Article By: Chris Callen
Photos By: Jeff Cochran – www.speedkingphoto.com
Brian Elliott is the kind of guy I like to call a sleeper. He quietly goes about the business of building his bikes, making his parts and speaks with a pretty even tone. That’s why you don’t realize what it is that he’s up to until you take a minute and look closer at some of his work. That’s when it hits you and wham, in your face are some of the finest hand crafted parts and details on motorcycles anywhere. That’s the case with the “Suicide Imbecile” that you see here before you. It looks like a little Sporty job and you might not think much more of it until you look close, hear the story and start to appreciate what he put into it. The funny thing is that Brian never built a Sporty before. He’s always been a Big Twin kinda guy and the chance to get into a four cam just never presented itself.
A previous business partner of his, Mike Eastmen, was way into the flat track scene. As a matter of fact, he was a wrench on a national title winning team. Mike had a couple of personal Sporties that he rode off the track and they inspired Brian. He wanted to combine these elements into a cool bike for himself.
At the same time, Brian has a pretty cool background in the BMX world. As a kid there was a track right down the street from his house so of course he got into racing them. Later on though, the scene started to split and half of the guys went to full on racing while the other half went the freestyle direction. The later was the path Brian took and he began taking his race prepared PK Ripper apart to change it over to a trick bike. That whole thing went on for a year or so until he got his driver’s license. Just like most of us, once cool cars and chicks come into play, skateboards and BMX bikes suddenly become less interesting.
That still didn’t stop him from toting around that old PK in the trunk of his car. There were times that he would take a break from cruising chicks on Eldorado St. in Decatur and pull out the bike for some stunt riding. It is that love for light and nimble race bikes, the style of flat track racers and his curiosity about what he might be able to do to a Sportster that drove him to build this one.
At the beginning of the build, this was supposed to end up as a bike for his ol’ lady, Mary. It came to him through a customer that knew he wanted a kick only XLCH. When the man told Brian he knew where there was a ’67 for sale, it was on. After getting it though, they started to think that this might not be the best fit for her and he was given full reign on it. He wanted to do something completely different from what he had built before, bring in all that influence and end up with a bike that was fun to ride like the ones from when he was a kid.
Little features like the mushroom style grips and BMX bars were a no-brainer. Going with 18 inch front and rear matched rims with enduro styled tires went well with the theme, but it was the paintwork from Darren Williams of Liquid Illusions that brought it all together. Darren is a BMX nut as well and has a PK frame hanging on the wall in his own shop so the mutual groove was naturally in place. There’s a cool mix of flat and gloss red and black, powdercoated black rims and a sweet piece of artwork on the side panels of the tank and oil tank. Right in the middle of the silver flake on the tank the name was applied in rich gold leafing; total class.
Brian is a painter himself so going to Darren wasn’t something he had to do. In fact, most of the stuff you see here can be done in-house by Black Sunshine but on this build, he would go to his friends instead and bring them all together for one great result. He had the cats from FNA do the fender. After a conversation with them, a selection of different fenders showed up at the shop and Brian went with the one you see here. Jason Stritt engraved the brake drums, and the kicker and the tank was a trade with Jay Mo who gave it up for a ride to the Smokeout. Even the seat, which was done by Rich Phillips, was a prize that he won with another bike that took “Best of Show” at the first year BMR. Two years later, he showed back up with the “Imbecile” finished and took first in the Sportster class.
Black Sunshine parts did make their way into the mix though, like the trick air cleaner, forward controls and risers. The handmade exhaust is a real nice addition that gives it more of the flat track, dirt bike appeal. To match the forwards, Brian made a sweet twin rail hand shifter. The tasty split rocker box look on top of the silver heads accented by coal black jugs really shows off all the little details around it.
As the Big Mountain Run approached this year, it was a full time gig trying to get the “Imbecile” ready to show. Originally, Brian wanted to ride to the event on it but as the hours ran down, he’d have to settle for just getting there with the bike complete. As it turns out, he hadn’t even had much seat time on it and it was already sold. So much for him getting his Sporty fix, huh? It was all good though; Daniel Banks, a good friend and customer of the shop, had been watching the build and couldn’t see the bike not coming home with him.
What timing this cat had too, ‘cause within two months of it being finished,the “Imbecile” had won awards in two killer chopper shows. BMR was one, of course, and then a month later it took a top 10 out of 205 bikes at the Smokeout. Not too bad!
So you have to wonder about where and why some of these cats come up with the names they have for their bikes, right? In Brian’s case, it’s one of the best features of the bike. “Suicide Imbecile” is of course a Maynard Krebbs song title but the deeper meaning is much more personal to him. Brian’s uncle was his best friend growing up and in spite of being nine years older, he was a big influence. He rode motocross and was just cool as shit in Brian’s eyes. He moved away some 20 years ago and had just recently moved back home, putting the two back in regular contact with each other. Tragically, Brian’s uncle took his life last year and the entire time he was building this bike, thoughts of how mad he was at him, the great times they had with each other and how much he’d miss him went through his head. It’s not so much that the bike itself was a tribute to him but more that it was part of the process.
In the end, as we often find, life comes full circle. All the influence that Brian has taken in over the years from his uncle, the BMX bikes, his time with other builders and shops all add up to who he is and what he does today. From my perspective that ain’t half bad. He’s a man doing what he loves, building some killer bikes along the way and he’s in touch with himself enough to give props to the people around him who have helped make that possible. In this case, that all played out into a perfect little bike with a great story.
Suicidal imbecile tech Sheet
Owner: Daniel Boone Banks
City: Decatur, IL
Fabrication by: Black Sunshine Customs
Year: 1967
Model: XLCH
Time: 3 Months
Value: Whatever You Want To Pay
Engine
Year: 1967
model: XLCH
Builder: Black Sunshine
Ignition: Farbanks Mag
Displacement: 900
Pistons: Wiseco
Heads: HD
Cam(s): Andrews
carb: S&S B
Air cleaner: Black Sunshine
Exhaust: Black Sunshine
Primary: Stock
Transmission
Year: 1967
Make: HD
Shifting: Hand
Frame
Year: 1967
make: HD / Black Sunshine
Rake: Stock
Stretch: In The Morning
Front End
type: Spring Type
builder: HD / Black Sunshine
extension: Nope / Cut 3 Inches
Wheels
Front Wheel: Harley
Size: 18”
tire: Shinko
brakes: Stock / CHC Engraved
Rear Wheel: Harley
Size: 18”
tire: Shinko
brakes: Stock / CHC Engraved
Paint
Painter: Darren – Liquid Illusions
color: Red and Silver
type: House of Kolor
Graphics: Darren
molding: Darren
chroming: Quality Plating
Accessories
bars: Black Sunshine
Risers: Black Sunshine
hand controls:
Gas tank(s): Black Sunshine / Jaymo
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: FNA
Seat: Rich Phillips / Won at BMR 1 Foot controls: Black Sunshine
mirrors: Black Sunshine
Oil tank: Black Sunshine
headlight: Paughco
taillight: Black Sunshine
Speedo: None
Photo.by: Jeff Cochran
