There’s a certain kind of episode that reminds you why you got into motorcycles in the first place. Not the polished, over-produced version of the culture—but the real one. The one built on late nights, borrowed parts, busted knuckles, and people who show up when it counts.
ShopTalk Episode 336 is exactly that.
Chris Callen and the Cycle Source crew kicked this one off the way they always do—fast, loose, and somewhere between controlled chaos and a garage full of friends talking over each other. Live shoutouts rolled in from all over, the jokes started early, and before you knew it, they were off and running. No filters, no scripts—just real conversation. And that’s what makes it work.
Because when the topic turns to something like the 2026 S&S Cycle Independence Tour, that raw format lets the story breathe the way it should.
This isn’t just another builder showcase. S&S leaned into something bigger here. With America’s 250th anniversary coming up, they built a program around the engines that shaped performance V-twins in this country—knucklehead, panhead, shovelhead, Evo, Twin Cam, and Milwaukee-Eight. Not as museum pieces, but as living, running motorcycles built by people who still push the culture forward.
And the builder list alone tells you this wasn’t thrown together halfway.
You’ve got Cory Ness, Jeff Zielinski, Dave Perewitz, Jason Mook, Billy Lane, and Bill Dodge—all coming at the same idea from completely different angles. That’s where things get interesting. Nobody’s building the same bike twice. What you get instead is six completely different answers to the same question.
Cory Ness kept things rooted in what works, starting with an FXR and building something that feels familiar until you really start looking at it. Dig a little deeper and you realize most of it came from parts he already had—reworked, repurposed, and brought back to life. That kind of approach doesn’t just save parts, it carries history forward.
Jeff Zielinski went another direction entirely, taking a newer platform and turning it into something aggressive and unapologetic. Not his typical lane, and he said as much—but sometimes that’s where the best builds come from. When you step outside your comfort zone and let the bike tell you what it wants to be.
Then there’s Dave Perewitz, who did exactly what you wouldn’t expect. No over-the-top paint. No signature flash. Just a clean, tight panhead build that proves restraint can hit just as hard as anything loud. It caught people off guard—and that’s probably why it worked so well.
Jason Mook brought the kind of honesty that anyone who’s ever built a bike can relate to. The real stuff. The problems you don’t see in finished photos. The wiring headaches, the fabrication changes, the last-minute fixes. The kind of details that separate a builder from someone just bolting parts together.
And then Billy Lane shows up late, mid-bedtime routine, no shirt, completely unfiltered—and somehow ends up delivering one of the most grounded moments of the entire episode. Talking about being a dad, building a life, and still chasing motorcycles at the same time. It wasn’t staged, and that’s exactly why it hit.
Bill Dodge’s presence was felt even without him on camera. His shovel build carried that unmistakable identity—red, white, and blue done in a way that didn’t feel forced. Just honest, American-made attitude built into every inch of the bike.
What really stood out, though, wasn’t just the bikes—it was how these guys interacted. This wasn’t six builders protecting secrets or trying to outdo each other. They were helping, sharing, trading ideas, even jumping in to solve problems. That kind of collaboration used to be the norm, and seeing it still alive in a project like this says a lot about what S&S is trying to do.
Because at the end of the day, the S&S Cycle Independence Tour 2026 isn’t just about showing off six motorcycles. It’s about putting inspiration back in front of people. Letting someone walk up, look at a detail—a stance, a motor, a piece of fabrication—and think, “I could try that.”
That’s how this whole thing keeps moving forward.
The episode doesn’t stay locked on just the tour, either. There’s talk about the Smokeout giveaway bike, with that always-entertaining twist—if your name gets called, you’ve got to fire it live on stage to take it home. There’s a look at Joe Mielke’s stripped-down Softail, built with that raw, metal-shaped approach that strips everything back to the essentials. No filler, no hiding—just craftsmanship out in the open.
And then there’s the bigger picture stuff. Events coming up. Stops on the road. The reminder that this culture only works when people actually show up and take part in it.
Somewhere in all of it, a stat gets dropped—S&S has worked with around 85 builders across their programs over the years. That’s not just a number. That’s a network. A timeline. A pretty solid indicator that they’re not just watching the culture—they’re actively helping shape it.
By the time Episode 336 wraps, you’re left with more than just a lineup of bikes. You’re reminded what makes this whole thing worth sticking with. It’s not perfection. It’s not polish. It’s people. It’s the stories. It’s the shared effort to keep building something that still feels real.
And that’s exactly what this episode delivers.
If you’ve been around motorcycles long enough to know the difference, you’ll feel it right away.
Watch the full episode and see why this one hits different.
