When we asked Bryan Fuller to tell us about the making of his bike, he sent back such a detailed and entertaining account that we decided to use it in its entirety. So here you are-straight from the builder's mouth.
When approached by the producers of Biker Build-Off to do an episode of their show, there is a feeling of elation...and fear! On one hand, it gets the word out to the masses about your craft, but on the other, there's only 10 days to do it! That's a really tough time to build the best bike possible. My bikes normally take me six months to complete due to the great detail and fabrication involved. We really like to make as many of the components ourselves as possible. This keeps component prices reasonable, but drives labor charges up pretty high. We think having everything custom made is worth it, though. You don't pull up and see another of almost anything that's on a bike like the "Fueller."
The second challenge to the Build-Off is the lack of funding. The builders have to pay for all of their own expenses during the process other than a portion of the ride. You have to plan the bike, order the parts, pay for them and your help on your own dime...all while not working for a couple of months.
Even though I build for clients with deep pockets in my normal day-to-day life, the customer on this project was me. My pockets aren't that deep! This was one of the reasons we used the Buell as a donor. It has really cool parts right from the factory! Engine, trans, starter, battery, primary, rotors, calipers, rear master cylinder, triple tree, forks, headlight, and tailight were all taken from the original Buell and made to fit our needs. We feel like they really fit the "race inspired" look we wanted for our bike. All this from a bike you can buy used for probably $6,500 if you look hard enough. We even E-bayed all the extra parts, which netted around $1,500 to help pay for the operation!
I really feel the Buell Choppers are going to be a hit. All the components were perfectly made to use on a custom; I'm already in motion to make a second. We're tooling up right now to remake the frame so others can bolt their '03 and up XBs into one of our rollers. It's a solid, reliable, affordable, and fun way to get into a head turner for yourself.
Back to the Build-Off. Of course you want to make an impact and get noticed while doing this show. Proportion for me is always what makes the biggest impact...especially from a distance with helicopters filming. I know the Vee Rubber guys pretty well; we distribute their products on our site. The 21-200 is an absolute Monster! 32-inches tall, it gets your attention like Shaq does in the airport!
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