Art bikes? How do you know when you see an “art” bike? You just know in a heartbeat. Just like the late Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart’s famous answer when asked what test he used to define something as hard-core pornography, he simply said, “I know it when I see it.” Now obviously I’m not trying to equate the stunning art bike Flathead built by Dalton Walker of Split Image Kustoms in Hanford, California, with hard-core pornography or maybe, unconsciously, I am in a motorcycle kind of way. This absolute jewel of a SIK build is my style of pornography any day.
And yes, it is a sort of Fabergé Egg of a motorcycle. This intensely designed and built Flathead digger-style bike is detailed like one of those heavily be-jeweled eggs created by Peter Carl Fabergé and his company for the enjoyment of Russian czars back at the turn of the 20th Century. To me those were just overly-ornate art objects compared to Dalton’s 1937 Harley-Davidson UL 74-inch Flathead that pays respectful, yet fun homage to choppers of the ‘60s and ‘70s. That’s not the biggest surprise to me after reading the previous Barnett’s Magazine Online article on a seriously-retro Triumph custom, the guy loves and lives the old stuff even though he’s yet to break his mid-thirties. Go on, click on that blue link ─ you know you want to see it.
What’s even more amazing about Dalton’s bike(s) is that this is not his full-time profession. By day he’s a welder at the family-owned business, Walker’s Welding, and by nights and any spare time he can piece together, he builds unbelievably beautiful motorcycles with more than a tinge of Old School to them. He’s an interesting combination of an old soul in a young guy with a penchant for learning and using the best techniques both old and new and I think that’s what takes his bikes up a notch or two. Hey, I’m not the only one thinking that as he’s won way more than his share of prestigious awards for a builder that’s not a celebrity of sorts.
Dalton kept the build of this bike tight and tidy from the word go. The low cylinder height of the Flatty gives a whole new set of parameters to build around compared to an Evo or Twin Cam engine. The proportions are perfect, but somehow this bike seems like it was built to a 7/8 scale. It’s gotta be that Flatty sitting as low as you can go along with the mild rake up front and the tall rear tire sucking itself up to the tranny. Maybe it’s all the exposed air space of the small egg of a tank, I dunno, but it just seems a bit more of a lightweight-style, almost delicate in design, than a late model big-block drive train has to be because of its large physical dimensions. Or, maybe I’m just wrong. To quote the infamous or famous (depending on your political point of view) TV commentator, Bill O’Reilly, “What say you?”
As far as the art aspect goes, just take a look at the line from the top tube to the rear axle. This is always a scared designer area where they try to carry the frame line through. You can’t help but notice Dalton surrounded the Wassell-style peanut tank with a straight chrome shot to the back axle plate. From a straight side-shot, it looks like a perfect line while from any other view you can’t help but appreciate how it sinuously wraps itself around the perimeter of the tank. That’s some beautiful and skillful fabrication going on there Joey. In my personal opinion, Dalton’s taken a split backbone frame to another level of craft.
Up front that beautifully built springer is no off-the-shelf item or a modified version of something else, but a hand built SIK springer. The construction is stunning with machined rockers that are pieces of art metal just by themselves. The heavily-chromed legs are shaped in just such a way that they have the proper retro feel, but Dalton made them sleek and sexy in a way that most other springers look a little clunky in comparison. Cradled between those rockers is what appears to be a classic Invader five-spoke wheel at first glance. To quote Mayberry’s Ernest T. Bass, “Surprise, surprise!” ─ it’s not an Invader except in spirit. Dalton whipped that up along with the rear one that sports a now ancient, but heavily chromed drum brake as the only way to slow progress other than downshifting or dragging boots. This really is an art project that may be unstoppable in more ways than one. I dare say the construction and finish is better than any Invader I’ve ever seen but I wouldn’t expect less from Dalton.
The extensive use of chrome and shiny bits from the frame to the sissy bar to the springer to the wheels and the engine/tranny understandably gives this a bling factor of 9.5 on a scale of 10 and reeks (in a good way) of big bucks jewelry. Where Dalton added the stone to the ring was the (I’m guessing) rich candy apple red finish and extensive gold leafing. It’s just a beautiful paintjob that fits this build to a tee. Craig Fraser of the Air Syndicate was responsible for the outstanding graphics and it’s nice to see a couple of artists collaborating on a project like this. Same goes for the astonishingly beautiful distressed leather seat mit jewels and the likewise-similar floorboard inserts by Shack Cycles in Las Vegas. That is some cool sh*t going on there.
So yeah, Rodent’s desire to reference ultra show bikes as concept bikes definitely has validity and nails bikes that will never see much more than trailer and show floor time in a positive light. But, there are some rare builds like Dalton Walker’s Fabergé Flathead that go a bit beyond concept and straight to art. Well at least as far as I’m concerned anyway because I know art when I see it and I’m looking at it right now and it’s powered by 74-cubic-inches of side-valve ferocity.
Here’s the rub if you really like Dalton’s work and want to know more, he’s web-page free at the moment, but you can connect with him through his Facebook page. Please don’t spend a lot of time bothering him if you can help it as his time is somewhat limited and I would rather not wait one more minute than I have to to see what the guy’s gonna turn out next.