Article by Heather Callen
Photos: Courtesy: Joshua Jake
You can usually tell what kind of builder somebody is within the first five minutes of talking to them. There are guys who have every answer before the question is finished, and then there are guys like Joshua Jake, who will tell you straight up that most of what he knows came from making mistakes. That’s the kind of honesty that’s getting harder to find, and it’s exactly what makes this motorcycle worth talking about.
Jake is 34 years old, born and raised in New York, but these days he calls Denver, Colorado home. During the day he installs window tint and paint protection on cars he says he can’t afford. After work you’ll either find him watching movies with his girlfriend and dogs or buried in the garage trying to figure out how to build better choppers. Add an old house that’s constantly demanding repairs, and it’s safe to say he doesn’t spend much time sitting still.
Like a lot of us, motorcycles grabbed him early. His dad rode, his mom had a bike for a while, and by sixteen he was learning to ride on his father’s Sportster. Growing up during the Orange County Choppers explosion, watching Monster Garage, and seeing Indian Larry making magic back home in New York left a mark. While everybody else was browsing the bookstore, Jake was standing in the magazine aisle soaking up every custom bike feature he could find.
His first motorcycle was an XS650, but he laughs when people call it his first build. That honor belongs to a pink 2003 Sportster named Marilyn. Since then, he’s built a couple of Shovelheads, another Sportster chop, and already has a ‘78 Cone Shovel waiting for its turn.
This bike happened because the guys from Lowlife Podcast announced the inaugural Idle Hands Chopper Show.
“I figured, what the hell,” Jake says. “Let’s build one.”
With a year on the clock, he pieced together a frame from a guy in the Colorado mountains, picked up an engine from his buddy Matt at Fab Tabs, and built the rest however he could. If he knew how to do it, he did it himself. If he didn’t know how, he learned.
Ask where he learned fabrication and he’ll tell you, “F#@k Around and Find Out University.”
It’s hard to argue with the results.
Frame molding, gas tank repairs, hidden wiring, engine problems, metal shaping, paint… every stage fought back. The only thing he finally admitted defeat on was the upholstery, handing that job over to someone with more patience than he had.
Jake doesn’t credit one mentor for getting him here. Instead, he points to a long list of friends willing to answer the phone whenever he hit a wall. Every challenge became another lesson, and every lesson made the motorcycle a little better.
The paint tells the biggest part of the story. Inspired by Gustave Doré’s Death on the Pale Horse, Jake blended Renaissance artwork into a motorcycle unlike anything else he’d built. But while the artwork grabs your attention, what lies beneath it is what gives the bike its soul.
During the build, Jake lost his service dog and best friend of ten years, Apex. Anyone who’s had a dog that carried them through life understands what that kind of loss feels like. Apex wasn’t just riding shotgun, he was family. When Jake returned to finish the motorcycle, he mixed Apex’s ashes into the paint while spraying the bike, fighting back tears the entire time. Later, using the paw print taken at the crematorium, he created a stamp on the oil bag that permanently carries another portion of Apex’s ashes.
That turned this build into something far more personal than another custom motorcycle.
Exactly 365 days after starting the project, Jake rolled into the inaugural Idle Hands Chopper Show. When the dust settled, he’d taken home the biggest prize of the weekend, the very first Idle Hands Chopper Show championship and a check for $10,000.
The trophy was impressive, but it wasn’t the real reward.
The real victory came from every mistake he worked through, every skill he picked up, every friend who answered a late-night phone call, and every mile he’ll put on a motorcycle built with his own hands. More importantly, every ride from here on out carries a little piece of Apex along with it. That’s something no judge can score and no trophy can ever replace.
Motorcycle Specifications From Last Page
| Owner | Joshua Jake |
|---|---|
| City/State | Denver, Co |
| Builder | Joshua Jake |
| Year | |
| Model | Chopper |
| Value | Priceless |
| Time | 1 Year |
| Year | |
| Model | S&S Super Sidewander |
| Builder | S&S Cycle |
| Ignition | Points |
| Displacement | 110ci |
| Pistons | |
| S&S | |
| Heads | |
| S&S | |
| Carb | S&S Super G |
| Cam | |
| S&S 562 | |
| Air Cleaner | Prism Bristol Breather |
| Exhaust | Custom |
| Primary | Open Belt |
| TRANSMISSION | |
| Year | |
| Make | V-Twin 4 Speed Ratchet Top |
| Shifting | Jockey |
| FRAME | |
| Year | |
| Model | Paughco Rigid |
| Rake | Stock |
| Stretch | Stock |
| FORKS | |
| Builder | Joshua Jake |
| Type | 41mm Wideglide Shaved Lowers |
| Triple Trees | Pangea Speed Narrows |
| Extension | +6” |
| WHEELS | |
| Front Wheel | Led Sled Invader |
| Size | Front: 19” |
| Tire | |
| K70 | |
| Front Brake | None |
| Rear Wheel | Led Sled Invader |
| Size | 18” |
| Tire | AM7 Safety Mileage |
| Rear Brake | 4 Piston |
| PAINT | |
| Painter | Joshua Jake |
| Color | Pearlescent White |
| Type | Tropical Glitz |
| Graphics | Gustave Dave |
| Chroming | Mexico Special |
| ACCESSORIES | |
| Bars | Custom |
| Risers | Untegrated |
| Hand Controls | |
| Foot Controls | Two |
| Gas Tank(s) | Lowbrow 2.1 Narrow Frisco |
| Oil Tank | Horseshoe |
| Front fender | None |
| Rear Fender | Lowbrow Manta Ray |
| Seat | Custom Black Stitch Label |
| Headlight | Custom Coffin |
| Taillight | Custom Death Moth |
| Speedo | None |