Justin Schilling, owner of Two-Bit Choppers, has worked in the V-Twin industry during throughout its height of innovation and popularity. Imagine a time when wide tires were just beginning to become popular. That was when Justin bought his first American V-Twin, a 1999 Buell M2 Cyclone. He punched out the motor to satisfy his need for speed and turned it into a mean drag bike, but as with most bikes it got old, and he started looking to upgrade. He tried to sell the Buell in 2003, but realized that he was never going to get out of it what he put into it. Then he saw Redneck Engineering's Mutant Buell. He immediately decided to use what he had, and ordered a frame kit from Redneck Engineering and build up his first Buell rigid. It was obvious that there were a limited amount of parts for Buell choppers, so he started to develop parts on his then-employer's CNC machine after hours. People liked what they saw, and Justin opened Two-Bit Choppers in the small farm town of Milliken, Colorado, bought his own CNC machine, and as they say, the rest is history.
Some bikes are steeped in nostalgia, with nods to the past and looks towards the future. This two-bit chopper, although not a chopper in the strict sense of the word, demonstrates innovation in its highest form. As long as Justin can remember, he's been enthralled with the history of board track racing during the first quarter of the last century. "The balls they had to climb on those bikes, with no brakes, and run on often unpredictable wooden motordromes, at upwards of 100 mph is nearly unfathomable," he said.
This particular bike, dubbed the Motordrome Flyer, started life as a totaled 2003 Buell XB9R Firebolt with basically only the rear wheel and powerplant salvageable. "That fascination with board trackers was probably the biggest catalyst in how I styled this bike. I wanted to build something with a vintage feel that paid homage to those that raced, and in many cases died, for little more than the thrill of doing it. At the same time I didn't want to try and build a replica bike either. Basically the resolution I came to was that I wanted the kind of bike one of those early racers might have built if they had access to certain pieces of our modern technology. It had to have mid-controls, low down-turned bars, and of course be quick and nimble. No nonsense, no filler, just the essential motorcycle: two wheels, a place to hold your fuel and oil, a place to park your ass, and an engine. Because I have a close working relationship with Redneck Engineering, they gave me dibs on the first one of their new XB "Bobber" frames."
The XB "Bobber" frame had a different geometry from the other Redneck Engineering platforms that Justin used before. It was narrow, nimble, and had a lower look. Justin knew that this was going to be the perfect frame to start to build the board tracker, the bike that would pay homage to racers of the past and act as a showcase for his custom parts. He knew he wanted to raise the bar on this bike, and machine as much as possible in-house. After he received the frame he began designing the chain-driven forward controls, which he says work very, very well and eliminate slop found in heim joint linkages. He wanted to stay with the board track theme and decided to design an air cleaner cover and sprocket with the speed holes, and he now offers them in his line of parts for Buells.
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