BF7 Invited Builder : Kyle Edgar

Kyle was part of the Show Class Peoples Champ Promo for BF6 although he was not crowned the Peoples Champ winner, his killer VL framed Shovelhead took home top honors in it's class at the show. Kyle's bike was a crowd favorite and really blew us away. We knew right then we wanted him to build a bike for BF7...and few months later he said yes. This platform works and will continue to work. We don't know everyone and can't possibly know what everyone is building so getting involved in a promo like the Show Class Peoples Champ really helps us and brings out talented builders that may get overlooked. Here are a few words from Kyle....
At first I was undecided as to what motor I was going to build this bike around. I always wanted to build a Flatty, but wasn't sure I could come up with one. I had a lead on a '38 ULH motor, but it was outta my range. With some patience and good friends on the lookout, I was able to ultimately lock down a '46 Flathead UL. I plan on keeping the motor traditional... a stock 74" with upgraded cams. The frame I'm using is '49 Pan wishbone that had been through the wringer, and I wanted to give it a new life. I shortened the tail 2" and dropped the backbone and down-tubes just enough to hug the motor. I narrowed an RL springer..... and that's about where I'm at. This motor has been inspiring me to go in the direction of a track bike/'60's style show bike... it will have the stance and grit of a performance machine integrated with the nuances of a custom build. I tend to let my bikes take shape on their own, and I'm looking forward to where this one takes me!
I am truely honored to have been picked as an invited builder and to be among such an amazingly talented group of guys. Looking forward to June!

BF7 Invited Builder : Dalton Walker

 Dalton Walker of Split Image Kustoms has been tearing up the bike show circut for the past few years and now is a builder in our invited group. Dalton's shop is based in the small farm town of Hanford California but his style & ability are big time. His full show, wild 70's influenced choppers are a great addition to our diverse group and brings a new element that we have not had before. I got him to send me a few pics of what he is building and some of what he has built.  Follow Dalton's build here and check out his site to learn more about what he does. http://splitimagekustoms.blogspot.com/  

BF7 Invited Builder : Arie VanSchyndel

Arie V of  was part of the dynamic duo building team ( Big Nick Zazzi ) that brought the killer Street/ Strip Shovel to BF6 and opened many eyes & doors. Arie has a strong background in fabrication that stems from designing & fabricating roll cages and building suspension systems for racing world. He has become a go to guy in North San Diego for frame building ,customizing, bending handlebars, fab work and makes a nice line of chopper parts. His shop is Vee Manufacturing so if you need some work or parts look him up. Arie and his brother also produced the Hot Rod Havoc & Two Wheel Terrors videos. Arie has checked in with his first build update and writes:
 The motor is a built 80" 1950 Harley-Davidson EL Panhead.
  The frame will be hand built in house and It should have a real radical look with the front cylinder standing straight up. I also will be making a springer front end using some parts from a factory inline unit and old ford radius rods....and few hand crafted touches too. The bike won't be super long or totally raked out but it will definitely have that chopper look. Stay tuned for more build updates and our builder video series.

BF7 Invited Builder : Trevelen Rabanal

 They say timing is everything and the time is right for Born-Free. This year we have a couple guys that really have paved the way for so many and were very instrumental in creating real artistry in motorcycles. Trevelen Rabanal is one of those guys. I met Trevelen through friends and said hello over the years but never really talked or spent much time with him, so I was not really sure what his reaction would be when I asked him about being a builder for BF7. The answer came from an honest, humble and a very professional guy...and it was yes. We are very excited about having Trevelen as a builder & Super Co as a sponsor. Here are a couple pics of his BF7 build & some of the amazing work he has done. Here is a few words about his build....

 It's a old frame I picked up from a "famous outlaw" who had bought and had it chopped by Dick Allen. Sugar Bear built the frontend 28" over. Akron rims. Lil Joe prism tank. AEE sissy bar. 103" S&S cone shovel. Doherty 4 speed with Andrew gears. Techcycle open primary with starter. Sundance Japan rocker boxes. Hydraulic foot clutch with ART hydraulic slave. Stay tuned for more updates on his build and his video. Check out the Super Co site for the latest info... http://supercolosangeles.com/

  

Wes White Builder Update

Wes is building a full competition bike for his lady...to race!! That's cool. Here are a few words from Wes::

 

Well its crunch time here at the ranch and we are progressing okay with the Humble Bee land speed racing bike.  Just a few more days work and it will be ready to fire.  Anyone who has built a bike knows that the last 20% takes all of the time and I am expecting no different with this one.  Luckily I have had some help lately from some of my Bonneville homies.  We have Philly Dan who came all the way from...well...Philly to give a hand while he was out here on a family outing.  While his wife worked, Dan and daughters were working here on spacers, brake linkages and all the little stuff I forgot to do while mocking up the bike.  As for Rob Bush, my flat tracking buddy and all around good guy, he has been getting in some moto-therapy Tuesdays here at Four Aces and knows his way around a Ceriani front end like nobody's business.  He is a great help whether we be flat tracking or pitting at the Salt Flats.  Kristine Peach continues to help out as well by paying lots of the bills and doing what she can on the bike, which is more than you would think, but she is an experienced Salt Flats crew-person and that means on the job training.  The most tedious and stressful stuff is here tho, making cables running chains and running the bike in is yet to come.  Stay tuned for some graphics too!

 

Nick Miserendino ( Wargasser ) Invited Builder

Nick Miserendino from Wargasser Speed Shop is one of our 25 invited builders for BF6. Nick is a humble guy & loaded with talent. His shop builds high quality bikes, does top notch fab work & makes some really nice parts. Nick sent in a couple of progress pics of his build...its a swing arm shovel with lot's of frame work, a killer magneto set up, narrowed fork and will have a John Edwards ( Old Tyme Custom Paint) paintjob. It is also in the BF6 Giveaway Promo...so if you are liking Nick's style you can take this bike home if your number is called.  

Happy Camper

Getting hot by a car on a motorcycle will change you in many ways. It also usually means you can't ride a bike for a good amount of time while you heal. Well, Caleb is happy for many reasons, he survived a nasty accident, blood clots, broken bones, the birth of his first kid, and the beginning and end of his Born-Free 5 build. There's lots in life to be happy about and today Caleb is celebrating all of them. Something to think about!

Franken Pan Lives! from cro customs on Vimeo.

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-Duane Ballard

Duane Ballard has been kickin bikes and stitchin leather for years and is certainly known for his fine leather work and his crazy and clean Japanese digger style bikes! Well, He just finished a nice Kawasaki that might be the best yet and he did it for Born-Free 5! We are pleased to have Duane as an invited builder this year because he lives, eats, and breathes motorcycles ...which is what Born-Free is all about!
Come see Duane's and the rest fo our invited builder bikes this saturday!



Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-Duane Ballard from Born-Free on Vimeo.

Dylan Mingerulli-BF5's youngest builder

Got a few pics from our youngest invited builder, Dylan Mingerulli of Fullerton, California. He's 19 years old and built this super clean '66 Shovel to follow up his amazing '65 Panhead he finished when he was 15! Start em young folks! Come see Dylan's and the rest of our guy's bikes this saturday!

Born-Free Invited Builder Series-Caleb Owens of Cro Customs

Many of you know Caleb Owens of Cro Customs, but some of you don't. He's a hard working family man and was brought up around bikes in Florida with his older brothers showing him the ropes. Fast forward decades and he's turned into one hell of a fabricator and custom motorcycle builder! In fact, he's been voted #1 amongst his fellow Born-Free builders the last two years in a row and has been invited to attended this years Mooneyes Hot Rod and Custom Show in Japan! Caleb is trying his hand at a different approch to an old panhead for this years Born-Free show which you could win and take home the day of the show! if you don't have your poster/ticket combo, CLICK HERE and order some now. You'll be bummed if you miss out on this opportunity!

Enjoy these few minutes shot by Michael Schmidt of Caleb, Gilby Clarke, and Matt Davis talking about bikes and Born-Free.

Born-free 5 invited Builder Series-Caleb Owens of Cro Customs from Born-Free on Vimeo.

In case you missed it, here is Caleb's video from last year:

Born-Free 4 Builder: Caleb Owens of Cro Customs from Born-Free on Vimeo.

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-Larry Pierce of Garage Company Customs

We met Larry Pierce and his girlfriend Ashley last year at Born-Free 4 behind their box van where they had been selling moonshine to help pay for gas money for the big trip out west to Born-Free. We had seen some of his stuff in a few of the magazines, but were taken by the bike he built and brought to the show just for fun. Larry seemed to have more than just talent, he was a down to earth dude that embodied the kind of spirit we look for in our invited builders. They have to be more than a pretty face!
Anyway, we are pleased to have Larry join us and our builders for Born-Free 5! Not only that, but you could even take home the 1947 Harley Knucklehead chopper he's building the day of the show, June 29, 2013!!! PLease go visit www.lowbrowcustoms.com to get your poster and ticket combo to have your shot of winning one of 19 motorcycles from our builders!!!!!

Enjoy this video by Daniel Thomas and Show Class Magazine, PLEASE REPOST!






Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-Larry Pierce of Garage Company Customs from Born-Free on Vimeo.

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Video Series-The Cycle Zombies

We are very pleased to present the video for our invited builder Big Scott Stopnik of the Cycle Zombies family. Big Scott is lucky to have a large family that all hangs out and does things together-like put together old choppers and ride! Please watch and share this video and remember you could win the Knucklehead they are building at Born-Free 5 June 29th, 2013! Click the link to the right or visit www.lowbrowcustoms.com to get your BF5 poster and ticket, you have your choice of this or 17 of our other invited builders' bikes!
REPOST!

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series-The Cycle Zombies from Born-Free on Vimeo.

Born-Free Invited Builder Series-Jason Sheets

Jason Sheets is one of our invited builders for Born-Free 5. HE's a soft spoken, talented guy from Hagerstown, Maryland. I started taking note of Jason's work on Instagram and it seemed like he encompassed all the things we look for in our new builders. We finally met when I went to York, PA to the No Dice show last year and I quizzed him on a few things and then popped the question!
We are happy to have Jason and can't wait to see his '31 Harley VL at the show. Enjoy this video by Magic Ken.
Please repost!

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder-Jason Sheets from Born-Free on Vimeo.

Born-Free 5 Invited Builder Series Video-Scott "T-Bone" Jones

Next up we are proud to present to you the video on Scott "T-Bone" Jones of Noise Cycles in Santa Ana, California. Scott has worked hard to build up his shop/brand and has his own unique style on everything he builds. We hope you enjoy the video and look forward to seeing his finished bike June 29, 2013 at Born-Free 5!

Born-Free Builder Invite Winner-Caleb Owens speaks

Caleb Owens of Cro Customs just downloaded from his brain to his blog about the process of building the bike he won the Born-Free 4 Builder Invite with. For the second year in a row he was voted on by his builder peers more than anyone. CLICK HERE for the full stream of thought from Caleb on the subject.

One of the big payoffs for me doing this show is statements made like this, also from Caleb's blog:
"Mike and Grant with Born Free have managed to grab a point in time in all our lives that is very special. I am so thankful to be alive at this time and to be part of it all. I would have never thought 10 years ago, this many people would gather around the love of bikes. It's a unique time for people that really love motorcycles and all that brings. It's not about winning anything, it's not about what bike you ride, or even if it's old, it's not about selling more shit, it's not about money, its about the people, it's about community. I'm blessed that I can be part of it. It's a beautiful thing."
Hope the rest of you feel the same.

Born-Free 4 Builder video: Michael Barragan Evilspirit Engineering

I feel lucky to know Micheal Barragan. He's one of those guys that has a love for life, family, bikes, hot rods, music, and fabrication. I was fortunate to sit next to him and his father on the plane to Yokohama two years ago and he didn't stop talking for most of the 11 hour flight.
He built a bike just for Born-Free last year all on his own, he said the show was the big motivator behind the white panhead and we were quite flattered to say the least! Well, Michael is building a killer knucklehead chopper for Born-Free 4. Watch the video and you can't help but feel his love for life. Please repost!

Born-Free Builder Video-Andy Carter of Pangea Speed

This next Born-Free Builder video is of Andy Carter of Pangea Speed in Slat Lake City, Utah. Andy is a guy that likes to push the limits and boundries of things in everything he does. He is one of our youngest builders and is obviously full of passion and drive. Thanks to Jeremy Miller for doing the video, check him out HERE.

Born-Free Builder video-Dave Polgreen

Brian from Speed Club sat down with nice guy/St Paul resident/golden Adonis Dave Polgreen to talk about his build/Born-Free/and Bikes. Check out Dave's blog HERE

Born-Free 4 Builder Video-Tyler Lepore

Good Afternoon!
Hit play and check this video out Jeff Twa did of one of our builders Tyler Lepore from Canada. You can follow his Born-Free 4 build & check out his friends on their BLOG, CLICK HERE>

Builder Spot Light: Brandon Casquillo

Those of you that do and don't know Brandon Casquillo of Mullins Chain Drive fame, he has been quite a burst of passion and energy for the close to 10 years i have known him. He might have been plagued with too much artistic vision early on and hard a hard time getting roots down and focusing, but you know how artists are!
Well, in recent years he's settled down in Northern California with a bandsaw, tubing bender, and his trusty TIG welder. His shop Mullins Chain Drive has been churning out those crazy narrow wide glide trees for some time now, kicker pedals, now narrow star hubs, insane gas tanks, and single down tube custom frames.

Brandon is a busy beaver and I was happy that he accepted the invitation to build a bike and bring it to Born-Free 4. CLICK HERE for the MULLINS CHAIN DRIVE blog