Article and Photos by: Chris Callen
In the life of a bike builder, there comes a time where just doing another solid, custom bike becomes monotonous. As their skill level and style evolve,they come to a point in the road where they can take one path or the other. The one road provides a good living with a much easier pace where the name and brand recognition can provide for years of making a living doing the good work they have become known for. The other is a much more rare commodity that pushes the creative soul to strive for more, to become an artisan, to be equal with the other great men and women before them.
Such is the case with Paul Wideman of Bare Knuckle Choppers and the bike you see before you. I’ve known Paul for quite a few many years now and I’ve watched as he has grown into a solid fabricator, then into a talented craftsman. He has built one amazing bike after another, each an example of the level his skill and attention to his craft were at during that time. His bikes have always I captured the attention of the crowds and the magazines alike, but when it came to his latest build, “Incognegro,” I believe he has broken through to a new level.
It all started with his parts’ line and his girl Nichole who knew the bike’s owner, Russ, from bartending. Russ owns Niedwick Machine. His business makes some killer parts for other industry companies but he wanted one of Paul’s frames for a build. He had been working on a turbo-charged bagger and was ready for a change. As the time went on, Russ added a Springer from BKC, a couple of other components, and eventually just gave in and arranged to have Paul do the entire build. He had seen Paul’s chop-off winning bike, “Kill Yourself,” and wanted one of that same caliber. They met in Daytona and struck a deal; a plan was formed and the project began.
Now when you work with any talented artist, you will undoubtedly run into the eccentricities that are prevalent in those types of minds and that was true in this case. The bike that showed up in Sturgis and ran away with our “Best of Show” award, was actually supposed to be unveiled earlier in the year. But you see, for Paul, this was an opportunity to go deeper into his world and come out with incredible details like a modern chopper with a single loop frame. Each and every joint was sweated together as if it was an original OEM frame with cast fixtures, but it’s not. In the end, the frame alone would come in at around 200 hours of labor; hardly the kind of dedication in your craft you can put on an invoice.
The gas tank was handmade at Bare Knuckle. In the traditions of the shop, it was beaten out of a flat sheet of steel. The Springer frontend was a first of its kind that was made to look more like the old ones than the Springers they have offered.
A lot of the planning stages were at fault for the timeline as well. The power plant was originally supposed to be a Knucklehead, but after Paul convinced Russ that his need to go fast superseded the coolness of a Knuck, that plan was amended.
They got the mill of a ’66 Shovel, all grimy and nasty. It sat in the polisher’s shop for 4 months before Paul was aggravated and more than ready for it so he gave the guy a call. Only then did he find out that the polisher had decided to go out of business and he was back to square one.
Smother’s Polishing in Illinois picked up the slack for him and he was back on track. Rod Davis or “Grimey,” as we know and love him, took the polished pieces and added some eighty inch flywheels, some S&S guts and came up with a killer 86” Shovel. A Baker 4 speed was the only way to go, and to hold it all together would be Paul’s leg-eating exposed chain drive primary. Damn thing looks scary and makes the bike mean as hell.
The style of the bike, as Mr. Wideman laid it on me, was to be half chopper and half hill climber. He took a spool hub from Jr.’s Cycle and laced it to a dirt bike rim with a dual sport tire on the front. The handlebars were one-off designs to complete that look and a Motion Pro throttle made sure the twist was on demand . A simple set of BKC mid controls with Anderson pegs give it the ready-to-fight rider position and to top the whole job off, a truly incredible paint job by the one and only, Robert Pradke, would adorn all the handmade sheet metal.
This would be an impressive list if it stopped there, but it doesn’t. Paul went the extra mile to even make serious choices in the hardware he used. Twelve point stainless bolts are everywhere and since it isn’t available for the larger diameter needs on a bike build, he made parts like the stainless steel axle with12 point head and castle nut to match. A set of the split rocker boxes from Russ would finish off the motor and Lock Baker made the custom seat. A custom air filter cover that was part of a development project between Bare Knuckle and the guys at K&N, gave the perfect small touch to the pipe side of the motor, keeping it clean looking but adding to the performance as well.
I talked at length with Paul about what this kind of build means as far as making a statement in his career and he told me that for him, it was everything. He went on to say that when you decide to say okay, I’m gonna make this with my own two hands and not just cut and paste it together, you have to be in the right mind set. You have to be patient and willing to make sacrifices to give everything to what you’re doing. There are plenty of guys who just put bikes together and then go and ride the hell out of them. Paul doesn’t think anything is wrong with that either, but for his part in this, he feels he has evolved into a new place where he doesn’t want to be an assembler, not even a builder, he wants to be considered a craftsman and he’s willing to put in the work to earn that name.
Now there are many parts that Paul offers that are made on his CNC machine, but they all start as handmade or machined prototypes. There isn’t a machine in his facility that he can’t walk up to and go to work on, and that’s from the fender spinning lathe, right up to the computer that makes the programs to run the automated mill. For Paul, there have only been a few great builders like Indian Larry and Paul Cox, men who can truly be considered craftsmen. What he hopes is that through his commitment to his craft, he too can someday look back on the path that included him in that group.
On a final note, ol’ Russ was a happy boy in Sturgis to finally roll out “Incognegro” and take top honors. We got to display it on stage at the Buffalo Chip in front of everyone and tell them all he was the man of 2011. The last time I saw Russ, as a matter of fact, he still hadn’t come down off of that high and was talking about what he wanted to make the roller he won into for next year. Well, all I can say is that you cats who are gunning for his belt better bring you’re A-game. The 2012 Cycle Source Chopper Show is only eleven months away!
Incognegro Tech Sheet
owner: Russ Niedwick
City: Orange, CA
Fabrication By: Paul Wideman – BKC
Year: 1966
Model: FL
time: 12 Months Give or Take
Value: Hundreds of Dollars
engine
Year: 1966
Model: FL
Builder: Rod “Grimey” Davis
ignition: Hunt Magneto
Displacement: 86”
Pistons: S&S
heads: HD – Modified by BKC
cam(s): Andrews
carb: SU
Air cleaner: BKC / K&N
exhaust: Stainless by BKC
Primary: BKC 1145 Chain Drive
Transmission
Year: 2010
Make: Baker
shifting: Hand
Frame
Year: 2010
Make: BKC
rake: Secret
stretch: Also Secret
Front end
type: Springer
Builder: BKC
extension: Only In My Hair
WheeLs
Front Wheel: JR’s Cycle Products Spool
size: 21”
tire: Metzeler Sahara
Brakes: Not On A Chopper
rear Wheel: Harley Rebuilt
size: 18”
tire: Metzeler Sahara
Brakes: Mid-Star Drum
Paint
Painter: Robert Pradke, Custom Auto Design
color: Gold, Platinum
type: Fancy g
raphics: Pradke
Molding: None
chroming: Nickel and Black Nickel
Accessories
Bars: BKC
risers: Integral
hand controls: None
gas tank(s): BKC
Front Fender: C’mon
rear Fender: BKC
seat: Lock Baker
Foot controls: BKC
Mirrors:
oil tank: BKC Deth Star
headlight: Unity
taillight: BKC
speedo: None
Photo.By: Chris Callen
