In case you don’t know who Johnny Chop is, you might have seen him on a Discovery’s Biker Build Off  where he was the right hand of Chica of Chica Custom Motorcycles fame. Later he went on his own starting Johnny Chop Industries where he continued to create more than build custom motorcycles. He had the eye and the touch of an artist as well as a custom motorcycle builder before he unfortunately succumbed to a heart problem at age 34 in 2006. A few years ago, Kirk decided to build this kick-ass Shovelhead tribute bike to honor his friend and the result you see before you is close to Shovelhead perfection as you’re ever going to get in my un-humble opinion. Mr. Taylor, Johnny would be proud of you. 

  What makes this tribute build even more interesting is the fact that it incorporates bits and pieces that Johnny Chop had built. Oh, you know-little things like the frame for instance. Johnny built this mildly-raked (32-degrees) prototype twin-downtube rigid frame and what could be cooler than building around a genuine Johnny Chop frame? Man, that makes this tribute build about as authentic and honest as it can get. By the finished product, you can see the lines are tight and right.

  Hanging off the front end is a beefy set of shaved-leg forks from a 1967 Hydra Glide cradling a vintage chopper correct 21-inch Akront rim laced to a spool hub and surrounded in Avon’s iconic Speedmaster II rubber. Out back, there’s definitely more Avon modern rubber hitting the road on a wide 18-inch Akront rim that can hopefully be reined by the large floating disc being worked on by a pair of ancient Performance Machine calipers. It is a nice touch, though, and looks Johnny Chop appropriate. He’d appreciate Kirk’s choice and so do I.

   One reason why good brakes might just be a plus is that pretty as all hell 1980 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead that’s been messed with inside and out. All of that messing has made for an incredible running Shovel and subtly dazzling mechanical jewelry at the same time. Stripped down to the core, the cases were polished to a show shine and rebuilt from there with some smart hot rodding of the 80-inch Shovel via a Crane cam and lifters, ported and polished heads and an S&S Super E carb sporting an always cool Goodson air cleaner.

  Kirk came up with those twin ceramic coated headers that have just beautiful heat shields. I assume they work, but they sure look good so even if they don’t, I guess that’s enough. At least they’re LOUD. Mr. Nice himself, Bert Baker, of BAKER Drivetrain came up with one of his 6-into-4 transmission conversions. That pedal thing hanging off the right side of the tranny is something that gets Old School freaks excited and leaves others stymied. “You do what to start it? Bring it up to top dead center? What the hell is that?” Yup, it’s a kicker, but if it comes out of Custom Design Studios, it’s going to be a good one. The new Dynatek electronic ignition is a kicker’s best friend and a little instruction goes a long way, so let the kicking begin.  

   But, that stuff’s only the tip of the Shovelhead iceberg. Check out those never-get-old split rocker boxes made by Steve Broyles and Shovelhead takes on a very different meaning. It takes a Shovel right back to the Knucklehead era of bikes with just that right amount of Steampunk look. It’s not trying hard, it just looks natural. Of course, the addition of all that tasteful engraving by the world-respected engraver, Tay Herrera, brings on the vintage like an old engraved pocket watch, but with more oomph. It’s another one of the many subtle, but beautiful things Kirk incorporated into the design.

   On a bike with so little bodywork, there was an extreme amount of work involved. The tank, for instance, was started by Johnny Chop, but finished by Custom Design Studio. Again, it’s one of those things that from a distance it’s one thing and up close, completely different. From twenty-feet, it just looks like a nicely-proportioned Sportster-style custom tank mounted Frisco-style. That’s a lot of styling going on, but up close the tank takes on a whole new character with metal ribbing bringing flowing elegance to a classic design.

Check out the Custom Design Studio oil tank with the MOONEYES end caps or the clean as a whistle battery box sitting right below.

   The rear fender gets in on the raised ribbing action too bringing on the fen shui with the fuel tank. Like the Johnny Chop classic rigid frame, Kirk went with a Goldilocks of a sissy bar to support the rear fender ─ not too tall and not too small, just right. It’s there, you see it, but it isn’t in your face dominant or anything like that. As Goldilocks supposedly said, “It’s just right.”

   Joining the reasonable up and at ‘em aspect of the sissy bar is the seemingly towering handlebar setup that, surprisingly, is not that towering in actuality. The tall risers are way higher than the actual grip. Sure does look like it could have been ripped off something built over 40-years ago, but the lines really do work on this bike. They’re subtle, yet interestingly complicated and what most would refer to as cool.

   Like everything else on this bike, the Kirk Taylor paintjob has its special treats that change with how close you get to this build Kirk named Sacred and I don’t think I gotta explain anything about that. It’s a beautiful blue from afar, but get up close and personal and it’s like looking into an ocean of stars with the universe of heavy flake throughout the paint. I can’t forget the beautiful painted leather work on the twin-shock solo seat. Let’s just say there’s a lot of personal biz going on there between Kirk and Johnny and leave it at that. I will say I’m glad they chose not to Old School the seat solid to the frame. Those twin shocks makes a huge difference in ride quality of a rigid and riding it would be what Johnny Chop was all about. I don’t know if they’ve found the DNA code for motorcycle addiction, but I know Johnny had it. RIP mi amigo.

    So, Kirk Taylor did a bang up job as usual building a bike with a timeless style yet cutting edge current in its own way. It’s a bike to be appreciated for what it is, but it does have its won back story involving two good friends and life as we learn it. Now that it’s done its tour of show duties, Sacred is looking for a new owner according to Kirk. Maybe it’s time for you to pony up and make that elusive dream become a reality before it’s too late. And, what a gorgeous way to do it. Give ‘em a call.

  For more info on Custom Design Studio, go directly to

http://www.customdesignstudios.com/ or Facebook or whatever you got.