In case you may have just forgotten about it, Extortion 17 (call sign) was the U.S. Army CH-47D Chinook helicopter that was shot down seconds before landing on August 6, 2011 in Afghanistan killing all 38 on board including 31 American military personal. Thirty servicemen from different branches and one military dog died that day and it really hit home with American servicemen past and present. Pat Tozzi, owner of Green Devil Garage in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was one of them. He proudly proclaims on his web site that “We are military veteran owned and operated . . . ” So I think you get the idea of where he and his company are at with just those seven words.

 

  Over the past three years, Green Devil Garage has built an Extortion 17 tribute bike for the One Time Memorial Ride with the auction proceeds to be distributed to the 31 Heroes Project and the Seal Future Fund. What I also should add is the rest of the sentence from GBG’s web site to explain what make this a tribute bike more than some silly theme bike “. . . and we ride.” That is exactly what separates this extremely tasteful and rideable bike from being some commercial parody of a custom motorcycle.

 

   There’s nothing on here like rotor blades or knives and grenades or whatever crap builders often festoon military theme bikes with, this is an honorable and solemn tribute to the servicemen who lost their lives, not a cartoon on two wheels. That’s what I like about this bike is that it’s so much more than a stationary memorial, but a memorial that happens to be a kick ass Old School-style ride. 

 

   Built around a 1980 Harley-Davidson model (of unknown to me origins although I’m guessing FLH because of the displacement) the 80-inch Shovelhead has been done over and refinished probably better than the day it left the factory. It’s a real looker but without any excessive makeup like polished cases or diamond cut heads to muck it up, just clean natural finishes with a bit of polishing in the right places.

 

  The classic S&S teardrop air cleaner looks like it was born there while the dual mid-level exhaust shoots straight back before a graceful turn-out just before the rear axle plates. There’s just enough aggressiveness in style and sound to compliment the inherent aggression of a nicely hot-rodded Shovelhead. Any good running Shovel with a set of pipes like this has its own shock and awe value sure to please any Shovelhead freaks within a block or two. Pat finished it off with a classy BAKER Drivetrain Tin Type Primary and BAKER’s über-cool 6 into 4 tranny with a kicker hanging off it. Always the perfect way to separate the men from the boys and after years of kicking and never minding it, I’m now definitely a boy. But, if I had the chance I’d give this a shot.

 

  With a retro style build in mind, it had to be a rigid frame and that’s exactly what Pat stuffed the Shovel into. The suspension singularity on this bike is courtesy of another old line chopper parts company, Paughco and one of their many models of springers. With a retro bike you don’t have a lot of choice when it comes to wheels, it’s either laced or Invaders, but at least they’re cool choices you can’t go wrong with. Pat’s laced wheels are just what they should be with the right (retro) size and number of spokes attached to a chromed steel rim just like they used to. His practical concession to modernity is a disc brake up front and a sprocket brake out back which I have zero beef with ─ period correct or not. By now you must be noticing that, unsurprisingly, Pat made it a point to buy American for this American heroes bike and the same goes for the rest of the components. 

 

   When it came time for bodywork, Pat held himself nicely in check choosing an always good-lookin’ Sporty tank that sets the tone for the clean Old School-style of the rear fender and cylindrical oil tank mounted where it should be, right under the seat area. That’s a combo that’s been used a million times, but it never gets old or tired to me. It just is what it is and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. A set of little mini-apes with conventional levers tags up nicely to the Buttskinz sprung seat and simple, but effective, forward controls. Nothing to yell about or complain about with Pat’s approach, it looks comfy for blasting around and looks like it could do it for more years than I can comprehend.

 

   Like all custom bikes, it’s all the about the paint and especially more so on a tribute bike. Most builders overdue paint using every available inch of space to shout out the well-meaning intention, but not this subtle two-wheeled memorial. Joe Hill of Dog House Design (Dog House Paint on Facebook) came up with a crusader theme that involved fabulous airbrushing over a white base that really looks Old School graphics cool. Igor Acord of Igor’s Customs lettered the oil tank with the thirty initials of the fallen servicemen and completed his work with more tribute graphics on the tank’s ends. It’s a very classy way to honor the 31 and that’s all I have to say.

 

   By the way, if you riding around New York state and you happen to think this bike looks a bit familiar, that’s because the guy, known only as Anthony, who bought it lives there and has been doing to salute those 31 warriors by riding the pee out of it. No surprise that he’s a former Marine who fits right in to Green Devil Garage’s motto, “We are military veteran owned and operated and we ride.”

 

  For more info on Green Devil Garage, visit http://www.greendevilgarage.com/ or check ‘em out on Facebook.