Originally Published In the June 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source
Article & Photos By: Chris Callen
Many of you might recognize the man who owns Spare Change from his appearance in the Easyrider’s Roadware catalogue last year. More likely you will recognize him as the face that greets you as you pull your bike into the lot for the Tropical Tattoo Chopper Time show. Marcus Orabona is his name and he is the man that signs up the bikes for the greatest show on earth.
The truth is, Marcus has been a long time friend of Willie’s since before he owned Tropical Tattoo.They knew the same people and road bikes and all that shit. When Willie got a bartending gig at the Boot Hill, he got Marcus in. When he got the tattoo shop going, he brought Marcus there with him also.
Marcus is one of my favorite cats to see while I’m in Daytona if for nothing else he has a personality that’s not impressed with a whole lot and not in an arrogant way. It’s that old biker way of: yeah, so what. This cat has his own thing goin’ on man, and it’s cool as hell. See, in Marcus’s world, there’s a little shop that he and his brother Shaun – his Pan is also in this issue – work on their bikes. It’s a hobby shop he calls Trailer Trash Choppers. It was of these two worlds that the Spare Change bike was born.
Marcus was working at the tattoo shop one day when the phone rang. The man on the other end said that he had his bike and wanted to see if he’d like it back. Marcus was trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. The old guy told him that it had a Willie’s Tropical Tattoo sticker on it. Well there are nearly ten-billion bikes out there with that very sticker as Marcus explained to the old boy, but in his defense, it was one of the only identifying marks on the bike. That, and the words “No Name” on the tank, left him with little choice other than to call the tattoo shop. Oh, I should mention here that it was in several boxes of parts that he had just purchased at the auction. I guess the man just wanted to make a few bucks by turning the parts around quickly, and this sparked Marcus’s interest. He asked the guy for more information but he had very little knowledge of motorcycles other than to tell Marcus that it had an S&S motor.
The two of them set up a meeting at a truck stop. It turns out that Marcus had just sold his last build and had some dough in his pocket so the timing was perfect. As the man promised, there were all the parts and it seemed like a complete Evo basket in good order. His asking price was $3500. Marcus took the motor, the boxes and a tank with the words “No Name” painted on the side, home with him. That blew Marcus’s mind because he remembered that tank from the cat who owned it, Adam Chandler. It was a crazy bike with a girder frontend and just plain wild looking.
So back at his house, this was before Trailer Trash Choppers had a building, the coffee table was moved out of his single wide and Marcus mocked-up Spare Change right there in the living room. Once he had it completely in the mocked-up stage, he then tore it back down to send to D&D Customs for the killer orange metal flake paint. He always wanted a bike with a bright-ass color, and with the price he got this one for, he’d finally have the extra money to put into a great paint job.
So how does the name Spare Change come into this story? Well, along with all the other neat things that Marcus works into his bikes, on this build he used coins for all his washers. He started doing it with American coins but thought that maybe it would get him in some kind of trouble. He decided to switch over to all kinds of foreign coins from little dime sized all the way up to half dollars. The woman at Humphrey’s Gold & Coin next to the Boot Hill hooked him up with some of that. He also used playing dice as standoffs for the clutch cable. This is one of his favorite tricks on a Trailer Trash custom.
You might notice the white steer’s head image on the oil tank and if you’re like me, I wondered if Marcus was a fan of a Texas college football team. In truth, there is a little shop down near Miller’s in South Ridgewood where his buddy Dave Walker let’s people work on their bikes. Dave used to be an AMI instructor and now has this place to help people out. You can go there and use his tools, lifts and specialty tools; hell, he will even help out if you need it. Since he was always there to lend a hand if Marcus needed it during the time he was building this bike, he put the logo of Dave’s shop on the oil tank. That’s the kind of man Marcus is. He builds bikes ‘cause he loves it. He could actually care less if they ever sell or not. He has a storeroom full of different frontends and other parts so if he gets bored with a bike, he can swap out some stuff and make it into something else. This is a man that knows the value of friendship, has respect for the people around him and never asks for any credit for the things he does. It wasn’t even his idea to get his bike into a magazine. It was his brother Willie that mentioned it to us and we are proud to have his work on these pages.
Spare Change Tech Sheet
Owner: Marcus Orabona
City: Ormond Beach, FL
Fabrication By: Marcus -Trailer Trash Choppers
Year: 2003
Model: Hardtail Chopper
Value: $15,000
Time: 6 Months
ENGINE
Year: 2003
Model: Polished Super Sidewinder
Builder: S&S
Ignition: Daytona Twin Tech
Displacement: 113 ci
Pistons: S&S
Heads: S&S
Cam(s): S&S
Carb: S&S G
Air Cleaner: S&S
Exhaust: 1 3/4” Drag Pipes
Primary: 1.5 Beltdrive Enclosed Primo
TRANSMISSION
Year: Ultima
Make: 6 Speed
Shifting: Foot
FRAME
Year: 2003
Make: Paughco Wishbone
Rake: 30 Degrees
Stretch: None
FRONT END
Type:
Builder:
Extension:
Triple Trees: HD
WHEELS
Front Wheel: 80 Spoke
Size: 21”
Tire: Chen Shin
Brakes: HD Disc
Rear Wheel: 40 Spoke
Size: 16”
Tire: Avon Venom
Brakes: GMA
PAINT
Painter: B&D Customs-Joe & Joey Terman
Type: PPG
Color: Candy Orange Glow
Molding: Joe & Joey
Graphics: Hand Painted Lettering
ACCESSORIES
Bars: 16” Apes
Risers: HD Stock
Hand Controls: HD Stock
Gas Tank(s): 2.1 Gallon Alien
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Trailer Trash Choppers
Seat: Perforated Solo
Foot Controls: Running Boards
Oil Tank: 6” Round
Taillight: Cat Eye LED
Headlight: 5 1/2” Round
Photographer: Chris Callen
