It takes a special breed of biker to endure the five or six torturous months off the road in Minnesota. Most of us fog the cylinders, stabilize the gas and try not to think about riding for a while. But then there are guys like Master Sergeant Alex Brooks. He looks at the mandatory down time as an opportunity to take on an mental and skills challenges. For Minnesotans like Alex, wrenching on bikes is perhaps the only way to make it through the winter.
As soon as you set foot into Alex's garage it's clear he has more than a motorcycle hobby. A beautiful Indian Chief with chrome and custom paint instantly catches your eye before you notice the flat black vintage Shovelhead, which is equally impressive in it's simple elegance.
The two bikes, alongside his wife's Sportster, show Alex's devotion to American motorcycles and the diverse style he brings to each project. "I'm more about the natural lines of the bike and don't care much for paint." Pointing to his Chief Alex adds, "look at those curves, it's just like a chick's body." What's striking about Alex's style is the way the tasteful and unique embellishments stand out against a minimalist aesthetic.
While Alex may have a knack...
While Alex may have a knack for building good looking bikes, the brass balls key chain lets people know who wears the pants in the family.
With his dream Indian Chief complete, Alex thought it was time to take on a project for his wife, Julie. Like many projects, this one started in a bar with friends. Alex has a knack for drawing so he often turns to sketching in the early stages of a project. "I just took a bar napkin and started drawing, what came out was a vintage style Sportster with an H-D Springer frontend, FL style rear fender and a sprung seat. I really wanted to emulate the old Knuckles or Flatheads of the '30s."
From a bar napkin to the street by spring was no small undertaking. Especially since he didn't have the bike yet and wasn't even sure that the idea was mechanically possible. Alex got to work finding the pieces he would need to put this thing together. "eBay is my parts dealer," Alex says, "I know a lot of guys who get everything there but don't like to admit it." With a few friends, eBay, and tremendous will power, Alex created a very cool Sportster with a vintage flare.
While Alex may have a knack...
While Alex may have a knack for building good looking bikes, the brass balls key chain lets people know who wears the pants in the family.
First he found a stock 2002 883 Sportster and a Softail Springer frontend from eBay. He was set to go, or so he thought. "When I got the frontend it was bent to hell. But, it was only a few hundred bucks so I figured I'd make it work. I just knew I'd need some help." Alex turned to his friend, Jason Clampitt of Kokesh Motorcycles. They got the frontend straight and then faced the daunting task of making an H-D Springer frontend fit on a Sportster. "Everybody told me there was no way I was gonna get that Springer on there. It took some work but we got it on and then it was as simple as installing a Burly lowering kit to slam the frontend and the bike sat level."
With the "hard" work over Alex was back on the Internet bidding on eBay auctions to find the remaining pieces of the puzzle. He found a one-off hand sewn leather seat that fit the bike perfectly and helped he and Julie decide on a tank. "The seat was so narrow that the old sporty tank was the only thing that looked right." Alex found some vintage Heritage Softail tank emblems that Julie loved and ended up serving as the inspiration for the bike's final color. After running across some brass grips by NYC Choppers that they liked, they decided that the foot pegs had to be real brass knuckles. Again, many peopled turned him down, "they all said you can't make pegs out of real brass." As you can imagine, that didn't stop Alex. He looks for reasons why to do things and he found a like-minded individual in John Estes of Outlaw Iron Customs in West Virginia. John pulled off a perfect 100 percent brass knuckle peg that fit a motorcycle clevis and as you can see are one of the finer details on the bike.
Alex found an old VL 2-into-1 tailpipe that fit the Sportster, a true spoked pulley and an old school cheese hole air cleaner to complete the look. He and Julie wrapped the pipes together in their kitchen and decided to christen the bike Strutter, after the Kiss song.
Spring was well on its way and the day they finally fired Strutter for the first time it warmed the brisk air and their hearts. The roads seemed safe enough so they cranked some Kiss and toasted the inaugural ride, saying goodbye to winter and hello to a good season of riding ahead.
The Heritage Springer frontend...
The Heritage Springer frontend fits quite well with the vintage look of the bike.
The happy couple, owner and...
The happy couple, owner and builder Julie and Alex.