In a trip to Sturgis a couple years ago, Robbie Poster's Evo Bagger got into a heinous tank slapper and he and it ended up hitting the pavement at high velocity. Losing confidence in a bike is a tough thing to go through. Robbie offered the corpse in trade to Brian Klock, who was working on a ground-up custom for him, and Brian initially took him up on it.
While going through the paces of reconstructing the machine, Brian discovered just how much Robbie loved the old dresser, and how proud he was of the Kendall Johnson 113-inch S&S that powered it.
He decided that the custom already in progress would go to nobody but his fellow Hamster, Robbie...even if he made very little on the deal.
Besides hauling ass on his dresser, Robbie's other passion is music. He's an accomplished guitarist and has quite a collection of old, hard-to-find axes. His favorite is a '60s Gretsch that completely matches the two-tone flat/gloss black paint and Cadillac Green pinstriping on the bike shown here. KGM powdercoat picks up where the Klock Werks spray job leaves off. A completely unintended effect was the guitar-body shaped bodyline that 'striper Tex (of Texefx) made from the tank to the rear fender; he was simply guided by his muse. The most amazing little detail is a miniature version of the Gresch itself, pinstriped on to the edge of the front rim by Tex.
You can't have a musician's bike sound anything but awesome (and there are the decibels of that Thunderheader to overcome), so Klock's team installed a stout stereo system to pump out the tunes. It's not a booming ghetto-style system, but more of a loud and crystal clear sound that faithfully reproduces the sounds as they were intended.
Of course, there was no way anybody wanted to see this bike on the ground ever again, so steps were taken to keep it upright. A 2002-style swingarm was installed with its greater rigidity and 1-inch axle, all motor mounts were updated with fresh rubber, and a True Track stabilizer was installed.
The rest of the bike is a classic Klock Werks bagger. Close-cropped fenders hug the Ride Wright 18-inch wheels, the front by Klock Werks and the rear fabbed by Donnie Smith. Little touches like rear fender fillers and floorboard undercovers complete the look.
In the end, everybody ended up very happy. Robbie has his Gretsch Grocery Getter, as he calls it, which combines his love of music and hot rods and serves as his daily rider and long-distance tourer. Klock gained a friend for life and a rolling ambassador for his shop who never tires of singing their praises.
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