To top it off, the Lake Ozark, Missouri, resident is only 28 and he did everything on the bike from power to paint except for the frame welding. “Steve Bonaker out of Camdenton did the welding for me,” said Tony. “That way I knew for sure it was going to be safe.” Cutting the neck off, raking it out quite a bit, and re-welding it back in is not a good time to work on your welding skills, so taking a pass on that is not considered a strike in any unofficial garage rulebook.

Even though he’s a young lad by my standards, Tony’s acquired the knowledge, skills, and desire to build a radical custom from a couple of different sources. His job as a marine tech at Lake Ozark’s Glencove Marina for the past 13 years definitely gave him the mechanical skills, but his passion came from his dad. “My dad has always been into motorcycles since he was a kid. I’m kinda following in his footsteps,” he said. “I’m just kind of a motor head.” Apparently the whole family is just a bunch of motor heads as Tony said, “My mom also rides with my dad. We all go to Sturgis every year as a family thing.”

Sturgis is exactly where Tony got bitten by the custom bagger bug at a show at the Full Throttle Saloon. “I wanted to make a bagger! I saw some in Sturgis and I was like, ‘Man, I gotta build one of those,’ “ said Tony. “I took a 2001 Harley-Davidson Road King and completely stripped it down. Mine has a 26” front wheel, custom front fender, stretched bags, stretched rear fender with the license plate frame frenched-in, stretched headlight assembly, raked frame, raked trees, a Danny Gray seat, air ride suspension, Sinister Industries’ mini-apes, and a totally beefed-up engine.” Well that pretty much covers what’s in the build in the short list, but taking a peek at the photo gallery sure shows that just about everything was touched along the way. Tony spent a lot of time in his garage by the looks of things.

Most aspects of the build went along fairly smoothly although Tony humorously related one aspect that was tough saying, “It just cost a lot of dollars to build.” Apparently it was all worth it as he went over its attributes including one important plus. “The bike handles and rides like a dream. It’s like it’s got power steering and it’s great for relaxing rides. Plus, it’s a chick magnet!” Somehow I think that Tony’s last statement justifies all the long hours working in his garage to a guy still in his twenties more than any trophy could.