David called this bike Epitome because it was the culmination of all his knowledge and skill at that time. “One of my best customers, Ken Kelly, wanted to see what I was capable of,” David explains. “He didn’t want me to limit myself and told me not to worry about any of the costs. I didn’t have to compromise on any materials and was able to hand-fabricate and modify almost every part of this bike.”

David approached building this bike as he would a painting on canvas or sculpting something from clay. At either end of the handlebars are a set of grips that were custom machined to match the shape of the shifter knob, kick-start pedal, the ends of the American Suspension springer legs, and the handle-like protrusion (or saddle-horn) at the base of the gas tank. He even incorporated his love for sailing into the bike’s functional design by integrating into the foot-actuated clutch a series of halyard pulleys fastened to an Exile foot control. (What’s a halyard pulley? It’s the lever mechanism used to run the rope tied to sails up the mast on a sailboat.) Surely a halyard pulley mechanism is a unique idea and an extremely distinctive clutch actuator in any group of bikes. What is really cool about the shifter is that it doesn’t draw attention to itself and fits with the other components of the bike as a whole.

Epitome really was the culmination of David’s abilities at that time in his life. David said, “I learned a lot while I built this bike because I really pushed myself to the edge of my abilities. Whenever you push yourself to the edge, your abilities improve.” The bike he’s working on now is even more involved than this one, but he says it wouldn’t be possible if it hadn’t been for the experience and knowledge he picked up from building Epitome.