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Unfinished Bike Show

Article By: Mitch Bodine

Originally Published In The July 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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It was a beautiful February day when the wife and I cruised up to Rariton, New Jersey to take in the 47 Industries Unfinished Bike Show. Due to some unfortunate circumstances this year’s show was much smaller than previous years. However, the smaller show didn’t affect the quality of the bikes. We arrived a little early to check out the 15 handpicked bikes as they arrived. There was everything from old iron heads, shovels, even some Japanese stuff and a crazy flat head powered long bike. The highlights of the show were the Triumph flat tracker, an Evo Sporty with some killer fab work and an XS 650 that would make Hugh proud. All of the craftsmanship out in the open, left raw, for all to take in, not covered up by paint and chrome.

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A 1966 XLCH iron head Sporty owned by Alex Pereira of Audubon, PA caught my eye. Alex hard tailed the frame using old Harley style castings. He only had about two and a half months into this project but he wants to have it complete by spring time. Instead of buying parts, he saved his money and bought his own TIG welder and lathe, taught himself how to TIG weld and operate a lathe and has done all of the fabrication himself. I know I just said it but he taught himself how to TIG and operate the lathe…very impressive to say the least.

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Another awesome bike was the turbo shovel, yup you read that right…a turbo charged shovel! Bryan Trigila of East Hartford, CT is the owner and builder of this bike. His 1973 shovel is an over the top creation like I’ve never seen before. He built the girder forks using aircraft aerodynamic tube as the main legs, which gives it a unique, badass look. The rear mono shock and linkage were sourced from a Suzuki Hayabusa. Bryan extended the swing arm 5 1/2” while fitting the mono shock. I’m not usually a big fan of Super Glide tail sections but this one looks right with the bike sitting low and long. The only parts he didn’t make himself are the Mad Jap mid controls, some quality parts from Dale. Bryan told me he was going for the fast and low look and man did he nail it. The bike will be painted all black with the gold snow flake mag wheels to give it a cool Smokey and the Bandit look. Be on the lookout for the finished bike at Born Free this year.

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All in all, there was an awesome collection of unfinished bikes at 47 Industries. If you haven’t been you should definitely put it on your calendar for next year. If you’re in the area and are looking for quality fabrication work check out Mike at 47 Industries. Mike spent twenty some years as a GM service tech. When he reached the top of the ladder at GM things started to get a little boring so he started 47 Industries, 47 was his tech number at the dealership. For the first two years he ran it out of his home garage part time before a deal presented itself to move into the current shop with all the equipment, that’s when Mike made the decision to go full time. It’s been over four years since he made that call. Although Mike is more than capable to do the service work and motor builds his main focus is fabrication work. Mike has done more than a few welds on hard tail conversions for Sporty’s. His version is different than most because he uses big twin style axle plates and different diameter tubing to give it a factory finish look. While I was there I checked out a knuckle head Mike is building for a customer. It was bought as a basket case and is well on its way to being a beauty. His repertoire has included working on everything from hot rods, race cars, and antique cars to dump trucks. We are sure to see some quality motorcycles from 47 Industries in the future, check Mike out at www.47fab.com or 47 Industries on Facebook.

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