Well I gotta say I like this jewel of a Shovelhead a lot with maybe one tiny little personal exception that doesn’t mean a damn thing to anyone but me (more on what it is later). Making me like this bike even more is the fact that Rick Bray is still a kid in the scheme of things and with what  he’s accomplished so far in a relatively short period of time, I  can’t even imagine what he’s capable of. Kind of like running into a 25-year-old guy named Michelangelo back in 1500 and saying, “I think you may have a future in art.” Plus, there’s another little factoidal Rick Bray tidbit that I find both utterly fascinating and charming at the same time, he’s really building everything by hand. No, not putting a hand on a WaterJet machine, but basically he’s equipped with Old School things like a Bridgeport mill that would have made him one cutting edge SOB if this was 1980, but as you know, it isn’t.

 

   What Rick’s built here is has a long history for a young guy. Originally it was a 2007 build for his younger brother that hit the financial skids after Rick had it at roller sans drivetrain status. After becoming a rolling nuisance around his shop, Rick decided to have at it again in 2011 following an astute series of swaps that landed him a 1981 Shovelhead engine (and a tranny) that was perfect for this build. Going Old School with Evo or newer engine kinda negates Old School, although the once-revolutionary Evolution engines are getting more Old School evolutionary with every passing day. Somehow a Shovel bridges the mental and aesthetic gap to Old School more than it really should, but it does anyway with a blocky metallic crudity that an Evo lacks so it ended up the perfect centerpiece of this build.

 

   Calling the 80-inch Shovelhead a centerpiece is about as shocking an understatement as one can do after taking a look at this engine that could be lovely showcased in the window of a jewelry store on Rodeo Drive. It’s a masterpiece. You can have your big-ass gaudy Harry Winston diamond necklasses or heavy rapper-style gold chains, this highly modified engine is my version of unadulterated glitz and glamour in totally good taste. Rick finished off this engine like a good diamnond cutter finds the ‘hidden’ facets of a diamond and brings it to a life it never dreamed of when it was shoved into some now unknown 1981 Harley. Matter of fact, Rick almsot could have skipped the rest of the build and just dropped that Kirk Taylor-built engine on a peach box at the Artistry In Iron Show and still probably would have won.

 

   Maybe I would have perched that chrome and finned masterpiece of an engine on a wooden box and called it a day, but that’s obviously not how Rick rolls. This build incorporates what Rick feels is the best of the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s along with what he calls a “hot rod lowrider gasser” throwback touch. Just so you don’t take things wrong, every piece, every single piece of brass you see on this bike was hand made by Rick out of brass scrap on his lathe. And, you probably noticed there are a huge number of brass pieces both big and small throughout this build. He’s either got a lot of talent or a lot of time or both, but  he’s got it and that’s all that counts.

 

  There are lots more beautiful pieces everywhere throughout this bike Rick calls Pala Duro which means “hard Shovel” to our non-Spanish speaking friends of whom I include myself among. I asume the “hard” part refers to the hardcore aspect of this bike and there is a lot of hard everywhere you look. Yeah, it’s a rigid and that’s hard no matter how tough you are and a Shovel is very cool, but it is a hard engine to ride around on. Or maybe it’s the lack of brakes unless you count a single sprotor as stopping power. But, it does go nicely with the classic Invader wheels.  

 

  Oh, in case you were wondering, the lack of massive stopping power was not the “one tiny little personal exception that doesn’t mean a damn thing to anyone but me” that I was referring to in the beginning of the second paragraph. Actually, it was something so stupidly personally subjective that I realize I should be tarred and feathered for if that’s still an option. It’s the subltly stunning Kool Hand Luke paintjob of all things and it’s got nothing to do with the paintjob as that’s just killer. It’s my own personal problem towards brown motorcyles. What Mr. Luke did was fantastic, the flake is beautiful and the pinstriping perfect, it’s just the color. Go ahead kill me, but I had to find one thing not to gush over like a besmitten little girl and that’s the chosen hue. So kill me and be done with it, but brown does not deserve to be on any motorcycle or car as far as I’m concerned. Hey, maybe I just a little too influenced by a guy named Frank Zappa who wasn’t particularly fond of brown either.

  

   So I guess everybody does love  a winner even if it’s covered in a needlessly dreaded brown paint. I do have to admit it took a long time for me to get past the rest of this intricate yet delicate build to even notice the brown paint so that says a lot about the beautiful hand work and design that Rick put into this award winning bike. Yeah, I guess he gets a totally well-deserved pass on my brown paint problema, not that he gives a damn what I think or care. Rick’s too busy coming up with his next show stopper and I can’t wait to see what he’s got in store.