It’s pretty easy to see why this bike Judd named Penny won its class as it’s a neat piece of ready to kick ass mechanicallity instead of a product of a computer operator. Now I’m guessing, but I doubt Judd has (or needs) super high-tech machinery like water jet machines lying about his shop and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. This is a bike built by a guy who knows how to skillfully use tools that don’t require a PhD to operate. The end result is a motorcycle that makes you want to ride the hell out of it as well as look at it and if you gotta look at it, preferably at speed with no place in particular to go. You know, just riding a bike for the mind-cleansing, mechanical hell of it.

   Judd’s platform for Penny is an old American standby that’s hard to go wrong with, a Paughco rigid frame with very reasonable (fun to ride) geometry. Remember he’s right near the Blue Ridge Mountains and there’s some really great back road riding in Georgia in case you’ve never been there. With a bit of board track inspiration, it’s only fitting he chose a springer for the front end, in this case a DNA springer, to go along with a set of 21” laced wheels sporting decent-sized (back road fun) Bridgestone Exedra rubber. He didn’t skimp on the brakes either as is the case too many times today and this bike has a beefy set of disc brakes fore and aft. I know I’d much rather just stomp on some real brakes than have to make excuses and I think that little bar end rear view mirror tells all about this bike. It’s a rider. Sure, Judd made Penny capable of winning shows, but he also made her capable of winning you over a tank at a time. 

     The choice of an 80-inch Shovelhead for this bike is almost a no-brainer as it just looks so right and Shovels just have their own vintage sound. A BDL open belt primary passes the Shovel-power to an Ultima 6-speed tranny that makes every Shovel-pony useful while cutting the Shovel-vibes at speed with its overdrive top gear. One thing for sure, people may not know who is coming when Judd’s back-roading it, but they sure know somebody’s coming as his header-wrapped headers have never had intimate knowledge of something people refer to as a muffler. Must sound nice bouncing off the mountains, though.

   Where Judd really excelled in this build was his execution of final finishes. There’s enough copper plating that when he got through, copper market prices probably fell a bit. Unlike chrome, copper’s a bit more subtle and warm to the eye and using lots of it isn’t quite as jarring as chroming everything. I mean, even the carb had a swim in copper. Somewhere there’s a plater that got a nice vacation from all this copper work.

   With a riding position on the leather seat by Buttskinz that looks comfortable and commanding combined with what looks to be a surprising amount of cornering clearance, Judd York has not only made himself a serious show winner, but a bike that begs you to get on and ride the crap out of it or maybe just lay back and smell the roses. Either way, it’s a winner in every respect.

Flat Broke Customs does not have a web site so if you’re looking for more information you’ll either have to check out Flat Broke Customs on Facebook or just call the town offices in East Ellijay. With a population of only 550, I’m sure everybody knows everybody and maybe you can just get the mayor to yell out his window, ”Judd, there’s a call for you.”