and take a real close look at this bike from all the angles and then wrap your mind around the fact that very little of this bike was purchased and then bolted in place.

Obviously, Dave is no newcomer to building his own rides, be it two wheels or four, and his resume of rolling hardware reaches as far back as 1971. Yup, that’s b efore electronic ignitions, oxygen-sensing fuel-injection modules and catalogs to supply ya with all the bells and whistles some brose simply cannot live without. for Dave, though, it’s raw performance that gets his wick lit. From the time that first bike got hopped up---a BSA 650 Lightning as Dave fondly recalls---squeezing what he can out of rides just seemed to be in his blood.

Straight from the heartland of the U.S. of A., Dave is clearly a hands-on kinda guy who leans on his many years at Standard Pattern, a foundry in his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The years there helped hone some of the skills needed to design and build a Springer with enough attitude (from scratch) or say hack apart that old Paughco frame in the back of the garage in order to get the chassis to sit just the way you want it.

Just goes to show ya, American ingenuity ain’t dead—it’s alive and well in the heart of every biker.

Ride hard, damn it!

Balls
Ballsbiker.com