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Like most builds, this one started from a single item the builder decided to build around. In this case, it was the release of the “new” Harley Evo crate motors. “Back in the mid-90s, Harley started selling those Evo crate motors and the chopper thing really hadn’t gotten crazy yet. I had this idea I wanted to build a rigid frame chopper using that new motor. I bought a Chopper Guys frame ‘cause I like the way they’re welded up and it’s a clean look, a well made piece of machinery. I bought a Ceriani front end and started farting around with it and didn’t get too far. The Ceriani upside-down front end had just come out and it was something different when I put it on there and it’s been sitting on there since I bought it,” said Erik. “The next year I bought a couple of PM wheels and the next year I had a transmission we took out of something else and tanks from something else. Anyway, we just kept accumulating parts and finally about six or seven years ago I had a pretty nice rolling chassis, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with it.”

Just to put things in order, it’s now been about ten years since Erik got a hold of that “new” crate motor and he still wasn’t sure where he was headed with this build, but he knew where he wasn’t going. “The chopper craze hit in the late ‘90s, early 2000s and I didn’t want it to look like everybody else’s. I really didn’t care about big fat tires and I wanted it to handle, so I guess it kind of got put on the back burner,” said Erik. “My son, Chad DeShayes, works with me as our general manager and he said, ‘When are you going to finish that f**king chopper?’ so I said, ‘Okay, I’m gonna finish it.’ Actually I got going about a year and a half ago and got pretty close, but still didn’t have the look I wanted on the rear end.” What Erik was looking for was a rear fender that existed as an idea in his head he couldn’t retrieve, but he’d know it when he saw it. “I had two or three different guys make me some fenders and some weird lights, but they all looked the same, know what I mean?” said Erik. “We had a wrecked V-Rod and I took the rear fender and started chopping it up, cutting it up, holding it up, and finally got it so it had a nice look to it.”

So for those of you keeping track, we’re going into the 17th year, the bike is a pretty complete roller, and it came time for picking a paint scheme. Who knew that this would be the hardest part to get just right. “In November of ’09 I met this guy [Matt Hubbard of Air Brush Plus] who can do just about anything, but everything he did was flames, stripes, and the sh*t you get sick of looking at. I told him I wanted to paint this bike like it’s been sitting somewhere and never taken care of and was just rusted, windblown, and wore out,” said Erik. “Well it took me about two months to get this guy to finally understand what I wanted. He kept sending me stuff and he’d go, ’Is this it?’ and I’d say, ‘No, that ain’t it’ and he’d go, ‘Is this it? and I’d say again. ‘No, that ain’t it.’ Finally he called me and said, ‘I get it!’ and sent me a tank he had painted. I told him he was close, but said, ‘Here’s the thing, get rid of the flames, get rid of the stripes, get rid of the ripped-up metal, stuff that other people had done.’ Finally I got everything the way I wanted it.”

When I asked Erik about the “finish” on the wheels, he said, “I found this powdercoater, Rick Greisch of Ultimate Powder Coating, and he said, ‘You know all those guardrails we use up in the Adirondacks? They’ve got to be aesthetically correct for all those idiots that don’t want any new looking stuff so those are actually powdercoated rust.’ I said, ‘Put that on my wheels’ and he said, ‘You want to take those $3,000 wheels and powdercoat them rust?’ I said to do it and that really did it once I got those wheels.” But that wasn’t the end as he added, “Did you notice there’s black sh*t on the wheels that looks like grease? That’s undercoating. I wanted it to look like the grease was coming out of the wheel.”

As far as the reaction to this “rusted, windblown and wore out” custom from the public at large, Erik said, “People will come in here and they’ve got to touch it. They can’t get over it. It’s been a real show stopper anywhere I’ve taken it.”

I couldn’t help asking if the use of the name “Davidson” on tank of the bike caused him any problems. “I’m pretty good friends with Willie G. and I emailed all the pictures to him and said, ‘Here’s the first actual Davidson motorcycle ever built’ and he loved it. I came up with that Davidson idea about ten years ago, but I just never told anybody. If it wasn’t for Willie G., we wouldn’t be here. I figured he deserved it,” he said adding. “Those two gas caps. That’s early Willie when he was racing in his early 20s on the right side and on the other side that’s Willie G. today.”

So after a 17-year build, is this just a passing thing that finally got done in spite of everything or was it a keeper? “I’m not selling this, it’s not going anywhere. It’s going to stay in my collection,” said Erik. “It’s a ball to ride. It rides great, handles real good, nimble, superlight, and goes down the highway great.” Sounds like a keeper to me especially since this is one Harley you don’t have to worry about keeping clean. In another 17-years, Erik’s patina will have patina.