Jeff Katarzy isn’t an iron rookie. He’s had a few builds from Binford’s Custom Cycles. This is the first of his two-wheeled kids that wasn’t planned though. Here’s what I mean.
Flashback to the day before the Hollister rally a few years ago. Binford’s had just updated Jeff’s latest bike with a 26-inch front wheel, fixed all the paint chips, installed a new Binford Phatass 8s handlebar and a couple of other small items. Jeff picks up his updated bike at the shop’s booth because some people at rallies actually like riding at them. He runs the bike downtown to see how it handles and, of course, to show it off. Parking is slightly rarer than ethics in Congress, but he finally finds room on a side street. Jeff pulls into the space, shuts the bike off, dismounts, and…

…watches in slow motion as his motorcycle falls over.

There are many words to describe how he felt about that. “Thrilled,” “ecstatic,” and “amused” are not any of them. They are, however, words we can print in this magazine. His true feelings on the matter involved more obscenities than you’d find in a Larry Flynt publication or a quick furry porn search online. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. Needless to say he was more than a little pissed off. Matters only got worse when his friends helped him lift the bike back up. That’s when he really got mad. The complete side of the bike was wasted. Attendees for blocks around heard Jeff expressing his displeasure in language he’d never use in front of his kids.

Further inspection determined that kickstand failure was the culprit. Jeff hit the closest bar for some beer therapy. He couldn’t get the image of his wounded machine out of his head. Once he cooled down, though, Jeff went right back to the Binford booth and pulled his bike behind their trailer. Paul Binford knew something was wrong; he couldn’t believe his eyes. “I explained what happened and said, ‘Just take it back to your shop and we will fix it,’” Jeff told us. “That’s when I knew my pocketbook was going to get hurt a little more than it already just had. I knew by investing more money into my older bike it was going to be a bad investment.” He also said, “Screw it,” and went forward anyway.

Jeff had been eyeing all the new parts that had come out since my last build and wanted to really update the bike. He and Paul started by ordering the Jim Nasi inner fairing, Dirty Bird’s Top Shelf bags and rear fender, Speed by Design chin spoiler, bag lids, and of course all the JL Audio stereo equipment.

Binford’s Custom Cycles completed all the necessary fabrication to make all these aftermarket parts fit correctly, extended the Thunder Header 2-into-1 pipe so it would exit out the rear, and got all the gaps to look like they should.

Now it was time for paint, and if you have ever had your bike painted you know how overwhelming trying to choose the design and colors can be. “Just like anything that comes out of Binford’s Custom Cycles, it turned out top notch,” Jeff said. “Paul and his head painter [Rico] knocked it out of the park!” After they finished all the paint and it was ready to assemble, Jeff threw Paul for a loop: “I can’t do all this work and not powdercoat the frame to match.” Binford’s lead tech Tanner, a.k.a. T-Dizzle, was excited by Jeff’s decision to do the complete frame-up build.

Applied Coatings did a great job on the triple-coat powder with the white and silver flake and a final clear coat. At that point there was no turning back; every nut and bolt and anything else you can think of was replaced with something new and shiny. Then Binford brought it all together with a sick-ass seat to match and bag carpet and tethers to follow.
Jeff is no fan of cutting the frame and raking the bike, so he went with the Kewl Metal Pro Street 45-degree rake kit with Pierce lower legs. He tells us it rides smooth as hell, which is good because you want smooth when your 95-inch ported motor with BDL open primary makes a reported 120 hp and 119 pound-feet of torque.

Paul wanted to stretch Jeff’s tank and side covers, but Jeff shot that down: “I am not so tall, and I can barely touch ground on the bike as it is. I have sat on other bikes, and due to the tank being longer and wider it’s almost impossible for me put both feet on the ground.”

Sitting at stoplights isn’t Jeff’s gig anyway. He rides his toys hard, all through California and Nevada: “Paul, Paul Jr., Tanner, and Rico really know what time it is, and their work is second to none!” Jeff said. “Paul doesn’t like to admit it, but I have also outrun him a few times!” That being the case, Jeff might want to rename this bagger. Can anything that fun really be a bad investment?