Now before you get all hot and bothered about how this custom is not the ticket for a NYC to LA ride, I’ll put it right up front and state this is really intended to be a show bike. Not that it’s not been ridden, but it’s not been ridden much. First and foremost, this is Brian’s tribute to his bros in the military and even more specifically so to the top secret intelligence section he did active duty in for four years. So yeah, it’s not Brain’s daily rider, but it’s something he felt he had to do. “I don’t really talk a lot about that I wear an eagle on my shoulder every day. I was with an Army company that had an eagle holding two lightening bolts as the logo,” said Brian. “That eagle covers my left shoulder with my tattoo. The eagles started the thought process as a way to honor those I served with and those who didn’t make it back.”

 

   All that talk about eagles should make you want to understand what we’re both referring to and you’ll have to check out Francisco’s photo gallery in a bit more detail to understand what all the hub-bub’s about. Go ahead and check out the “flame” paint job portion up close and see for yourself. Had a look? Okay then. Like you, at first I too just thought it was just a well-done real flame paintjob until I found the first ghost-flamed eagle hiding in plain sight. Then another, and another and, well, you know what I’m talking about, there’s a lot of them. “The hidden eagles in the flames of the paint job are what people keep staring at and finding more and more of them,” said Brian.  

   That masterful paintjob was courtesy of a former El Pasoan, now relocated to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, where he’s still painting his butt off like he’s been doing for the past 20 years as Danny Bally Custom Painting. Danny is a legend in these here parts with paintwork that is not only creative, but paintwork that is really done well and holds up over the long term. I’m not exactly sure when this bike was built, but it wasn’t yesterday and it still looks like a fresh build in person.

 

   Another reason I know this was done a while ago came straight from the horse’s mouth as Brian told me who built it, “Ed Denzler, who used to own Cruces Choppers, did all the fabrication and the assembly.” Ed, a former rocket scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory where the first atom bombs were made, has been out of the chopper business for six or more years so I can only assume the bike is at least from that era. That doesn’t stop it from being interesting especially to those who like ‘em long and low and, again, the fresh look it has certainly doesn’t show its age. I just wish I could figure out how to emulate that non-aging look myself. 

 

   Brian’s explanation of how this build started and how it progressed is a simple explanation of a guy who’s into perfection. “My initial idea was something that looked different depending on which side you looked at it. My Army unit had an eagle as its logo so that came into play also. One side is more metallic and the other has flames with eagle heads,” he said. “There was discussion about every piece that was put on and how it would affect the finished product. Everything from the headlights to the eagle-cut wheels was decided on piece by piece. The vision changed as we built the bike, but we ended up with exactly what I wanted.” After a bit of contemplative thought about the build and what it entailed, he continued, “It is something that takes a long time to notice all the little things we put on it. The back fender was the most problematic. I wanted a bottom fender with the two other pieces folded over the top of the base. It caused problems for a taillight so we had to use LED lights and encase it in polyurethane to make it happen. We had never seen it done before like that.”

 

   This bike is not only a tribute to America’s military, but it’s a tribute to Brian Kennedy’s enthusiasm for his adopted hometown of El Paso. He’s such a champion of the city with 310 days of sun that he should be El Paso’s head cheerleader as well as head of the Sports Commission. Eh, maybe not, I’ve seen him and he wouldn’t look good in an El Paso Chihuahuas’s cheerleader’s uniform so he’s good to stick with the president thing. But man, does he love this town.