Article By: Heather Callen. Photos By: Missi DeBord
From Issue 319 Of Cycle Source Magazine. See The Entire Digital Issue HERE Or Subscribe HERE Today And Get A Real Magazine Delivered To Your Door!
Some motorcycles come together because someone wants a cool bike. Others come together because of the people involved. Emily’s chopper out of Knoxville, Tennessee falls firmly into that second category. What started as a surprise project between a husband, a builder, and a small Tennessee shop turned into something that carries far more meaning than just steel and paint.
Emily is 34 years old, a mother of two, Axel and Ellie, and works as a Project Coordinator for a foodservice distribution company. Motorcycles weren’t part of her life growing up, and no one on her side of the family rode. That all changed when she met her husband.
“I had never even been on a bike before I met him,” Emily says.
The two have been together for 13 years and married for seven, and motorcycles quickly became a big part of their life together. The moment that really flipped the switch came in 2012 when the couple made their first trip to Sturgis.
After seeing the rally, the bikes, and the culture around it, Emily knew she wanted to learn to ride herself.
She started at 22 years old, learning on her husband’s 1976 Honda CB750 before eventually picking up her first bike, a Sportster 883. Since then, she’s owned four motorcycles and logged thousands of miles riding with her husband. The couple has made the Sturgis trip seven times, building some of their favorite memories together on two wheels.
But through all those miles, Emily had never owned a true custom motorcycle.
That would change in a way she never saw coming.
More than ten years ago Emily bought a chopper project for her husband. Like a lot of builds, things didn’t quite come together the way they had planned. Eventually the bike found its way to Eastwood Bikes & Rods in Sweetwater, Tennessee where builder Keith stepped in to help straighten things out.
While that project was underway, Emily’s husband decided she deserved a chopper of her own. At the time she was pregnant with their first child when he quietly started planning a build as a surprise.
The donor bike that would become Emily’s chopper already carried a heavy story of its own. It had belonged to one of Keith’s closest friends who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2021 while the group was attending Sturgis. The motorcycle eventually ended up with Keith, waiting for the right project.
When Emily’s husband approached him about building her a bike, it became the perfect opportunity to give the machine a second life.
The build came together at Eastwood Bikes & Rods where Keith works alongside his father Chuck. The two handle nearly everything in-house, from fabrication and welding to shaping the metal that gives their bikes their character.
The foundation of the bike is a 1996 XL1200 Sportster powerplant that the Eastwood crew freshened up and brought back to life. The 1205cc motor runs Wiseco pistons with stock heads that were worked over by Revolution Performance, breathing through an S&S Super E carb and sparked by a Dynatek ignition. It’s a simple, honest setup that fits the spirit of the bike perfectly—nothing flashy, just a solid motor built to run.
The engine sits in a Kraft Tech frame with a 30-degree rake, giving the bike a classic chopper stance without going over the top. Up front are shaved 39mm Sportster forks held in shaved factory triple trees, rolling on a 21-inch spool hub wheel wrapped in a Shinko 270 tire. The rear carries a 16-inch laced wheel with the same rubber, keeping the look traditional and clean.
Like many true choppers, the details are where the personality shows up. The handlebars come from Todd’s Cycle and Biltwell risers, while Kustom Tech controls keep things simple and functional. A modified Gasbox rear fender hugs the back tire, paired with a Prism Supply taillight and a classic Biltwell seat.
The gas tank itself is one of those parts every builder loves to stumble across. “It was just a random find,” Keith says.
Up front there’s no fender, just a simple 5¾-inch headlight lighting the way. The exhaust, air cleaner, and oil tank were all built in-house by Eastwood Bikes and Rods, tying the whole machine together with the kind of handmade touches that define a real shop-built motorcycle.
The finishing touch came from Chuck Wilkins, who laid down the deep Candy Apple Red paint that gives the bike its unmistakable presence.
For Keith and Chuck, the project was another example of the team effort that goes into every bike they build.
“My dad Chuck first and foremost,” Keith says when asked who helped the most. “Without him none of this would really have happened.”
When the bike was finished, it became more than just another custom build. For Emily it represents the years she and her husband have spent riding together and the life they’ve built around motorcycles.
“This bike was brought together by love,” she says. “And I feel it every time I look at it.”
More importantly, it’s not a bike that sits still. Emily rides it regularly and says it’s the best handling motorcycle she’s ever owned.
Even though motorcycles didn’t come into her life until her twenties, riding has become one of the things she loves most. “There’s a sense of peace when you’re out on the road,” she says. “Cut off from everything else.” For anyone thinking about learning to ride, Emily keeps it simple. “Nothing will ever compare.”
La Madre Specifications
Owner: Emily Armstrong
City/State: Knoxville, TN
Builder: Eastwood Bikes & Rods
Year: 1996
Model: XL 1200
Value: Priceless
Time: 2 Months
Engine
Year: 1996
Model: XLCH
Builder: Eastwood Bikes & Rods
Ignition: Dynatek
Displacement: 1205cc
Pistons: Wiseco
Heads: Stock/Revolution Performance
Carb: S&S Super E
Cam: Stock
Air Cleaner: Eastwood Bikes & Rods
Exhaust: Eastwood Bikes & Rods
Primary: Stock
Transmission
Year: 1996
Make: XL
Shifting: Standard
Frame
Year: Unknown
Builder: Kraft Tech
Rake: 30
Stretch: None
Forks
Builder: Unknown
Type: 39mm Shaved
Triple Trees: Shaved Stock Sportster
Extension: Stock
Wheels
Front Wheel: Spool Hub Laced
Front Size: 21”
Front Tire: Shinko
Front Brake: None
Rear Wheel: Dual Flange Laced
Rear Size: 16”
Rear Tire: Shinko
Rear Brake: Unknown
Paint
Painter: Chuck Williams
Color: Candy Apple Red
Type: Not supplied
Graphics: Not supplied
Chrome: Not supplied
Accessories
Bars: Todds Cycle
Grips: Biltwell
Hand Controls: Kustom Tech
Foot Controls: Stock Mids
Gas Tank: Random Find
Oil Tank: Eastwood Bikes & Rods
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Modified Gasbox
Seat: Biltwell
Headlight: A Random 5”
Taillight: Prism Supply
Speedo: None
Photographer: Missi DeBord