We knew that the bike would not have a kick stand so it sits on Independent Air Suspension, front and rear, which can be raised up to five-inches.” Ben designed the wheels (26″ in the front and 17″ 330 in the back) and sent the design to someone to cut them, but they did not come out the way they were supposed to. So he sent the design to someone else and, once again, he was not satisfied with the finished product. Undaunted and with two strikes against him, he did it one more time and finally, eight months and $15,000 later, the wheels were done correctly. In the end it was all worth it because they are like nothing else out there. To keep those $15K wheels highly visible, Scott fabricated a sportier setup to showcase them.

The other thing Ben knew was that he wanted the air intake running through the tank to give the bike a different look. Meanwhile, Scott came up with running the exhaust underneath the seat and into an air chamber, and from there it comes out of the rear fender. Another idea Scott had was the head light that looks like an Alien tentacle. Ben than had the idea of making the bike’s finish black with contrasting copper highlights which went against everybody’s opinion that it should be just black. Ben said, “Most people tell me now that the copper makes the bike so I guess it was the right decision.”

Ben took NITEMARE to its first show at the Laughlin River Run where he did not even place. Neither he nor anybody at the show (but the judges) could believe that he did not win. People were screaming that he got robbed and Ben kind of enjoyed that. From then on, NITEMARE (which got its name when everything went wrong one day on the build and Ben said,”It is a nightmare to build this bike!”), started to win Best of Show, one after another, including prestigious shows like American Heat and the Rat’s Hole in Sturgis. But the biggest win came when NITEMARE won the People’s Choice Award at the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building. NITEMARE was actually built to be a driver and has a license plate and registration on it, but since it has done so well in competition, Ben and Scott have not really ridden it yet.

During the build, Ben was still just a customer of Scott’s. Ben and Scott became not only friends during this time, they also became business partners. Scott is in charge of building and designing bikes while Ben designs bikes and promotes the business. They got invited to Daytona in March to compete in the biker build off where they will exhibit a new café racer specially built for Rat’s Hole’s owner, Ted Smith. They also are just weeks away from pulling the wraps off their next bike called Nasty that features a 127” American Racing engine and some really special touches like a built-in iPad, a carburetor built into the gas tank, and an exhaust that nobody can figure out along with other crazy SIC CHOPS’ stuff. “We are going to take the new bike to the AMD World Championship and we think we have a good chance of winning in the Performance Class. There is another absolutely crazy bike in the making that we cannot talk about right now because it will blow everybody away when it is done,” said Ben. “There is only one more thing I want to mention, Scott has the most amazing craftsmanship I have ever seen. If you want real perfection, then Scott is the man and that is why we are business partner now.” SIC Chops does not only build custom bikes, they also transform cars into out-of-the-box creations. “That is Scott’s baby. I am only a partner when it comes to the bike business,” said Ben. “But like everything else he does, Scott’s cars are just perfect!”

SIC CHOPS can be reached at 928-230-3265(BEN) or 928-486-7068 (SCOTT) or for more info, visit their website at www.sicchops.com.