I think it all started the second Barnett’s Magazine publisher and director of good taste, Mark Barnett, called me into his office and whipped open a large manila folder.  He excitedly showed me photos of one of Bill’s first builds since setting up shop in New Jersey after a long stint being point man at West Coast Choppers. The bike, Asbury Dirt, was a shocker of a hardtail knobby-tired bobber with a lot of dirt bike elements. Compared to the other universal over-styled and over-festooned customs which was the style of the time as Grandpa Simpson is prone to say, it was a breath of minimalist fresh air looking ready to take on the apocalypse. Asbury Dirt’s feature article in the much-missed print edition of Barnett’s Magazine drew in a hell of a lot of responses, both pro and con, and sure helped sell a lot of magazines. 

 

 Getting back to Black Friday, Bill met Dee after moving his shop to Kentucky and kinda took a liking to her and her to him. Combining their talents in the business as well as their personal life, they ended up moving the shop to Daytona Beach where Bill finally finished Dee’s bike called Double Nickles signifying the year Dee was born. Hey, if you’ve looked at Jack Cofano’s photos, you’d know that that’s the way ‘nickels’ is spelled out on the rear fender. Whether that’s a Bling thing (it does also say “Durty Girl Racing” on the same fender) or somebody needs spell check, I don’t know, so Double Nickles it is.

 

  Bill started with a Bling’s Cycles Club Edition rigid frame with a mild 32-degree rake and fitted a set of  shaved-of-their-fender-mounts Dyna forks along with a clean and tough, American-built, laced 21-inch chromed front wheel. Out back Bill installed an 18-inch WCC Doom wheel from back in the day that must have been collecting dust for years, but was perfect for this job. No knobbies on this build, though. Bill spooned on a set of Continental ContiGo tires with their more sportbike-style tread pattern for good handling and braking as well as a much smoother and safer ride on the street for Dee. Bill upped the ante on brakes with Performance Machine’s four-piston caliper setups doing duty on both ends. Four-piston caliper brakes front and rear means never having to say you’re sorry.

 

  Keeping harmony at Bling’s meant building Dee a motor that would be ready at the drop of a hat if called on while providing day to day reliability. The go-to motor was the old standby of standbys, the venerable Harley-Davidson 80-inch Evo. Nicely hopped-up with an Andrews EV3 cam, an S&S Super E carb kit, a Dyna S 2000 ignition and Bill’s custom 2-into-1 megaphone exhaust with a ceramic header wrap, the Evo was a package of fun perfect for this ride. A Bandit Machine Works open belt primary and clutch setup transfers the Evo’s output to a BAKER Drivetrain 6-speed tranny that spins a chain to the rear sprocket. I dare say that’s a nice bobber power package for a relatively light bike from start to finish.

 

  Bodywork is definitely on the classically simple side with a Bling’s Cycles Sportster fuel tank sits perfectly positioned on the top tube and both it and the Bling’s cylindrical oil tank feature motocross-style caps. Apparently you can’t get all the dirt out of Bill.  What you first think you see is not what you get with the rear fender, It starts off looking like regular old shorty fender with neat struts until you notice that it’s been bobbed at both ends leaving enough to possibly save you if you slipped backwards off the lovely Duane Ballard seat featuring a hand-tooled warning (“I’ll knock the fire out of you”) to nobody in particular. A Sportster eyebrow sits over the small headlamp and adds a bit of Old School dash to the mix.

 

  The paintwork by a gentleman of great skill known as Jersey Tony is a subtle yet striking piece of motorcycle art after the plethora of ‘70s van-style murals now adorning most big wheel baggers today. The root beer base is infused with the always delightful sun-catching metal flakes while the black panels with gold leaf graphics and orange pinstriping brings the zing (or should I say “bling?”) to Dee’s bike.

 

  Dirt-bike influenced bars with tidy little Brembo master cylinder hand controls for the front brake and clutch look quite comfy in relation to the seat and Bling’s mid-controls. Actually there’s a ton of Bling’s fabrication throughout the bike, but I’m not going to bore you to death anymore than I have been. Check it out yourself and find the Indian Larry pieces that Bill definitely didn’t fabricate.

 

  As that rascal Bill Shakespeare once famously said, “All’s well that ends well,” certainly applies here. Dee and Bill found not only each other, but a new life in Florida. Plus Dee found herself with a kickass Bling-built Evo bobber and a day on Barnett’s Magazine Online dedicated to her. We’re officially declaring this as Dee Black Friday 2014.

 

  For more info on Bling’s Cycles, click on http://www.blingscycles.com/.