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Mr and Mrs Knucklehead

Article By: Bruce Tessmer of S&S Cycles

Originally Published In The November 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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No matter what you think about Sturgis, it’s a place where you’re likely to see something out of the ordinary. That can run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. It just depends on where you look. When the S&S crew went to Sturgis this year they were looking of something new and exciting, but something that would be undeniably cool to just about anybody who travels on two wheels. Mission accomplished! They met up with Katie and James Washnok, the owners of Blackout Motors in Aberdeen SD. The Washnoks were in Sturgis on business and for pleasure, but what got our attention was this pair of nearly identical retro custom bikes with S&S KN93 engines. The bikes were built for Katie and James’ wedding last October, but the bikes first made heat the Friday before the rally began. There’s a story here.

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James proposed to Katie in February of 2013. She said yes, and they decided to build a pair of bikes as the theme for their wedding. That is, after all, what they do. They wanted something classic cool, yet timeless…something that would be just as cool in thirty years… something that in their words “was uniquely us”. Well, you can’t get much cooler than the style of a knuckle, so they decided on the S&S KN93 engine. But that didn’t satisfy the “uniquely us” requirement, so the James drew a design for a frame on a cocktail napkin (talk about classic cool), gave this “blue print” to Christopher Philips of Doomtown Choppers in Port Huron, MI, and asked for two identical frames. Christopher’s motto is “I like to exceed people’s expectations.” and it looks like he delivered the goods with this project.

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The other components were selected and ordered. The first items to arrive at the shop were the paint-matched wheels from Ridewright. A black set for Lewie and a pearl set for (you guessed it) Pearl, as the bikes were named. Other major components included the S&S KN93 engines and a pair of Frankentranny 6 speed transmissions from Baker Drive Train. The transmissions were chosen because they allow the bikes to be button or kick started. Katie put her foot down on that (no pun intended). Since she’s rather petite, she didn’t want to have to kick start a 93 cubic inch engine. Her other request was that her seat be made from Coach™ bags. Males reading this may be scratching their heads here, but the ladies will recognize Coach™ as a high-end line of purses and handbags. The seats were finished by Ultimate Upholstery Solutions, of Aberdeen, who also did the paint.

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Many of the other parts, like the gas tanks, were fabricated at Blackout Motors. The two bikes took over a year to build. Partly because of the care the Washnoks were taking, and partly because of the demands of their business, building bikes for customers. By last October, for the wedding, the bikes were, as Katie puts it “pretty rollers”. Looking good, but not ready to run. That had to wait until just before Sturgis. They say that if it weren’t for the last minute, nothing would get done, and “they” are too often right.

Both Lewie and Pearl were entered in the Rat’s Hole show. Pearl took 1st place in the Over 1000cc Custom class, while Lewie came in 3rd. Go figure! It would seem that not everybody is ready to come over to the dark side, but its close! With the Sturgis rally over and August drawing to a close, we asked Katie how many miles she had on her bike. “Well, only about 300 miles. We were so busy in Sturgis and we’ve been so busy with the shop that we just haven’t had much time to ride!” That’s a good problem to have!

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