Article and Photos By: John Kelly
Originally Published In The January 2016 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
When I pulled out of the driveway on my 1990 FXR, Police Edition, the horizon had cut the sky and the damp night was losing ground to the sunrise. Over 1300 miles lay between my front wheel and the Ocean City Bike Week rally in Maryland, give or take a few wrong turns and dead ends. This was my first trip on a bike with front and rear shocks in over seven years. Usually, I’m behind the bars of my hard tailed and hopped up Sportster. So equipped with full suspension, half empty saddle bags and a fabbed up luggage rack I faded into the fog. My good friend Andy met me in Madison, WI and we continued South on the “big road” until El Paso, IL, where we hung a left on Hwy 24 and ran that into Indiana. We only passed one corn field…but it was some 200 miles long and didn’t end until Cincinnati. Only broken up by groups of homes sometimes collected tight enough to be considered town. Daylight was long gone by the time we parked for the night, the Ohio valleys and Virginia mountain roads lay ahead.
Highway 33 out of Athens, OH, is like holding your breath while someone jumps on your chest. Breathtaking and nerve racking impulses massage your mind as you make your way through the switchbacks and diving curves. Most traffic were locals. They did not grit their teeth. This was their commute, to them routine. Since we went over the mountains day two, we decided to go under the ocean day three. Hwy 13 from Norfolk, VA into Maryland takes you across… and under the Chesapeake Bay. Twenty-three miles of bridge and tunnel until you reach solid ground. From there it’s a lazy two-lane hustle to Ocean City. A few drinks Friday night helped ease the ringing in our ears and anticipation of what sick bikes we’d see at the rally. Saturday morning at the bike show I was lucky enough to chat with two talented builders. Dennis Crabtree of Cayuga, IN, and Evan Favaro of Speak Easy Motors, Wallkill, NY. Dennis had two immaculate flatheads. Evan, a CB, a Digger and an XS. This is the kind of variety I had hoped to see.
Evan’s builds were a variety in themselves. The CB750 was all performance, notable was the fabbed to fit Ducati single side swing arm. Next in his line-up might be the hardest look to pull off, unless you’re Arlen Ness. “Cipher”, a beautiful shovelhead done up digger style was given a second chance when Evan decided to put his Speak Easy spin on some original Ness parts that had been part of a neglected build many years ago. The rear fender section and tank molding received heavy make overs. To get the dual disk brake system to fit the front rim needed to be machined down. Clean and elegant it’s no wonder this bike took home top honors in the digger division this year at Born Free. Then there is Ethyl. A 1981, XS650 bearing the name of Evan’s late grandmother. What originally caught my eye was the throttle mechanism. BMW gears and a fitted chain pull the cable to open a Mikuni Carb mated with a Speak Easy intake. Evan continues to direct your attention to moving parts with his “see through” lifter covers. Still want more, the seat linkage, and brake reservoir were all created at his shop in upstate New York.
To satisfy my need for tradition, I was drawn to Dennis Crabtree’s two WL’s. The hardest part of building these bikes for Dennis was convincing an “old timer” his collection of parts would be of best service as assembled bikes. After years of convincing Dennis acquired the pieces needed to make all his flathead dreams come true. First, he built the ’41. After coming in second one too many times at the Newport, Indiana Antique Auto Hill Climb, Dennis streamlined his vision. The faster and nimbler ’39 was assembled and put to the starting line. Even with wicked cams and precision tuning the top podium spot still eludes him in Newport; but at Ocean City Bike Week he went home with the number one spot receiving first place by the judges in the retro division.
The return trip home to Wisco was pretty uneventful, aside from the final 180 miles that consisted of intense thunderstorm followed by fog so dense and soupy I swear the thunderstorm was dryer. It was definitely warmer. At about 1:30 am I pulled into my garage, peeled out of my rain gear and leathers and took the first steps back to reality. I had left five days prior telling my wife and kids not goodbye but that I’d see them in a few days…and that was exactly what I was thankful for as I fell into a decompression type of sleep. I’ve done Sturgis, The Redwood Run, Laconia, Power Tour, Smoke Out, Bikes Blues and BBQ’s, more than a dozen local rallies and now Ocean City Bike Week. I’d do it again. The ride out was the right mix of scenic and challenge. The weather was gorgeous and for a fair price you get to see and hear great bands, visit plenty of vendors, enjoy a decent food and drink variety for a relatively low cost, and meet good people with great bikes.
