BREAKING

Feature Bikes

Brooklyn Boardtrack Racer

Article By: Lemme

Photos By: Darren McKeag

Originally Published In The July 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

Feature 5 Kerri

Here it is, some ungodly hour in the morning. I’m fighting the foggy weight of fatigue, and staring at one single point on this damn screen watching words appear like somebody else is typing this. Of course the magazine goes to print tomorrow, or later today, so there’s no sleep for us tonight. Whatever it is… time has no meaning anymore. Despite this, Chris and I just finished a conversation via the airwaves about how precise Indian Larry was on every little detail of his work. See, everybody likes Larry’s bikes because they think they’re simple; this is wrong. They are far from simple in every aspect. He had this eye for detail that not m a n y H people can actually comprehend. It’s like a flash of understanding a purpose for humanity. It’s so mind-bending it would kill you if you understood it. On our trip to Brooklyn this past month, Chris and Darren’s attention was pulled away from no doubt an intellectual conversation by this flash of motorized bicycle that melded boardtracker with something I can’t explain. It was like a custom built steam locomotive, crammed into a boardtracker. How is this? Upon further investigation, it became quickly apparent that his thing absolutely needed to be in this Brooklyn issue, and there was no argument from anybody in the group. It was like a great magnet that pulled in everybody who saw it to have a closer look, and nobody could do a thing about it. All conversation stopped as it rolled by, and the now silent crowd amassed around this spectacle. It had this same attention to detail that Chris and I just yammered on about for the last hour.

After a desperate search, we located the creator of this fine machine, Max Hazan, like we were the Hope, Washington Sheriff’s Department trying to hunt down John Rambo. We did locate him and luckily, nobody had to die. Although I do regret that we didn’t get to destroy a town with a deuce-and-a-half and an M-60; maybe in another life. Anyway, I got to talking with Max a few hours ago and he shared some really nice insight as to his theory on building and why this thing wound up the way it did. He said that everything he builds has no direction in mind at the starting line. They just end up being. No direction. What an amazing thing to contemplate. I mean, think about how many ways something with no direction could turn out. I wonder how the other hundred possible directions would have manifested! What if it would have taken another direction and we were left without ever seeing this particular version! And this is the way he is with all of his building. Yeah, he also builds airplanes, hydroplanes, sailboats, bicycles, etc., all in his father’s cabinet shop. Oh yeah, he makes custom cabinets and designs and builds all kinds of dwellings throughout the city; renovations in Manhattan that require a sharp eye for detail where not a single penny is spared. You all know that guy who is a “Jack of all trades,” but this man is a master of them all. The vast difference is that very rare eye for detail. I wish I knew this guy better. This build specifically started out while staring at a $75,000 boardtrack Excelsior mixed with a quick glance of a simple bicycle that also had its own unique appeal. Max explained to me the necessary changes that would need to be made to turn his pedal powered beach cruiser into a highway machine capable of competing for your life in the insane and chaotic death race that is New York City traffic. He told me, “… after a few rides, it became apparent that bicycle parts felt dicey at seventy and my excuses were wearing thin with the local police. I realized that using a mix of MX, chopper, and bicycle parts, I could make something for a few bucks that worked and were solid on the NYC streets.”

Feature 5b Kerri

This is where attention to detail takes on a second face; the fact that if you skip anything here or there, not only does it show, but now you’ve put yourself, and possibly others, in harms way. Imagine that you cut a corner on your chop; you keep riding, right? It works for now; f**k it! Would you let someone who cuts corners build you an airplane? How about a seafaring boat? Of course you wouldn’t. This is the kind of attention that gets paid on everything Max builds. He’s got both sides of that token nailed down, and it shows. I asked him if he looked up to any one particular builder in this industry, and he didn’t really have an answer. He kept explaining to me that he simply built this thing (among other similarly amazing builds) for fun, and let it take its own shape. And it was ramped up a bit when he explained that most people get caught up in one particular thing and stay there. He said, “When people get good at drawing circles, they draw more circles.” Now here’s the kicker: He built this whole thing from start to finish for $1,400; a far cry from the initial $75,000. The motor came from a chick that thought it would be a good idea to grab hold of a motorbike to ride with her husband, but found out the hard way that it wasn’t for her.

So before long, the 650 Savage was sold to our featured builder here for $900 with only a thousand-miles on it. It’s another one of those sweet deals that I hear about but never seem to find. The rest of this bike was built out of things that Max came across in junkyards and thrift stores like the ice cream scoop that is living its second life as a brake light or the Bar Mitzvah chalice now serving as an air cleaner. Great, now I want a boardtracker. I’ll just grab some chemicals and try to dream about one, ‘cause other than this one, a dream is as close as I’ll get. Well, I’m sure that the candle Chris lit on both ends is about to meet in the middle, so I’d better send this off to him. Plus, I hear a banjo calling my name that desperately needs to be played at top volume this very early morning. I’m bound and determined to give these freaks in this building something strange to ponder every day, and today it will be front patio banjo pickin’ at three a.m. Thanks to Max for sharing this beauty with us, and let’s all hope that he provides us with other things to covet here in the future, ‘cause this is a dude that needs to be building. This kind of eye for detail and vast fabrication experience needs to be exercised by those few that have it, and he’s got both sides of that coin polished to a mirror finish.

Feature 5c Kerri

Boardtrack Racer Tech Sheet

Owner: Max Hazan

City: Brooklyn, NY

Fabrication By: Max Hazan

Year: 2003

Model: Suzuki Savage

Value: $1400

Time: 2 Weeks

ENGINE

Year: 2003

Model: LS 650

Builder: Suzuki

Ignition: Ignition

Displacement: 650cc

Pistons: Stock

Heads: Stock

Cam(s): Stock

Carb: Mikuni 40mm (Jetted)

Air Cleaner: Weber Velocity Stack

Primary:

TRANSMISSION

Year: 2003

Make: Suzuki

Shifting: Hand Shift – Hand Clutch

FRAME

Year: 2012

Make: Custom

Rake:

Stretch:

FRONT END

Type: Springer

Builder: Max Hazan

Extension:

Triple Trees:

WHEELS

Front Wheel: Warp 9

Size: 21”

Tire: Avon Speedmaster

Brakes: Stock Disc

Rear Wheel: Warp 9

Size: 21”

Tire: Avon Speedmaster

Brakes: Stock Drum

PAINT

Painter:

Type:

Color:

Molding:

Graphics:

Chroming:

ACCESSORIES

Bars: 7/8” Bicycle Bars

Risers:

Hand Controls: Demons’ Cycle Internal Throttle

Gas Tank(s): 2 x 1/2 Gal. Stainless Cylinders

Front Fender: None

Rear Fender: Beach Cruiser Bicycle Fender

Seat: Brooks’ Springer Saddle

Foot Controls: Stock – Left Foot Front Brake

Oil Tank:

Taillight: Ice Cream Scooper w/ Perfume Bottle Lens

Headlight: Stock

Speedo:

Photographer: Darren McKeag

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