Before I let it go too long, I should mention he’s the head honcho at Joker Cycle Works in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and even though he’s a young guy this is not his first rodeo by any means with many magazine feature articles to his credit along with awards at the big time shows. But this board tracker called Under Pressure just may be his finest build to date as far as I’m concerned. I’m a sucker for clean and simple bikes that look like they’re going a million sitting there and if they happen to be black, I’m falling all over myself.

 

  Starting with a 2001 Twin Cam engine pulled out of a Dyna Super Glide was all the motivation he needed to build this bike for a long time customer. Now all he had to do was everything else beginning with a hand-building a single-down tube hardtail with some help from his friend, Bob Kavanagh of Lakeside Custom Cycles in Indian Lake, Ohio. Featuring a low seat height and some pretty lines in the aft section, it had great bones to hang a springer on for the retro modern look he was going for. I say retro modern as no vintage board tracker I’ve ever seen had a pair of Southern Motorcycle Works 21-inch Elite Black Octane wheels covered in Metzeler Marathon rubber bookending a Harley engine like on this bike.

 

  Like the board trackers of old, there is no front brake, but Jeremy tried to make up for this with a dual caliper setup out back. He made this even more interesting by choosing a pair of four-piston radial mountTokico calipers that you’d expect to see hanging off the forks of a late model sport bike. The fabbed mount is a thing of beauty in itself and had to involve a bit of work to say the least. I have no doubt Jeremy can lock up the rear wheel with a single toe if he wanted to. May be a bit of overkill, but it certainly looks beyond cool.

 

  After freshening up the Harley Twin Cam A engine and making it clean enough to perform surgery on, Jeremy had Jason Stritenberger of Court House Custom in Chesterton, Indiana, do his engraving magic on the rocker boxes and timing cover to add some nice spice to the raw aluminum. Not overdone, nothing too ornate, but a nice sculpted contrast to the heavy patina of the air cleaner and the flat black finish of the kissing cousins headers. Jeremy took a walk on the wild side when he chose a RevTech 5-into-4 Shovelhead transmission to hook up to the engine via a two-inch open belt drive. Not something you see much or see anytime even, but he had to do it ‘cause he could.

 

  I can’t say enough nice things about the fuel tank as it’s just a damn nice tank from any angle and fits this bike like a glove. The mountings are neat and clean and the shape just couldn’t be better. The flush-mount cap fits the retro modern theme muy perfecto. Jeremy was not so lucky when it came time for the oil tank, though, as it took him two different fabrications to get the one he liked. Looks fine to me although I wasn’t the guy having to build the second one (or even the first discarded one), but I at least appreciate his perseverance. The super smooth and tight rear fender is a Led Sled product and I’m sure it was lovingly nurtured into the semi-invisible result you see. That is one perfect fit.

 

  The tooled leather seat by Sinister Seats in Wood Dale, Illinois, appears to be hinged at the front and maybe, just maybe there’s an air bladder or something hidden under it. I might be crazy, but at least that’s the way it looks to me. Jeremy’s foot controls and pegs are a work of clean industrial art with a very cool wire wrap shift linkage tripping the trans lightly when he dances on the shifter. Same goes for the brake with its rear mounted master connected by a very long heim-jointed rod. 

 

   When it came time for paint, Jeremy let the smooth design of his bike do the talking with impeccable black paintwork and a hint of graphics by Nate Bowers of Bowers Paint Studio in Decatur, Indiana. When in doubt, paint it black has always been my mantra, but I doubt this is the way Jeremy thinks. He knew what was right for this bike from the first part to the last lick of paint and I’m sure he’d have it no other way. It doesn’t look old and it doesn’t look new, it just looks right. That’s the way this whole bike looks to me and it looks like it’d be fun to hoon around on. Whoever the new owner is, he’s one lucky guy and I bet he knows it.

 

 For more information on Jeremy Valentine and Joker Cycle Works, just click on the little blue words www.jokercycleworks.com/.