2006 South Florida Chopper - Pro Street

Prior to proceeding to the friction drive, Mike wanted to line up as much of the driveline as he could. He began with a show-polished S&S 96-inch Evo-style motor assembled at the factory in Viola, WI. From there he dropped a six-speed RSD tranny from Custom Chrome behind the motor, and then made the connection between the two with one of PM's 2-inch open belt drives. Before proceeding further, the team would have to build the friction drive, which is made up of some shafting, a couple of main shaft gears (used to ensure the drive drum would spin in the proper direction) designed for use in a transmission, and a 6-inch solid aluminum drum that runs the width of the 300-Series rear tire, complete with a knurled outer circumference to aid in grip on the tire. All of these components were neatly packaged in a steel box and concealed in the rear of the frame. With this major chore out of the way, the SFC crew got busy on the huge amounts of work left to get the bike going. Three of the guys were working on hand-fabricating the extensive sheetmetal, which serves the dual purpose of giving the bike its smooth, flowing lines and concealing as much of the frame and components as possible.

If you look closely at the bike, a keen eye will alert you to the fact that it appears to have no brakes, yet it still has what looks like a PM Contour hydraulically operated front brake lever. Well, looks can be deceiving. The lone lever on the right side of the SFC's 1-1/4-inch bars is actually the clutch lever, giving the rider the opportunity to reach down and back with his left hand to operate the shifter. All of the bike's braking is controlled by a Pro Fab transmission-brake setup operated by a right-side brake pedal. Keeping the lines of the bike as clean as possible, Mike and the guys went with an Exile internal throttle and internal wiring, and stashed the air compressor, battery, regulator, and Nology Pro-Fire coils below the seat. With no room to hang the oilbag from its traditional location, one was fabricated and hung below the transmission.

Mike had one more trick up his sleeve to put the bike over the top. He figured that if the bike were turbocharged he would stand a real good chance of taking top honors at the next competition. Not knowing a whole lot about mounting turbos on a motorcycle, he turned to Steve at the Turbo Doc in Utah. After some lengthy conversations, Steve hooked up Mike with a pair of self-oiling Aero Chargers designed for use in snowmobile racing. Once in Mike's hands, they were completely disassembled and machined wherever possible to give them a smooth, clean look. After mounting them low on the downtubes, Mike began plumbing between the engine's exhaust ports and the turbos with some 2-inch pipe. For the outlet of the turbos, 3-inch pipe was bent at a 90-degree angle and slash-cut.

With the bike completely mocked up, it was time to tear it down and send out all the parts for polishing, plating, and some aluminum-finish Hot Shot Jet Coating for the exhaust pieces. All the extensive molding and painting was performed in-house by Chad. Mike's color selections were rather simple. Instead of putting a wild paint job on the bike, he had Chad shoot the sheetmetal and rear frame section with Subaru's Timberland Green, while the majority of the frame and the frontend and bars were slathered in GM's Frost Pearl.

Since completing the bike, Mike has done very well showing it. As of this writing, his proudest achievement was finishing 12th overall in the World Championship of Bike Building, competing with the likes of guys such as Roger Goldammar, Mike Prugh, and Mark Warrick.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see where having his creation grace the cover of this month's HOT BIKE ranks in Mike's mind.