Frisco XL From Boston Mike and Mike “Punchout” Perry

August 1, 2010

Article and Photos by: Cochise

I’m not for sure when I met Boston Mike and Mike “Punchout” Perry of Boston Mike’s Customs, but I’m glad I did. We have become good friends that share a true love for the chopper and bobber looks from the ‘50s through the ‘70s, and aptly applying those same cosmetics to today’s rides. For me personally, it was nice to run into some men here in the Daytona area that not onlylove building and customizing motorcycles, like the one you see here, but they also ride the piss out of them. At one of our Christmas parties a few years ago, I was standing at the door enjoying a breath of some cool, crisp December air, when I looked up and saw 4 or 5 bikes coming down the street. Though the parking lot was already full of some super nice scoots, when the two Mikes pulled in on their choppers, all eyes were quickly diverted. It was way past dark but the illumination of the street lights were emitting some cool rays on and off the slick paint on

these brothers’ scoots as they were backing into a parking spot and unloading their ladies. As the throng of people began gathering around my buddies, I could see that person after person was mesmerized by this Sporty that Boston Mike refers to as his “Frisco XL.” Everyone was digging on the paint, and it is awesome, but a few of us were looking a little further past those beautiful tins and feasting upon all the handmade parts that were bolted on to the XL.

Later that night, as they were getting ready to pull away from our shop party, myself and a few others stood outside and watched as the bikes were kicked to life and proudly mounted by these fine, young men. I too was proud for them, because I knew they had poured their very being into these pieces of metal and deserved to be respected by all genres of the biker world.

One more thing about Boston Mike’s Customs that draws me to them and their work is that their shop isn’t status quo. Here in our area, we are saturated with baggers and Softails and if that’s your bag, more power to you. We have many, many shops where all they do is work on and service the newer motorcycles and we need these types of businesses, but for this “youngster” to walk into a shop that is filled with old iron, and seeing these cats restoring Panheads, Shovelheads and XLs, well it just does the heart good, especially mine.

Here is how Boston Mike describes his creation:

“The Frisco XL was built with the bay area customs in mind. It’s the style of “chopper” I’ve always loved, just a bit of rake, high mounted Sportster tank, and a motor built to move out. I really wanted this bike to have a super finished look to it with no rough edges, which is why I went with French Kiss Kustoms for the slick candy red paint, with as much of the parts chrome plated as I could afford. The rest of the parts were polished using a little elbow grease and as we know, that can look as great as chrome any day. “The pegs are from my “Skywalker” line and are handmade as is the kicker pedal, forward controls, motor mount, and exhaust mount. The 2 into 1 pipe was made with performance in mind, but I still tried to make it look right at home. The air cleaner was my version of the Dragtron air filters of the ‘70s that I always loved the look of.” Good job Mike!!!