I guess it probably helps that this is not his first show rodeo as Jack explained, “This is my second show bike. I got a lot of ideas through the years from the different bikes I judged. I know what to look for on a winning bike so I put those concepts into my bike when I was building it. I’m happy with the bike especially since I’ve won eight shows with it so far. The bike has been well received.”

Actually his first show bike had a lot to do with Jack becoming a Rat’s Hole judge. “This is my 17th year with the Rat’s Hole. I met Rat’s Holes’ Director of Judging, Tony Massaro, at a bike show 17-years ago. He really liked my bike. When I only took second place, he felt I should have taken first. He asked me if I would like to be a judge for the Rat’s Hole and I couldn’t pass that up. I did my first show, liked it, and was really good at it,” said Jack. “Ted and Pam Smith [owners of the Rat’s Hole Show] run a great show that is fair. I’m usually the last one done judging. I take my time and really look at the bike. I want to give my best for the person who built the bike. We at least owe them that much. I’ve met a lot of exceptional builders through the years. I look forward to doing the shows to see what new builds and concepts the builders come up with every year. A lot of the guys do this right in their garages. It’s amazing the talent that’s out there.”

Being a judge can be a good thing as the contacts you make doing your job can be a godsend when the build begins. “As the chief judge for the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Shows I get to meet a lot of people in the bike building industry. A lot of the hand made parts on this bike came from builders who belong to Limpnicke. These are some of the most talented guys in the industry. This project started out as a ‘50s-style bobber that I planned to paint black with gold accents. I assembled the bike for paint then contacted Tom Feher of Syracuse Customs. I had seen his work on hot rods and knew he would be the perfect person for this build,” said Jack. “Tom is a very talented painter and fabricator and anybody that has been to the Syracuse Nationals would agree. Tom looked at the bike and asked if he could make some changes. I told him he could do whatever it took to make this a one of a kind build.” But wait, there’s more as Jack continued, “I contacted Gabe from After Hours Choppers to make the gas and oil cap from solid brass. Steve Weinstock from Lillian Rose Choppers engraved the air cleaner which he calls metal tattooing .Steve and Gabe are two people to contact for this kind of work.”

What Jack built over a two-year period is a classy, classic Shovelhead bobber sitting in a Paughco Wishbone frame with a reasonable 30-degree rake. The 1974 H-D 80-incher was rebuilt by Jack with a little added zing courtesy of a Crane cam, an S&S Super E carb inhaling through an After Hours Choppers air cleaner, and dumping out the burned mixture through Paughco pipes. This black and brass beauty (and it really is pretty although it probably would make a show judge cringe to call something pretty) transfers power via a Tech Cycle open primary to a RevTech 4-speed tranny with a you–can’t-miss-it brass kicker hanging off it. Jack’s an Old School guy and even kept the points setup in his Shovel instead of the normal tossing an electronic ignition in its place.

Points and a kicker, huh? Shouldn’t be a total surprise then that he used a lovely-to-look-at, but scary-to-count-on Harley mechanical drum brake up front laced to an 18-inch rim held by a real Harley springer front end. More mechanical madness follows aft where another mechanical drum makes planning ahead part of every ride. Jack laughed when I brought this up to him, but admitted he stays on top of adjustments just in case. And, yes, he does ride this bike as well as show it.

My wife found me an old Biltwell helmet that was painted matt copper with pin striping and gold leaf. I showed it to Tom and we agreed that he would match the helmet. Tom contacted Brian O’Hara of B-Man Striping to do the pin striping and gold leaf. Brian is a very talented artist who matched the helmet perfectly. Tom hand-bent the fuel and oil lines and sent them to Palm Beach Plating in Florida to be brass plated. We did not like the look of the stock oil tank and decided to make one from two old fire extinguishers that he had lying around the shop.

I have to give a big thank you to Anita and Peter Penz of Penz Customs in Austria for the levers and throttle body. A big thanks to Harley John and Al Cingranelli at Al’s Cycle Parts in Rome, New York, and another big thanks to Cyril Huze who provided a lot of good advice during the build. And last, but not least, to my wife who put up with me during this build and bought me a lot of the parts, thanks Lynn!