Dyna Bobber Flag Ship

This is my personal 2002 FXDX-T. Its been thru a few changes sense I purchased it brand new in 2002. This version is a "bobber" and my first to date. I like to think that this bobber is the flag ship for my home business called GarageWrench. 

I have been wrenching Harley's sense I was 15 years old when I purchased my first one, a 1963 Panhead basket case (see previous post). I rode that chopper Pan to my senior year of high school. It was just the beginning. As the years past and the tooling piled up I opened up my first business called "Buck James Cycle Fabrication". The James is my cousin Jim "Mountain" Tharp, and we did engine and trans to full bike overhauls and all kinds of maitience together for eight years and called it quits. Very little of it was "fab work", all repairs. I always felt we had something special, just was stuck in that rutt, fixing other people's bikes. The experience was of great value, but missing that creative ability that I knew was there, and needed to be brought to the surface.

Now I'm 52 years old and with the exception of a couple year hiatus in the late 90's, I've done this garage wrench thing all my adult life. My regular occupation is a Heavy Duty Truck Mechanic. So ya see, wrenching is all I do and have done all these years. And now I have a new vision for the garage.

The chopper/bobber scene has brought a new sense of vitality and drive to what I always felt God had given me, the ability to fabricate and build one off choppers. Along with my son in law Verdun Chagnon and our good friend and brother Jamie Moore, we have started GarageWrench from my garage, and its exciting for all of us. With the support of our families and the exposure of the internet, we have a vision and a drive to do the best we can to build and create. 

The 2002 Bobber is just the beginning for GarageWrench, there is defiantly more to come!!

69 FL, Heart & History

This is a 1969 Police Special FL that I had the privilege to restore for my brother Billy Canfield a couple years ago. It returned to me to for some maintenance over the winter, and Billy ask me to keep it and put some miles on it, and I have gladly done so! 

It never fails at every stop, red light, gas station and so on that somebody has a story of there grand dad, father or uncle that rode "an old Harley just like that". These old bikes bring back fond memories for most people. You just don't get that kind of response from other bikes. It really is a special piece of history, not just the past but also from the heart, its more than a "motorcycle memory", its about your history, your past and what you are. 

This bike is special to me for several reasons that would take way to long to list. As a builder these old Harley's can be a blessing as well as a curse! It takes lots of time and patience to build an old bike, much less restore one, and this 69 was a real test for me in many ways. I hope all builders go through it, the one's that make you almost give up, the one's that cost you more than your customer. It somehow forms the real man inside that God made you to be, you must persevere to prevail.

Im thankful for the test, and very proud, in a humble way, of the results.

And yes, it feel bad ass to ride this 69!!

Summer time blues

This is outside my shop door 

Over 10 inch in the past few days

Out here in the Midwest and North country there is an anticipation for the spring, a yerning for that moment when death turns to life, the trees and grass come back to life, the birds sing and the air is crisp and clean and full of life.

I think all you bikers out in the sunny west miss that. I could be wrong, and if you would fly GarageWrench out west to be in the sun with you, I would love to be wrong with you!!!

Peace and Grace, and Happy New Year from GarageWrench!!

Early GarageWrench Builds

This was my first Harley, 1963 Panhead I purchased when I was sixteen years old as a basket case for $900. These pic's are the third of four versions of this Pan, the first had a rat look to it and it was my ride to my senior year of high school. Yep, Chopper Pan to 12th grade!

This was my very first full blown custom that I was commissioned to build, can't remember the year, sometime in the mid to late 80's. It started out as a 1974 FXE and the customer, who is my brother in-law, give me liberty with the vision on this build. When completed, it was a daily rider. Thanks to Mike "ChiChi" Leach for the chance to get my name out there.

This was also one of my early builds, 1976 FXE that went thru several phases before and after these pic's. This version was from the early 90's. Thanks to my brother Angelo for trusting in me to wrench his "Iron Mistress".

Just wanted to share. There was so many that came out of that Garage thru the years, but very few pictures. Things are diffrent with a camera in yer pocket, there are to many pic's, back then it was a bit of a hassle to take the pic with that big ass camera, then off to get it developed, and all time consuming and costly. Maybe I can talk my ol'e lady into going thru the 20 or so shoe boxes' of pictures in the closet and pull out some of those golden nugget's and post them.

Merry CHRISTmas to all and we hope 2014 brings in some blessings for ya here at GarageWrench!

Nailed!

So ya want to be a mechanic?

Copper Head Gaskets

If S&S ever had a bad idea, it is these copper head gaskets! Tell me what ya think.

Swap Meet

A few pics of my crew and me at the swap meet