This 2006 custom bobber, Orange Savior, was built for Greg Emfinger of El Paso by Mike Phillips of Grandeur Cycle in Jonesville, North Carolina. Greg, a seasoned rider and chaplain who was the first HonorBound Motorcycle Ministries patch holder in El Paso, puts thousands of miles on his bike each year. He knew exactly what he wanted for his newest bike. “I wanted a jockey shifter,” Greg said. “Most guys that have a jockey shift always have to have their foot pushed in on the clutch, and they either have to leave it like that while they’re holding themselves up or they have to find neutral before they can put both feet on the ground. Well with this clutch built by Mike Phillips, who won the 2006 V-Twin Excellence Award for Tech Product of the Year with it, if I pull up to a red light and I’m in second or third gear, even if I’m in first gear, I don’t have to hold the clutch in. If I’m going 70 or 80 miles an hour down the highway getting ready to exit off, I downshift and whatever gear I end up in, there’s no more tired hands from having to hold the clutch in.”

Greg first learned about the Super Auto Clutch when he read about it and was immediately interested. “I knew I wanted my bike built with a jockey shift and I said, you know what? I’m getting too up there in age to be worrying about whether or not I’ve got it in neutral when I pull up to a light or tryin’ to hold myself up with one foot while I’m tryin’ to find neutral,” he said. “I decided this is the only way to go now, with this Super Auto Clutch. That’s the principle behind this, you can ride your bike even with a hand clutch up on the handlebars, with no jockey shift, you could pull up to a red light, leave it in first gear, and just sit there without having to hold the clutch in. I can even start this bike, put it in first gear, and walk away and it’ll just sit there until you give it gas. And I think it’s important to point out it has total lockup, the clutch locks up totally where there’s no slip at 1200RPM. So as you give it gas, the clutch engages.”

Greg first noticed Mike Phillips in 2003 at Sturgis. “I didn’t meet him, but I made note of how his bikes looked and his fabrication caught my attention,” he said. “Then in 2004 I road a hardtail out of El Paso up to Laconia, New Hampshire, and I ran into Mike for sure, ‘cuz I thought about trading for one of these little custom built bobbers he was building at that time. I spent a lot of time with him in Laconia and got to know him, so in ’06 I just called him one day and said, ‘Mike, I’m ready to have you build me a bike.’”

Greg began building his bike on Mike’s Grandeur Cycle website. “There was a basic bobber to be built on his basic frame, and I kept adding to it with a jockey shift, the Super Auto Clutch, I wanted the fender welded to the swingarm so it would give a rigid look, and those little air cleaners I actually designed. Those are little cheap $15 a piece Volkswagen air cleaners.” Those funky-cool air cleaners were the only cheap thing on the powerhouse Greg picked to “test” the Super Auto Clutch tied to a BAKER 6-speed, a TP Engineering 124” engine.

With its bright paintjob, the Orange Savior isn’t easily missed, and Greg wanted it that way. “I did things the way I did to draw people to the bike,” he said. “In doing that, that’s the way I perform my motorcycle ministry. If I can get people out to look at the bike and compliment on it, that’s an opportunity for me to find out if they know the Lord or not and if they don’t, I witness to them. I use the bike, and that’s how it got its name.” Look for Greg and Orange Savior at Sturgis and other rallies, because he’ll undoubtedly be there.

To learn more about Mike Phillips or the Super Auto Clutch, visit his website at www.grandeurcycle.com. To learn more about HonorBound Motorcycle Ministries visit www.honorboundmm.com.