There’s just something incredibly pure and authentic about 40 Cal’s builds I can’t quite put a finger on, but if I’m to believe Matt, it’s called southern style. “It’s raw, gritty with that little bit of flavor to it,” Matt said adding, “A lot of thought and ingenuity goes into a southern-style bike.” Yeah, I think he nailed it on the head even though I think Matt and the crew pour their soul into each and every build. From the first time I became aware of them on an episode of Discovery’s BikerLive TV show and all I could think of was “Who are these guys?” Their bike, Freight Shaker, won its first round of competition and caught my eye with its look, its stance and how comfortably proud and ready to go it appeared to me. Old and new at the same time without trying to be either, it just is what it is and to hell with trying to put it in a category. Sorta like the cool, collected, nothing-can-phase-it feeling a big German Shepherd can have in any situation.

   That was then, but this absolutely lovely piece of vintage Harley-Davidson meets Bonneville Salt Flats racer is something else altogether. To quote my life mentor, Curly Howard, “It’s a pip!” and then some. Matt’s another one of those builders who claims he builds every bike to ride and I truly believe him. What looks like it must just be an artfully crafted show bike couldn’t be farther from the truth. A short while before these photos were taken it had been screaming its 1923 Harley-Davidson JD’s 74-inches of stock nine horsepower fury on the legendary Salt Flats surprisingly hitting a top speed of 89 miles per hour. Not bad at all for something running a rebuilt, but stock engine from almost a hundred years ago on the salt surface which is far from kind and at a high elevation too. It seems whatever you can run at Bonneville will only be faster somewhere else unless it’s one of those land-bound jet/rocket vehicles that don’t care about anything as long as the run is long enough. Yup, 89mph out of a stock 1923 H-D Flathead ─ I’m cool with that.

   40 Cal’s stunning aluminum bodywork is one of the reasons it ran in APS/VG class (as seen on the sweet tail section) at Bonneville which is a partially streamlined class for vintage gas powered bikes. All I can say is that I’m happy as hell Matt ended up in this class as the resulting streamlining from the nose fairing and the downtube spoiler pushes all the right vintage buttons for me. There’s raw, but elegant design going on at the same time without the least bit of clashing. Judicious use of rivets is like frosting on the cake. I now believe all 1923 land speed racers looked like this even though I have no idea if any ever did. If they didn’t, well, they should’ve.

  Same goes for those twin saddle tanks that have no idea what a straight line is and we’re all the better for it. There’s so much massaged aluminum going on in just one tank that I can’t imagine what was involved in trying to make a mirror image for the other side. That’s just not banging metal into place, more like sculpting it into place. Then you got the crazy cool tail section that reminds me of a medieval helmet with a touch of early Flash Gordon thrown in. The ribbed seat pan might be trying to look comfy, but all it can really do is look cool and that’s okay for the race bike this was intended to be. Someone at 40 Cal sure spent a hell of a lot of time doing the extensive engine turning featured behind the finished body pieces and the engine too. When engine turning is done right it’s a great finish in my opinion. Of course I’ve been a bit partial to engine turning after sitting in my neighbor’s brand new 1956 Studebaker Hawk as a kid and gawking at the beautiful engine turned dash with “real” gauges made by Stewart Warner.

    The hand built frame is a duesy of one too with almost a delicate look of thin tubing for a race bike, but then you gotta remember this thing ain’t running a 150-inch turbocharged V-twin running on fuel. It’s a beauty all by itself and I gotta say the same for the spidery forks that look the biz too. Somehow it even has space for that all important engine oil too topped off by simple stub of a brass cap on the seat tube. Funny how the frame almost looks like two separate entities front and rear the way the frame tube snakes its way under the engine and behind the big aluminum mounting plates.

   The idea of riding this bike is totally intimidating and yet totally intoxicating. I just want to grab those beautiful, yet I’m sure uncomfortable except racing, handlebars and engage the right-side rear set foot clutch and reach down with my left hand under the seat to the hand shift on the three-speed tranny and let those twin pipes bellow. It looks like riding this bike on the Salt Flats in a cocoon of hand-formed aluminum would be a religious experience as hitting 89mph staring at mountains that never get closer with a 94-year-old engine providing the soundtrack would be as otherworldly as it can get. Sign me up.

   Possibly the one thing that gets my heart racing whenever I see a vintage racer like this are the crowning glory, the ridiculously smooth, all-white Firestone tires that have graced many a beautiful board tracker. Personally, I hate whitewalls on a bike, but a vintage-style racer shod with all-white reproduction Firestone tires from Coker Tire just does me in. They say speed to me the same way Goodyear Blue Streak tires on a vintage Can Am racer says speed. My tire prejudices aside, I gotta say this is one time I really like tall front (and rear) front tires on a bike.

   So I think I’ve got a bit of an idea what Southern-style is although I still can’t fully explain it to a stranger. Sorta like the Supreme Court justice who couldn’t define porn, but said he knew it when he saw it, I damn sure know Southern-style when I see it. Unlike the Supreme Court justice, I really, really enjoy it when I see it and it just might be headquartered in the lovely little town of Alcoa, Tennessee. Matt and his crew may not be super prolific as they all still have day jobs, but if ever there was a case for quality over quantity this is it. I know I’m more than willing to wait because I know they’ll never disappoint me. Maybe that’s a part of Southern-style too.

  In the meantime, why don’t you waltz over to their website http://www.fortycal.com/

for more info or visit their Facebook page.