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S&S Cycle – 55th Anniversary

Article By: Steve Jones

Originally Published In The August 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source  Magazine

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The pressure is on now! Eighteen days and counting until we need to pack up our S&S 55th build and head out to La Crosse for the anniversary festivities. Add the extra pressure of final exams and projects for all the students, and it sure makes for some busy days and nights. Good thing the kids love the bikes and are ready for their favorite part of the process: the final assembly. The finished powder parts are back in the shop and after another night or two of the kids laying down some color with the guidance of Jamie, owner and talent of Schultz and Sons, we will have the tins ready to bolt on for good. Like most of us, this is the stage the crew likes to rush because they can see their original vision starting to come to life. And just like us, this is when bad shit can happen. It’s a fine line between hurry up and go slow so you don’t drop a socket on the polished cases/tins. Good thing they have been here in this very situation before, some of them three or four times already. Everyday in the shop is like Christmas: the bike is coming together, the kids are learning and our sponsors are doing what they always do, making this educational experience work with their actions not lip service. Oz at Steel Crazy Iron Art has been hacking through slabs of aluminum to make some of the kids’ CAD drawings appear as finished water-jet cut pieces/parts. Kemler, owner of County Seats, has been giving some of his specialized leather tooling, stitching and sealing instruction to Emily, a very talented first year chopper girl. Cycle Electric graciously sent one of their industry-leading charging systems our way to power the build. Spectro Oils Inc. has been providing my students with their superior lubricants that we have used in absolutely everything for many years now. The list goes on — you know who you are and the kids and I will make sure everyone else knows what you did and continue to do to help!

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The students make the magic happen. When you are beat, they inspire and energize. When you’re pissed, they make you chill and smile. A typical crew has about 50 kids involved with the designing and fabrication processes, but there is always a “core group” who are the heartbeat of the whole process. When I get there, many are waiting, and when I leave they walk out the door next to me. The current “core group” may be the best ever. I have never had a group of young adults who have sacrificed so much of their own time, money, and general freedom to be part of a team they are truly committed to. If you are ever looking for a wrench/fabricator/ farm worker etc., the following kids have my recommendation forever: Andrew Maggs, Max Schreiber, Wyatt Bromley, Howie Hoelscher, Bryan Haley, Keven Keubler, Emily Cataldo and Justin Keller. They are warriors and have already learned two of life’s most important lessons: your word is your name — protect it, and finish what you start. The sky is the limit for these kids and I look forward to watching them grow up. Anybody that says hard work doesn’t pay off has not tried it. The kids fired up their second build of 2012-2013 yesterday. Luckily we had Scott Fentzke, owner of Performance Fabrication, scrambling to set us up with cables to control stop and go. Dan Thayer of Thayer Peformance, is truly an EFI guru and freely donated his time/expertise and one of his killer wiring harnesses so that we could get all of the sensors and ECU talking. I want to take up some print to personally thank everybody at S&S Cycle for generously donating a bunch of killer products to a group of kids they don’t even really know. Not only is S&S Cycle a leader in the industry because of their outstanding engines, transmissions, carbs etc., but they have also become a model of corporate/education partnership. They, like the rest of our sponsors, want the kids to learn and grow because they recognize the positive individual and national impact it will make in the future. If that’s not noble, I don’t know what is. Thanks for the continued support. See you in La Crosse! Keep the shiniest side up!

 

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