Article And Photos By: Chris Callen
Originally Published In The September 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
Right off the bat I’m sure the name of this bike strikes you as odd. I know that the crew I run with has a sick sense of humor, so I have learned over the years not to question too much of their tricks. When it comes to a feature bike though, I have to ask the question on behalf of the readers. So what the hell is with that name? As it turns out, Josh Hall, the owner of the Buzzard here, is originally from the Midwest but moved to Georgia. This happened right after losing his mother and he made a comment to Jeremy Johnson, the builder, that everywhere he went he saw eagles’ flying, like his mom was watching down over him. Jeremy, being the slick southern prick that he is, busted the poor cat’s bubble and told him they weren’t eagles, just some damn buzzards hovering over some road kill.
But the truth is, Josh and Jeremy’s mothers were taken from breast cancer and this is what brought them together. Jeremy has a foundation called “Cathy’s Help” in honor of his mother, and he provides every day needs like grocery runs, car notes, and bill money; whatever it takes to make life easier for women with breast cancer. Josh is also a big help with the foundation, and that’s kinda where the story begins. A while back, Jeremy was starting to build what h e had in mind as the most righteous original chopper he could muster. He scored a ton of period parts like a Paughco Pan chopper frame, GME fuel tank, a Corbin gentry seat and a Trident sissybar. He wanted to show what his shop, Muttin’ Cycles, could do with a build like this. Even the six over front end was an old Kayaba with 35mm tubes that sat on an old guy’s shelf for 35 yrs. You can’t get much more OG than that. The build was going along good, and Josh was stopping by more and more, until finally he told Jeremy that he had to have this bike. He blew it off the first couple of times, but Josh told him to figure out his price and that he was serious.
Jeremy came up like a lot of us with an old man who rode, and a childhood spent racing dirt bikes so his motorcycle addiction goes deep. All during the time Jeremy raced, he couldn’t afford a mechanic so he had to learn. After buying his first crotch rocket at 17, and customizing the hell out of it, he soon became bored a n d fell in with a Harley crowd. At this point, he was wrenching full time, and worked for three other shops before deciding to start one of his own. That was four years ago, and one thing that’s for sure is that Jeremy will stick to his values no matter what. The shop is a “little bit of everything” kind of shop, but fabrication is its main focus. Starting back in shop class where he first learned to twist steel bars, he’s always been in love with blacksmithing. Now the way Jeremy builds bikes is his way. His shop does plenty of oil changes and service work to keep the bills paid, but when it comes to fabricating a custom bike, he has to do it the way he wants. Josh was down for this, and other than picking out colors, he let Jeremy have artistic license. Once the sheet metal was ready, it was taken to Sims City Hot Rod out of Atlanta where Phillip put the groovy paint scheme on it.
The entire build took around three months, but near the end, the pressure was on. The timing would put the finish line right around Daytona and Jeremy wanted to make Willie’s Tropical for the show. Unfortunately, he would miss that mark by two weeks. He was bummed about not making the show, but in the end the way the bike came out was worth the wait. There was only one small hiccup. Apparently, the cat who built the motor before Jeremy got it had plugged up the crankcase breather and when he got it started, it leaked like a sonovabitch. It never even occurred to him that it was stopped up, but it was an easy fix and since then, there haven’t been any issues. Josh picked the bike up about 2 weeks after it was finished, and he’s ridden the livin’ shit out of it. He works out of town, but every weekend he shows up at Muttin’ Cyles with the Buzzard and hangs out waiting for a ride. The best part of this build, Jeremy told me, was that he didn’t just get a job out of it, he also found a good friend. While he was wrenching on it, Josh would come over and do the grunt work, stay and watch, he’d do anything that he could to pick up knowledge to be able to spin his own wrenches after it was finished. That’s where the real magic in all this happens. When you spend that kind of time with someone making a machine come to life…hell, those two will probably be old men and still buddies.
The first road trip for the Buzzard was for the BMR this year and Josh had over 300 miles on it when tragedy struck. He hyperextended his knee and was forced to spend the remainder of the event on crutches, leaving the Buzzard to be ridden home by Jeremy. Now that’s a good brother, right? To find out more about what these two are up to with Cathy’s Help, Muttin’ Cycles or just to see where they’ll show up next, hit the Net!
Turkey Vulture Tech Sheet
Owner: Josh Hall
City: Bethlehem, GA
Fabrication By: Muttin’ Cycles
Year: 1976
Model: Shovel Chop
Time: 3 Months
Value: Not For Sale
ENGINE
Year: 1976
Model: Shovel
Builder: HD
Ignition: Electronic
Displacement:
Pistons: Stock
Heads: Stock
Cam(s): Andrews A
Carb: S&S
Air Cleaner:
Exhaust: Paughco
Primary: Open Primo
TRANSMISSION
Year: 1976
Make: HD
Shifting: Four Speed
FRAME
Year: ?
Make: Paughco
Rake: 4 Up
Stretch:
FRONT END
Type: 35mm
Builder: Kayaba
Extension:
Triple Trees:
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Spool
Size: 21”
Tire: Avon
Brakes: None
Rear Wheel: Spokes
Size: 16”
Tire: Avon
Brakes: Juice Drum
PAINT
Painter: Sims City Hot Rod
Color: Gold and Orange
Type: House of Kolor
Chroming: Space Coast Plating
Graphics: Space Coast Plating
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Old Vintage
Risers: None
Hand Controls: None
Gas Tank(s): GME
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Old Chopper
Seat: Corbin Gentry
Foot Controls: Stock
Speedo: None
Taillight: Model A
Headlight: Triangle
Photographer: Chris Callen