The brothers Bjorklund: Carl on the left and Mark on the right.
Editor’s Note: While it’s only been around and widely used by the masses for a relatively short period of time, the internet has had a major impact on many aspects of our lives. You might not immediately think of the internet when you think of custom motorcycles, but the web has actually played a significant role in our industry. Before the internet, bike builders and customizers often relied on their local network of friends and riding buddies to drop by the shop or garage to shoot the shit, check out their latest build/modification, offer a helping hand, or throw in their two cents on the latest project/achievement. Now however, with the popularity of social media sites like forums and blogs, a builder can post a pic of his latest mod or part install and immediately have responses from all over the world. Whereas before customizing or building a bike was a bond that could only be shared amongst those in your immediate area, the internet has allowed builders the opportunity to let the world slip into their shop, pull up a chair, and watch over their shoulder as they toil away on their bikes.
In fact that’s exactly how we came to find this bike, built by Carl and Mark Bjorklund, from Super Rat Customs in Bellingham, Washington. Back in February of 2010 we were cruising the Jockey Journal message board and spotted a post called War Crimes. Intrigued by the name we clicked on it and immediately liked what we saw, a ’66 Ironhead drivetrain resting between a ground-up frame. What really caught our attention however, was the crazy criss-crossed top motor-mount. Completely unique and different, we could tell just by the amount of work that went into the mounts that even though it was still in its early stages, this was going to be one hell of a detailed bike. When we returned to the site the next day, Carl had even more pics up and was now discussing his thoughts on the gas tank. Aside from providing plenty of detail shots of just about every step, Carl was responding to comments and questions by onlookers and taking their compliments and criticisms to heart. We had become hooked; everyday we’d click on the post to see what Carl had done next and what people were saying. Within a few weeks we were totally enamored with the bike and made arrangements with Carl to get it into the pages of HOT BIKE. Now, after a year of following the build of this incredible bike on the internet, we have watched Carl massage metal into a magnificent and highly detailed two-wheeled piece of art. And since his original post more than a year ago, the War Crimes link has had 52,644 views with 680 replies—pretty impressive. What’s even more impressive is Carl explaining the process of how this bike came to be.
“I spent about 45 hours making the stainless steel motor mounts on the front and top of the engine, and I hollowed out the left side of the tank so people could peek in there and see them.”
“I spent about 45 hours making the stainless steel motor mounts on the front and top of th
I picked up this bike as sort of a basket case years ago off this guy I met while searching for junked Harleys. The guy was kind of a salty dude and wanted $1,000 for it. The frame and wheels were lying out in a field and the drivetrain was in his basement, and all he could really tell me was that it was running when he tore it apart. I tried to offer him $600 and he got pissed, so I walked away. Before I drove off I gave him one more look back and he was still glaring me down. Long story short, rather than resorting to fisticuffs, we negotiated down to $900.