Custom Chrome and Cole Foster of Salinas Boys Customs are pleased to announce that they have teamed up to produce another show-stopping custom – a 70’s era custom and one of 2 bikes CCI has commissioned to commemorate their upcoming 40th Anniversary Celebration in 2010.
“I got a call from Steve Veltri and Holger Mohr about helping them celebrate Custom Chrome’s 40th Anniversary by building a bike to commemorate their 4 decades of commitment serving the American V-twin industry”, Said Cole.
The idea was to have one bike be representative of Custom Chrome in its early days and reflect what was being done back in the 70’s when they first started out. Kirk Taylor of Custom Design Studios was commissioned to work on the other half of the effort by customizing an earlier bagger project Custom Chrome had used in their 2009 catalog.
The plan was to build as period correct as possible a 1970’s chopper using parts and products from the CCI catalog. They started with a Paughco rigid frame, Jammer shovel style engine and a RevTech® 4 speed kicker transmission as the platform to build around. Then, 16" & 21" star hub wheels were sourced from the CCI catalog and mated to a Paughco narrow springer.
“The frame showed up while I was on a motorcycle safety tour with the USO visiting U.S. Navel bases in Europe. Aaron and Andrew chopped the frame out a few inches and raked the neck to 46 degrees” said Cole. Upon his return from the tour, it was rolling chassis and had the stance he was looking for. With a little over a month to finish the project and the pressure of having it ready for Michael Lichter to shoot for the upcoming anniversary catalog cover the Salinas Boys rolled up their sleeves and went to work.
“We dug deep into the catalog and picked out all the dinosaur parts we could find that matched the 70’s era theme we were looking for”. Here’s what they found: hydraulic rear drum brake, stock style forward controls, tin primary, horseshoe oil tank, mustang fuel tank and much more. “We massaged and fabricated the Jammer and Custom Chrome parts to ensure they flowed the right way and gave the bike that true 70’s feel”. A fabricated seat pan was then sent off to Christine and the crew at LePera for leather.
The Salinas boys then went to work on the handlebars and sissy bar to make sure all the finishing touches were just the way they wanted them. Those and some other items were then sent to “Sherms” for chrome plating to get just the right finish and they had them back in just 4 days! “We pulled a few goodies out of our own stash of vintage parts too” said Cole.
After all of the fabrication and assembly work was complete components were sent Kirk Taylor for paint on the new old girl.
“It is quite an honor to have Cole Foster and Salinas Boys Customs put together such an era perfect bike to celebrate our upcoming anniversary” said Steve Veltri, VP of Sales and Marketing for Custom Chrome. Holger Mohr, CEO of Custom Chrome went on to add, “We are very pleased with how the bike turned out and Cole and his guys hit the nail right on the head with this one.”
About Custom Chrome
Custom Chrome®, a division of DAE-IL USA, Inc., designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes aftermarket motorcycle parts and accessories and does business as Custom Chrome®, Santee®, Jammer®, Custom Chrome Europe® and Custom Chrome Asia®. The Company is one of the largest independent suppliers of aftermarket parts and accessories for Harley-Davidson® motorcycles and commands significant market share in the broader motorcycle industry. With thousands of unique product offerings, Custom Chrome® anticipates and fulfills the aftermarket needs of the v-twin motorcycle industry through a network of independent dealers throughout North America, Europe, and Asia/Pacific. To learn more please visit: www.customchrome.com.
About Salinas Boys Customs
For more information about Salinas Boys Customs and Cole Foster, please visit www.salinasboys.com.
