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FXR Spotlight

Big Joe Looks At The World Of The FXR Rider

Article And Photos By: FXR Joe

Originally Published In The April 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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Welcome to the first installment of Cycle Source FXR Spotlight! Chris Callen has given me the opportunity to bring its readers an FXR feature every month. My plan is to tell the story of the average guy/ gal who just loves to ride — ride their FXR that is. For the first segment, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself and what has led me to my passion for motorcycles and FXRs. My name is Joe Mielke. I was born in Madison, SD and raised in Brookings, SD. I’ve been riding motorcycles for 25+ years. My mom and dad didn’t know it, but I had been caught by the motorcycle bug in my teen years long before I had my own motorcycle.

Like most guys, I bought my first bike against my mother’s wishes. At 18, I bought a 1984 Honda CB750SC Nighthawk; I was instantly hooked. As soon as I had my own, I started drag racing as well. Many Sundays were spent at the local small town drag strip in Marion, SD. Fast forward…I’m blessed to have a wife (Michelle) and daughter (Tiadra) who enjoy motorcycles as I do, and we have a garage full of motorcycles. I still get to the drag strip from time to time. My wife and daughter are both AMA National Land Speed Record holders. We currently have 3 Harleys, 2 Buells, 2 Yamahas, 1 Victory and 1 Kawasaki. I have more than I deserve. Our most recent motorcycle purchase was a 1991 Harley Davidson FXR.

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I currently live in Mitchell, SD where I work at Klock Werks Kustom Cycles. By living and working in the motorcycle industry, I have been afforded many great opportunities. When I first got into motorcycles in the late ‘80s / early ‘90s, the world of custom motorcycles was dominated by custom FXRs. If you looked at motorcycle magazines back then you saw custom FXRs built by Donnie Smith, Arlen Ness, Dave Perewitz, Don Hotop, Billy Westbrook and others. Now, 30 years after the birth of the FXR, I’m blessed to be doing what I love: building custom motorcycles and designing/fabricating parts for the motorcycle aftermarket. You can’t be a custom motorcycle builder without respecting the work that the pioneers of this industry did with the FXR platform.

In 2010, Klock Werks was invited to display motorcycles at Michael Lichter’s Eternal Combustion Exhibit at the Legendary Buffalo Chip during the Sturgis Rally. We (Klock Werks) had two motorcycles to build for the exhibit and one of those motorcycles was going to be based on Brian’s (Klock) 1991 FXR. We agreed that the FXR would be built as a homage to the builders of the ‘80s and ‘90s who capitalized on the FXR platform. From that ‘91 FXR we built a slick custom we named “Kwiksilver.” I was pretty confident after that build that I needed an FXR, and the hunt was on. I kept my eye out for the right FXR and I passed on a few over the next couple of years. During Sturgis in 2012 while working the truck at Black Hills HD, I checked the inventory of trade-in motorcycles at the dealership every morning. There were actually several FXRs in the lot that year and by week’s end, I had made a deal and brought home a clean, low mile ‘91 FXR.

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Now, after being in the industry for nearly a decade, I found myself working with motorcycles every day, but I was not riding recreationally as often as you might think. I decided to ride out from South Dakota to Milwaukee, meet up with some friends that were participating in the 2012 Motorcycle Cannonball and ride with them from Milwaukee back to Sturgis. I figured it would be a great trip to break in the new FXR. I had not had much time to ride the FXR because after Sturgis I had taken my wife, daughter and their motorcycles to Bonneville for the BUB Speed Trials. Shortly after returning from the salt flats, the FXR received an oil change, some Sportster bars and mid controls.

My week long trip with the Cannonballers was the greatest motorcycle road trip I have ever been on. I chalk that up in part to it being on an FXR. I had rekindled my passion for riding and didn’t want it to end, but the South Dakota winter came and the motorcycles went into storage. First of the year, however, I decided on a New Year’s resolution: I would ride every Friday, and FXR Friday was born. At the time of writing this, I have ridden every Friday for 57 weeks straight. During the 2013 Sturgis Rally I hosted the first FXR-only motorcycle show in Sturgis City Park. There were 71 FXRs entered. I’ll be hosting the 2nd Annual FXR Motorbike Show during the 2014 Sturgis Rally again in Sturgis City Park. If you are interested in sharing your favorite FXR story contact me at mielke@mit.midco.net with your contact info and a couple photos of your FXR. You can find more info on the Sturgis FXR Motorbike Show at www.fxrshow.com. Find me on Facebook as Joe Mielke and FXR Friday, Instagram as SODAKBIGJOE.

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