That being said, there are a few exceptions to the extraneous: for instance, there is a right-side Hurst jockey shifter for changing gears, the horn from a 1927 Studebaker and countless hours of jeweling on the aluminum pieces. There is also a fully functional bottle of “elixir” mounted on the frame down-tube that is complete with fuel line and petcock. Charlie contends that although these features are not absolutely necessary to ride the bike, they support the primary objective and further explained, “Well, we have to involve a little culture if we’re going to reach motorcycle-riding Nirvana, don’t we?”

John Henry is also a sort of reaction to the last 15 years of Glam bikes. Cosmetic refinement and endless clear coats of paint yield to copper patina and the dimpling of hand-hammered aluminum. A kind of café racer meets rat rod with a love child named Wabi-Sabi is underway here. And strangely enough, it all works. The merit of the overall design seems to trump the lack of cosmetic fixation. “If you consider the fine-art masters, what makes their work significant is the overall concept, originality, and design. Not their exacting execution of any particular technique,” said Charlie. “In keeping with that approach, I became free to concentrate on the overall shape and functionality of the bike and not worry too much about the superficial.”

But why did Charlie use a Honda VT1100 as his starting canvas? Not only does it lack the rudiments of real motorcycle-ness, it is arguably the quintessential yuppie-biker bike. Doesn’t Von Braun only make exhaust systems for Harley-Davidsons? Oh man, I think I opened up some kind of personal vein here as Charlie had a lot to say to say the least.

“At Von Braun Exhaust, our belief in, and practice of, impartiality reaches beyond race, creed, and color and extends all the way to motorcycle brands. We love them all. I grew up riding metric bikes, and there are certain qualities about them that are great and others that are fun to bring out. One of the things we all love about a Harley-Davidson is the visceral effect it has on us. They just feel good. And one of the reasons for that is because of their old-fashioned simplicity. For instance, it’s now the year 2012 and The Motor Company still uses pushrods rather than an overhead cam. Harley’s case, the action of moving to a more efficient, better performing engine design would sacrifice what really hooks us on the brand: its feeling.”

Charlie was just warming up and continued, “I find it peculiar that the metric manufacturers try to emulate Harley by way of staggering complication. They’d do much better by using the less-is-more approach. There is heart and soul in those metric bikes. They have the basic ingredients: powerful engines and two wheels. The problem with them lies in that we can’t feel their spirit because it’s buried in knickknacks and clutter. I literally took crates of material off this bike to allow its real motorcycle-ness to come out.”

But like any good businessman, there were also practical reasons as Charlie said, “Another reason for using a Honda is we get a lot of requests from people who would like something for their ‘other’ brand of bike, to make it sound and look better. So we’ve decided to offer a Universal line of mufflers that are an easy custom installation on just about anything. For instance, this Honda simply used our adapters to slip-fit the universal Smoke-Screen mufflers onto the stock head-pipes.”

Why the name John Henry? Didn’t he build railroads, not motorcycles? “I chose the name John Henry because one of the things his legend is about is man vs. machine, or more specifically, man’s triumph over machine. And that’s a lot of what this build was about. Not ‘machine’ as in this particular motorcycle, but ‘machine’ as in the need to rely on modern computer numerical control (CNC) equipment to build it. This bike was built using old-world techniques, hand tools, and hammers. A drill press was about as technological as I go,” said Charlie. “One of the greatest examples of fine art is the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and Michelangelo created it with a paintbrush, candles for light, and scaffolding. No computers were required. At Von Braun, in spite of using the most modern machines available, at the heart of our production are the most sophisticated devices ever created: the human hand and eye. I believe in that, and I think it shows in John Henry, and in our fine exhaust systems.”

Von Braun’s Special Project Divisions bike, John Henry, is currently available for purchase. Please inquire for pricing and detail at www.VonBraunUSA.com.