There was this guy, and he lived in a little town in the Midwest and he was barreling down the road on his Harley 2004 Heritage Softail and he spun out and had a horrible accident and landed in someone’s yard. That someone just happened to be a doctor who just happened to be at home doing yardwork and he ran over and jabbed an ink pen into the guy’s trachea and saved his life. Understandably, the man who had the accident wasn’t quite up to riding anymore, and he sold the scraps of his poor Harley on eBay.

Enter Mike Gessling, owner of RIP Engineering, a custom rebuild and repair shop in Mena, Arkansas, right near the Oklahoma state line. Mike had always wanted a Harley, but couldn’t afford a new one. When he saw the bike on eBay, he put in a bid, and the crumpled treasure was his. He set to work rebuilding it, and as he thought about the design, and about the bike’s history, he had a vague idea of a ghostly motif with skulls and fire and spooky stuff. Then he saw a trailer for the movie, Ghost Rider, and inspiration struck. He went to local airbrush artist Michael Keech with his concept, and “the idea just grew,” said Mike.

Metal was uncrumpled, parts were replaced, and painting began. Beautiful, eerie images from the film, including portraits of Nicolas Cage, Peter Fonda and Wes Bentley were incorporated into the design. The entire project took over two years to complete, with much of that time devoted to the painstaking job of adding the incredible artwork. “The paint work consists of a black base with 16 different candies and pearls from House of Kolor paints. Mr. Keech is a remarkable airbrush artist,” said Mike.

At one point, after the back fender was completely painted with that incredible Ghost Rider theme, Mike tried to bolt it onto the bike. “I discovered it was bent. I got another back fender and had Mr. Keech and Mr. Hasley paint another fender, but it just didn’t match as well as the original.” Gently, oh so gently, Hasley took the original fender, and somehow managed to straighten it without damaging the artwork. “So now I have an extra back fender that is great with some different scenes, it’s just a little off on the colors used on the original fender,” said Mike. That was about the biggest glitch he faced during the build, and he considers himself fortunate that he had such a great team helping him.

In the end, the bike turned out to be a masterpiece on wheels. Blue and orange images from Ghost Rider drift along the entire bike, along with blazing flames and creepy-cool skulls and tombstones. Mike attracts attention wherever he goes. He’s ridden the bike in several parades and won second-place in the 2010 HOG Rally in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It’s also been featured in the Snap-On Tools calendar.

Mike wanted a great looking, unique ride, but his main desire was for a bike that could handle cross-country adventures comfortably. Girlfriend Dana rides a 2009 Harley Softail Custom, and traveling is a big part of their lives. “I just wanted a Harley that I could ride long distances and enjoy having fun on the open road,” Mike said. He’s put over 17,000 miles on it in a little over a year, and has plans for many more trips. “I wanted a bike that looked great, but that I could ride farther than just to the next bar.”

Mike’s next planned build is a 1939 Harley Knucklehead with a left-hand sidecar. Once again, he plans on using Michael Keech and Mike Hasley as his painters. Hopefully, they’ve already begun discussing the design. As far as artwork goes, The Legend of the Ghost Rider’s going to be hard to top.