This is not Copper Mike’s first rodeo at Barnett’s Magazine Online as we previously featured his Steampunk Shovelhead and that bike couldn’t be more different than this one if it tried. But, even though they’re totally different, both show the recognizable signature of Copper Mike and his shop, Gravesend Cycles Inc. in Lindenhurst, New York on the southern shore of lovely Long Island. This bike built for Coloradan Mike Detwiler still has a bit of Copper Mike metallic glitz like his Steampunk Shovelhead, but it’s definitely toned down by the tri-color palette of flat black, satin black, and gloss black paint by Mike Tewilwilliger of Visual Impact Paint.
The overall look is a bit of controlled bitsa and that’s not as easy as it sounds to do. A lot of people attempt to embody this idea of art into their builds and end up with a yard sale on wheels. Not so with Sinister Kid. There are tons of different and even opposing pieces and materials that are thoughtfully combined into a striking, not-for-everyone, chopper. The end result is a bit outrageous for most people, but who wants to satisfy everyone? Not Copper Mike. He builds them the way he sees them and I don’t know about you, but I’m totally okay with that.
Copper Mike started with a 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead supplied by owner Mike Detwiler and surprisingly kept a lot of Harley in the build from the frame to the springer fork to the engine. Speaking of the engine, it was built by Joe “Biker” Malloy formerly of H&L Performance fame using Harley internals, not a case stuffed with the latest from S&S. Yeah, it was converted to electric starting along with the kicker hanging off the BAKER Engineering 6 into 4 tranny and it breathes through an S&S Super E carb, but there’s something very cool about it still being a real Harley, not just in spirit. The set of custom fishtails Copper Mike fabbed up keeps it real, well at least in my fishtail of a mind. I’m easy to please as I believe (incorrectly) that every vintage bike ever made had fishtails.
The stock frame got stretched a good four-inches out back and it doesn’t look disproportioned in any way to these eyes. Sitting tight on the top tube is the Copper Mike-built straight-sided tank with horizontally machined inserts that is not only different, but quite attractive in this application. It’s got the vintage look of an old classic car’s machine work without any type of theme bike look to it. Basically, it’s just a cousin-like extension of the finning on the cylinders and adds a bit of mechanical drama to an otherwise painted surface.
Where I do find the drama in this bike is in the tall apes, the tall hand shifter, the Fat Daddy fat spoke 16-inch wheels and tall sidewall tires front and rear, and, last but not least, the brass antique headlight which I assume is off some antique car. They’re all individual pieces that somehow tie together into an un-homogenized harmony of cool. Contrasting all these hard parts is the extensive and always beautiful leatherwork of Duane Ballard Custom Leather in the left-side saddlebag, battery box, and seat. Duane’s created a soft dark touch to all the heavy metal surrounding it.
I’ve saved the last gorgeous tidbit for last and by now you must be wondering if I’m either blind or oblivious ─ the engraving. Yup, that overworked art form of the ‘70s is making a great comeback with current work like Tay Herrera’s masterpiece of metalwork that goes way past the two-dimensional silverware look of the ‘70s with a three-dimensional that doesn’t look like mere decoration for the sake of decoration. It’s extremely crisp and clear with added depth bringing it to life as its own surface. You don’t look at it as much as into it. It takes a piece of metal and brings a different life to it.
The engraving kinda sums up the whole bike. Taking something and not only adding a twist, but breathing a new look and a new life to what might otherwise be a mundane piece. That’s the essence of what Copper Mike does with each build and I can’t wait for the next one.
For more information on Copper Mike and Gravesend Cycles Inc., click on http://coppermike.com/ and enjoy the ride. To find out what makes Mike tick, you might also check out this video that’s pretty insightful.