That’s exactly what happened with our feature bike belonging to Mitch Cooper of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Mitch was experiencing The Thrill Is Gone symptoms with his bike so he turned to Craig Hartless and Jay Cutts Jr. at Ace of Customs also in Winston-Salem for a makeover that would light up his adrenal glands to eleven like it once did. “He brought this bike, originally built in 2005, to us wanting to update it to today’s look,” said Craig. “The inspiration behind this build was to bring something new to the table. Baggers, baggers, baggers is all you see. Cookie cutter bikes that anyone can build. Our idea was to bring back the Old School bikes, but with a twist.”

 

  Funny Craig should mention baggers as the anti-focal point for his Old School-style of chop that features a custom bagger-like giant 30-inch front wheel. But, in this case the big wheel works without being outlandish and it looks like it was built that way from the get-go. That striking five-spoker is a Metalsport Inc. Foose Design Nitrous II if I’m not mistaken and, unlike a custom bagger, there’s a matching number out back sporting a beefy 250mm rear tire. Only a couple of frame tubes and a sprocket brake get in the way of enjoying this Doublemint pleasure of a wheel and makes this bike look light and ready to rip like a good chopper should. I have to admit that big front wheel alone is one Ace of Customs stroke of genius in transforming something stale into something totally fresh and happening. By the way, did you even notice there’s a front fender on there? I had to look twice it’s so tight and right.  

 

   With the new aggressive stance came the chance to do a Vulcan mind meld makeover to the existing bodywork. Ace pulled this off with a complete sheet metal re-working of the tank “to make the tank seem one with the frame.” That it does, although it now seems a lot smaller in scale, more choppery, with the balance changed by the 30-inch front wheel addition. This bike just has the sleek look of movement even when it’s parked. The new low, sweptback bars Ace fabricated certainly add their own drama to this sense of movement as well as the free-standing aerodynamic bullet of a headlight. As far as when it’s actually moving, the exposed massive-five spoke wheels take motion drama to a new flopping spoke-high – 25 mph looks like 50 with all that spinning mass.

 

   Other changes included actually making movement happen quicker than in 2005 with a big-inch-jump rebuild to 117-inches of S&S Cycle’s firepower. Topped off with a forward facing spike air cleaner cutting the wind while pointing the way forward and an exhaust that looks like the wind is beautifully blowing it back continues the moving-through-air- even-at-rest theme going on here. Whether it was by design or default, the end result is perfect and that’s all that counts. This bike just flows from one end to the other and I bet it never did that in its original incarnation.

 

   A few more updates include getting fellow Winston-Salemite and internationally respected seat builder, Butch Watson of High Rollers Cycle Seats to whip up another of his works of art in leather for this bike. “The seat is awesome,” said Craig. There were quite a few other custom changes Craig and Jay made like new motor mounts and coil location as well as adding a brace in the rear for passenger pegs. Some of the other changes you probably will never notice because Craig and Jay spent a lot of time hiding things that bothered them and obviously they did their job well.

 

  As always, paint can make or break a bike and at Ace of Customs, all the painting as well as everything else is done in-house at their 10,000 sq.-ft. shop. So if you don’t like what they’ve done with the paint (for some unnatural reason I couldn’t begin to guess), they’ll have to take it on the chin or maybe find where you live and straighten you out. This is a straight out of Ace of Customs paint job and I think it’s a total success. “The paint was about finding ideas that seemed not to have been done to death. The bike was originally candy red with the never-dying ghost flames. That had to go,” said Craig. “All Mitch said was, ‘I want it black!’ With Mitch’s appreciation of Affliction clothes, tattoos, and women, our graphics has it all ─ Affliction crosses, tribal tattoos, and silhouettes of women.”

 

   The end product tells it all with first in class awards at the Easyriders Shows in Charlotte and Columbus. That’s another Doublemint moment if there ever was one I’d say. As to how the rejuvenated 30-inch front wheel chopper rides, Craig said, “It handles just like any other chopper. The rake and trail is set correct even the the massive 30-incher is up front.”

 

  As to the future of this bike, it’s accomplished what Mitch, Craig and Jay set out to do so guess what? It’s for sale. “Mitch said, ‘Let’s do another from scratch,’ ” said Craig. So, if you’re an interested party or you’d just like to find out what Ace of Customs can do for you, give ‘em a call at 336-602-1565 and tell ‘em Tyler sent you.