I don’t know it for a fact, but I think I can easily assume that Gabor “Gabby” Toth, owner and builder of this motorcycle and trailer combo, from West Palm Beach, Florida,  is a huge Metallica fan and an even bigger fan of Metallica’s front man, James Hetfield. Otherwise why would he build such a tribute bike with a trailered guitar trailing it? It’s well known James Hetfield has a big interest in bikes and cars with some pretty spendy customs adorning his garage, but I’m not even sure if he knows about Gabby’s build. I’m sure he would approve, though, and maybe even a bit humbled by the dedicated work of one of his biggest fans and by the outcome too.

  The build began around a 1981 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead and even though the frame didn’t radically change, it seems to look completely different. This build was hard-tailed the old fashioned way with a pair of struts replacing the shocks and that was that. Could go back to stock in a heartbeat, but the ride is more Metallica this way. Up front things were just a bit different with a Paughco springer that Gabby basically changed the way the thing worked with a dual leaf spring setup. Now that’s something you don’t see everyday unless you’re Gabby Toth. It looks like he’s got things worked out pretty well so I can only assume it works just fine.

   There’s a bit of a mystery towards the rolling stock for me and it’s not figuring out that these are one more pair of 16-inch OEM mag wheels that now look especially cool to me anyway. Especially when they’re shod with wide whitewall “Fire Tone” (yes that’s how it’s spelled on the tires) Deluxe Champions mounted front and rear. The tall sidewalls make a lot of sense when you’ve strutted your stuff as they can run fairly low pressures and soak up a lot of harshness. At least that’s what the real Old School guys did and swore by as well as at I’m sure. Hopefully the trailer is not too heavy a load as the only stopping device this bike has is engine braking and a small sprocket brake out back. That’s a bit too hard core for me.

    A Shovelhead especially one dressed in black is the musical equivalent of heavy metal and a finer choice of engine for this build you couldn’t find. It’s got a look and a bad ass sound all its own just like a certain band I don’t have to name again. When these engines go from easy cruise mood to WFO they take on a whole new personality that grabs your attention and holds it. Be sure to check out the accompanying video of this bike running. It sounds nasty but in a good nasty way. It’s still just a kicker too so you gotta be committed to own this ride but I’m sure you guessed that already.

  There’s a touch of tough guy on the primary side of the engine with open chains running to and fro. A hand shifter topped by Lady Justice towers up on the left and shifts a vintage four-speed tranny. It seems that the clutch is also controlled on that side which is not unusual with a hand shifter, but this time it appears to not be foot controlled as expected or even a clutch lever on the shifter. Yup, it’s still up there on the bars. The feet have got to be happy, but the hands have got to be all over the place unless it’s the right-hand doing the shifting I would presume. Whatever, it probably turned out to be a good reason to have just four speeds.

  The sheet metal is minimal, but what there is fits in nicely. The tank appears to be a Wassell-style that always looks vintagely-good especially when it’s mounted nicely and it certainly does here. Obviously you can’t miss the MOON Equipment spun aluminum oil tank sitting front and center ahead of the downturned drag-style bars. It’s a dominant style point that doesn’t look out of place on this build although it’s gotta affect the steering a wee bit. It also made for a low-mounted small headlight stuck on the right downtube that must be legal somewhere. By the way, the tail light is appropriately made out of a vintage Shure microphone.

   I do like the short rear fender with an upturned lip angled away up in the air. It’s a bit of a middle finger to normalcy and authority or at least that’s the way I’m taking it. The wild seat with a life of its own by Nogg Design (apparently somewhere in Hungary) is like peering into a bad boy’s diorama of sorts. There’s the brass knuckle back that parallels the rear fender angle with what looks like a leather handle and straps and that’s not even getting to the seat pad itself yet. A bit of piping, a bit of stitching, some rivets and hand tooling completes the picture. Nogg also supplied the trailer’s leather bag that holds a guitar on it. I think I can safely assume is not carried about accumulating road crap, but strapped on for show-only. By the way, Yeti Décor is responsible for not only the engraving on the guitar, but the aluminum bat on the fork leg too.

   Anything and everything was painted in a shade of black including the trailer and that’s about as bad ass as you’re going to get black especially since it’s in some different finishes. But, there are some graphics to break things up and also leverage the Metallica tribute aspect a bit like three of their songs like Master of Puppets and Nothing Else Matters on the former swingarm while a sexy nun image by Erik of the Paint Box is surrounded by the title of And Justice For All. There’s also a reference to Am I Evil? but I forgot where I saw it. JR Linton of Ink & Pistons handled all the lettering.

   All in, Gabor “Gabby” Toth has done a righteous tribute to James Hetfield and Metallica that isn’t in your face like most tribute bikes, You just might have to be a Metallica fan to pick up on a lot of style points, but anybody can appreciate the thought and work Gabby put into this ride to make it work so well without you realizing it at first. Could this just be the first stealth tribute bike? Only Gabby knows for sure.