“This bike actually started life as a 2004 Big Dog Pitbull belonging to a friend of mine that was totaled in an accident. We were able to purchase the wreck from the insurance company to build another bike, but it sat wrecked for about a year before we had actually started tearing into it. The owner was hurt very badly and laid up for about six months with severe road rash, and broken bones. To top it off, he was a real-estate broker and with the housing market crashing that pretty much halted everything and he lost his job too. Eventually the crew at Gulf Coast Sledz started tearing into the wrecked hulk taking inventory on what was actually salvageable. Well all we actually used was the engine, trans, and the kickstand,” said Paul laughing. “A friend of mine had a bobber frame for sale real cheap, like 500.bucks, and it was decent 200mm hardtail with a reasonable 34-degre rake so we bought it. Then we found a springer front end, some rims, and a bunch of other stuff and mocked it up.”

Hey this all sounds like a good thing so far, but things don’t always go to plan as Paul said, “We started building and fitting the owner to his new hot-rod. Then we painted the frame a gold flake with an orange molten kandy which gave the bike a copper flake look and things looked good. But, meanwhile the owner had run out of money and the project came to a halt. Two years later the owner came to me and said he had started another business and was doing well. He said, ‘Paul, build my bike and spend my money.’ I said, ‘Anything I want?’ and he said, ‘Yes, build my bike.’ So we dug her out of the corner of the shop, and commenced tearing her back down from a roller, sand blasted the frame, re-mocked, and built her to what we have here.”

What Paul ended up building is simply one cool bobber that should make the owner almost (I say “almost”) happy he got into a wreck. If I had a choice of a Pitbull or this beauty I don’t think there’s a small enough measurement of time that could record my decision. The imaginative and tasteful color choices make this so instantly pleasing to the eyes that it just draws you in for a closer look and then another and another. The view from the shock-suspended seat is stunning. The simplicity and shape of the modified ’68 Triumph gas tank with a subtle, but stunning silver paintjob with dual Chris Craft boat gas caps and the stainless drilled piece running down the middle is perfection. Paul has a handle on when enough is enough.

The next thought is that hopefully the owner foolishly left the keys in it and wouldn’t mind if I hopped on for a nice long ride. She looks comfy, quick, and ready to rock. A 107” S&S engine surely provides serious motivation and the Frankie Serrano FSD exhaust only adds to the ready-to-hot-rod look. Reasonably-sized rubber surrounding the spoked copper-coated rims makes it look ready to rock and the reasonable frame geometry looks like curves and even 180-degrre turns are fun. Paul’s use of mid controls puts you in a position that takes it from strictly cruiser to back-road bruiser capable of winning shows if that’s where you’re at. Me? I think it’s just a strangely gorgeous motorcycle that I’d love to beat the shit out of and then some and then look at it again in the privacy of my own garage. Paul echoes my sentiments saying, “It’s proportioned very well and has a bad-attitude stance. It sounds pretty nasty also. It’s built on the premise that you would pull her out of the garage like you would a GTO or ’68 Charger R/T on a Sunday, wash her, was her, fire her up, take her around town for a bit of hell raising, and bring her home and put her in the garage.”

Summing up this whole tragic to triumphant build, Paul said, “I wanted this bike to be very special to the owner who is one of my best friends. If it wasn’t for us partying a little too hard one night, the original bike would never have been totaled. I almost lost my best friend to alcohol. So when i built this, I built it from my heart and wanted to build something that he would be proud of.”

Man, not only do we get a cool bike out of this, but an important lesson too. Drinking and riding are both fine things, but just don’t ever-ever combine the two. Booze and bikes just don’t mix I don’t care what anybody says or thinks. One or the other, but not both. Okay, I’ll shut up now.

For more info on Gulf Coast Sledz, check out Paul’s Facebook page or give him a call at 352-493-7490/