Featured in the November 2014 Issue of Cycle Source
Article & Photos By: Chris Callen & Amelia Rose
One of my now many favorite Sturgis traditions is that the good people from The Horse Backstreet Choppers Magazine ask me to come and help judge at their annual chopper show inside the Full Throttle Saloon. It’s a hell of an event and for my money probably the best bike show in Sturgis since it gives tons of prizes out, not just to the guys who enter but to the crowd that comes to see the show. This year I got there early so I could get first dibs on some of these amazing motorcycles. With so many too choose from I went up and down the aisles for what seemed like an hour trying to decide, and then there it was. As I walked up to it I knew instantly this was the Cycle Source pick. It was tall in the front, rough around the edges and built like a brick shithouse. It looked like the kind of bike that was built for on and off road riding and that’s been ridden all over hell’s half acre. After the craziness of Sturgis was over I was lucky enough to catch up with Chris Daelick, the owner of the Ugly Bike to find out where it all came from. Chris grew up on a farm in Ituna, Saskatchewan, Canada, about three hours south of Saskatoon. He moved to the big city and got a job as an electrician and has been doing that work for some 17 years now. He works in a mine applying his trade for a living and in his spare time plays with motorcycles. He has always been around bikes starting off with dirt bikes as a kid on a Honda CX 500 but would buy his first Harley in 2003, a brand new anniversary model sportster that he still owns to this day. That bikes been all cut up at this point but he has kept all the original 100th anniversary badges just in case it becomes super valuable when he’s eighty. That bike is gnarly as hell too, as I found out when his girl Andrea pulled up on it the day of this photo shoot. It’s got an aggressive stance and big lug knobby tires. You see, where Chris and Andrea live there is about a mile and a half to go before you get to any pavement. Chris has logged a ton of miles on the old fire roads around home and for that ya gotta have a bike that can handle the terrain. In any event he builds the rest of his bikes one at a time for the thrill of it and then sells them when they’re done so he can always start with a clean slate. When it came to this Eighty-One, he started the same way so many stories do today. In Canada they have a thing called Kijiji, it’s like Craigslist in the states with the same platform of free listings where people buy sell and trade stuff. Chris was surfing this electronic swap meet one day when he came across an ad for an Eighty-One Ironhead that was listed for $2,500. Now in Canada you can’t get a $2,500 Sportster so he didn’t let it sit long before snatching it up.
He got the thing home and knew exactly what he wanted to do with it but he noticed that tranny had been opened and rather than overlook it he decided to investigate. Turned out that in fact the tranny was toast so before he could do any of his custom work to it he had to rebuild the gearbox. With that finished up he moved on to some motor work. He had some leftover Andrews cams from a ’74 he built but when he started to take the top end down he found out it was trashed as well. So much for his $2,500 steal, but that didn’t stop him. Chris figured as long as he was into it he might as well hop it up so he punched it out 30 over and took a pencil grinder to the heads to make them flow better. All that paired up with a 23 tooth front sprocket helps it keep up with the new bikes like the Dyna his ol’ lady rides. He said that she was the reason the bike is called the Ugly Bike, she and her friends hate it and think it’s ugly. Perfect for Chris, he could care less, he loves it. With that behind him and the powertrain in solid running condition, he moved on to the custom side of things. He hardtailed it and did a bunch of custom fitment that came out so good, even his welds, that he decided to leave raw to show off. If you noticed the shot glass taillight, you know there’s a story to that too. The original shot glass broke and every other one he tried to replace it with did as well. Chris and Andrea got married in Mexico and as part of it they ordered 100 of these special shot glasses that had both their names on it. To date it is the only one that will not break and under the riding conditions he runs it through that’s saying a lot. Since the build he has about 10,000 miles, two trips to Sturgis and a few trips to work. With a bottle opener installed on the bike for the occasion that he gets to hang out and have a few while kicking back, the perfect end to a motorcycle day!
The Ugly Bike Tech Sheet
Owner: Chris Daelick
City: Warman, Saskatchewan, Canada
Fabrication By: Daelick Machine Werks
Year: 1981
Model: Sportster
Value:
Time: 6 months
ENGINE
Year: 1981
Model: Sportster
Builder: HD
Ignition: Dyna
Displacement: 1000cc
Pistons: 30 over
Heads: cleaned up stock
Cam(s): Andrews ‘Y”
Carb: &S Super E
Air Cleaner:
Exhaust: Daelick Machine Werks
TRANSMISSION
Shifting: Stock Sporty 4 Speed
FRAME
Make: Daelick Machine Werks
Rake: To Fit the Forks
Stretch: What looked right
FORKS
Extension: 4+
Triple Trees: Stock
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Stock Harley
Size: 19”
Front Tire: Dual Purpose
Front brake: Stock
Rear Wheel: Stock
Size: 16”
Rear Tire: 130/90
Rear Brake: Dual 6 Piston, homemade set up
PAINT
Color: Clear over bare metal
Type: Rustoleum
Graphics:
Molding:
Chroming: Nope
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Clip Ons
Hand Controls: Repurposed Moose Dirtbike Clutch
Risers:
Gas Tank(s): Alien
Rear fender: Cut Down Swap Meet Special
Seat: Daelick Machine Werks
Foot Controls:
Oil Tank: Old, cut down fire extinguisher
Headlight: Stock
Taillight: After Hours Shot Glass
Photographer: Chris Callen
