During the previous build-off they had designed and fabricated a custom frame within the allotted period, but it sucked up a good chunk of time they could have spent on other aspects of the bike. On this occasion they used one of their production gooseneck, drop seat rigid frames. It was still a big part of the bike that they had designed and created, but they saved numerous hours by simply pulling one down from a shelf in the shop. Their 38-degree raked neck frame features an extra three inches added to the backbone tube and their signature Detroit Bros. drop seat. Many people are familiar with their frame’s look, so to differentiate it and further customize the bike, they added a Wide Glide girder — in ultramodern mechanical dystopia fashion. The only suspension they used was a Marzocchi coil-over shock with nitrogen-charged damping on the two-inch-over front end. According to Dave, after the bike was built that shock earned its keep by softening the washboard bumps in the heavily degenerated Michigan roads. Dave used a CAD program to make the Eliminate wheels a reality. They were constructed from a billet rim that was machined to hold the precision, wire-EDM cut, quarter-inch plate chromoly plate spokes, using two sets of spokes for each wheel. Another set of spoke plates had to be cut for the matching rotors on the front wheel and the drive sprocket and rotor stacked on the final drive side of the bike in the rear.

Greg Gates, of Gates Engineering, provided the performance enhanced 103” motor. “My brother and I envisioned a performance-oriented bike with a number of custom fabbed parts. An off-the-shelf motor wouldn’t have matched the other components so we went to a specialist to build us a custom motor that made enough power to back up the bike’s styling,” Dave said. Greg built the Shovelhead motor with STD heads, cylinders and cases, balanced S&S flywheels and rods, and his own custom machined pistons. An STD camshaft controls the motor’s valve timing and a Crane HI-4 ignition system lights the gases in the dual-plug combustion chambers. A Super E carburetor from S&S meters the air and fuel allowed to enter the cylinders and the Detroit Bros fabricated unique stainless steel exhaust pipes made with one-and-three-quarter-inch tubing that they sand blasted to create the surface finish. Dave claimed that the BAKER Torque Box 6-speed transmission was the third one off their assembly line and that it works as well today as the day he installed it in the bike. The brothers used a three-inch open belt Tauer Machine primary to route power from the motor to the trans with the help of a Barnett Scorpion clutch positioned behind a Detroit Bros. finned front pulley guard.

Race bikes and racing-inspired customs are purpose built and not designed for any kind of touring, hence this bike’s inherent lack of sheetmetal. A small Detroit Bros. peanut gas tank was bolted to the top of the backbone and for a slightly larger reserve they attached a small reservoir tank positioned doggy-style to the main one. The two tanks hold two-and-a-half gallons combined. They mounted a standard capacity Mooneyes oil tank in a not-so-standard location behind the transmission and finalized the metal work with a miniscule Detroit Bros. Trailer Fender chopped short and jutting towards the sky. Pops the Painter molded the metal and then covered it in PPG red, white, and silver. “We wanted the paint scheme to have a Bonneville racer/SoCal Speed Shop look,” Dave said.

“We named the bike #10 because we had ten days to build it and it was our tenth crazy special construction custom,” Dave said. “I’ve been using the bike as my daily rider this year. I’m always shocked that people are surprised that I actually ride the bike on a regular basis. It’s a lot of fun to ride — the bike acts like it’s alive.”