Article By:Heather Callen Photos By: Michael Lichter
Originally Ran In Issue 318 Of Cycle Source Magazine
On a hot Kentucky day, somewhere between a cigar, a pour of bourbon, and a Sharpie dragged across a beer box, Rick “Dozer” Dozer sketched the first real lines of what would become “Veloce”. That’s how Dozer works. No CAD files, no polished renderings, just an idea, a buzz, and the nerve to start cutting steel. Fitty-sumpin, retired, and mostly focused on keeping Brandy happy, Dozer has the kind of restless hands that never really stop building. Veloce, a 1937 ULH built for Smokie, was his big swing. While it was still coming together, Dozer called it his magnum opus. After the dust settled, it turned out he wasn’t wrong.
Dozer didn’t grow up around motorcycles. Nobody in his family rode. What got him hooked was a guy down the road ripping around on a killer chopper. Dozer was six years old when he saw it, and that moment stuck. His first bike was a Honda 450 Nighthawk, but once Harleys got under his skin, there was no going back. He bought his Shovelhead in 1987 and rebuilt it so many times he jokes he built the thing ten times. That bike now belongs to his son, which feels about right for a life spent passing down busted knuckles and stubborn ideas.
Veloce started with nothing more than Dozer’s urge to do something that hadn’t been done his way yet. The goal was to eliminate straight lines, run a super-low backbone, stuff big honkin’ tires under it, and make the whole thing look fast and angry even standing still. There was no real donor bike. This one was born from raw material, Dozer’s tool-and-die background, and a whole lot of try-and-try-again metal shaping. The Sawzall became such a constant companion that Dozer half-jokingly calls it his right hand.
At the center of Veloce sits a 1937 ULH motor, an 80-inch flathead built by DC Choppers, breathing through a Mikuni and exhaling through stainless pipes with no air cleaner to get in the way. Alloy heads, 6:1 pistons, and a number four cam give it an old-school heartbeat with a sharp edge, feeding power through a 530 chain primary into a Harley transmission that shifts in a “tank-ish” kind of way that suits the bike’s raw personality.
The custom, unnumbered frame is where Dozer really earned his scars. Set at 28 degrees of rake, with the front legs pulled back four inches and the backbone stretched three, the stance is long, low, and mean. The biggest fight of the whole build was making the frame and gas tank one continuous piece, a brutal fabrication challenge that paid off in a silhouette that looks carved instead of assembled. Up front, Dozer built his own “springer-ish” forks, reinforced with carbon fiber and hiding a mountain bike shock inside, topped with his own triple trees. It’s the kind of setup that makes people stop, crouch down, and stare until they figure out what they’re looking at.
Harley wheels wrapped in Pirelli Diablo rubber give the bike a modern bite, with a 19-inch front and 18-inch rear backed up by a 360 brake up front and a Sprotor out back. There’s no paint, no graphics, and no chrome anywhere on Veloce. The finish is the metal itself, polished and worked until it tells its own story. Everything you touch, from the bars and hand controls to the tanks, seat, and rear fender, came straight out of Dozer’s shop. A Prism headlight and Prism taillight are about the only concessions to off-the-shelf parts, and even those feel more like jewelry than accessories.
One of Dozer’s favorite moments from the build had nothing to do with parts at all. It was the day he looked into the shop and saw six members of the Shadetree Pacing family all sanding, polishing, and putting hands on the bike at the same time. That kind of scene doesn’t happen in show-bike factories. It happens when a build turns into something bigger than just one person.
It took about eight months and what felt like a million hours to get Veloce where it is now. The bike only has a few miles on it so far, but it’s already done something most customs never will. At SmokeOut Rally 2025, Veloce took home **Best of Show**, standing out in a field full of heavy hitters as the one that couldn’t be ignored.
Built by Rick “Dozer” Dozer for Smokie, Veloce is more than just another custom motorcycle. It’s what happens when a guy who started riding at six, learned to shape metal by failing until he got it right, and never stopped chasing the next better idea finally decides to go all in on one machine. And even now, Dozer isn’t calling it finished. Not giving up yet, he says — which is exactly what you’d expect from a bike like this.
Veloce Tech Sheet:
Owner: Smokie
City/State: Alberta, CA
Builder: Rick Dozer
Year: 1937
Model: ULH
Value: Ton O Bitcoin
Time: Hrs? Millions
ENGINE
Year: 1937
Model: ULH
Builder: DC Choppers/Sawzall
Ignition: Custom/Sawzall
Displacement: 80″
Pistons: 6:1
Heads: Alloy
Carb: Mikuni
Cam: 4
Air Cleaner: None
Exhaust: Dozer
Primary: 530 Chain
TRANSMISSION
Year: 1941
Make: Harley-Davidson
Shifting: Tankish
FRAME
Year: 2025
Model: Custom
Rake: 28 Degrees
Stretch: -4″ Legs +3″ Backbone
FORKS
Builder: Dozer
Type: Spring-ish
Triple Trees: Dozer
Extension: -3 Carbon Fiber Reinforced
WHEELS
Front Wheel: H-D Wheel
Size: 19″
Tire: Pirelli Diablo
Front Brake: 360 Brake
Rear Wheel: H-D Wheel
Size: 18″
Tire: Pirelli Diablo
Rear Brake: Spotor
PAINT
Painter:
Color:
Type:
Graphics:
Chroming:
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Dozer
Risers: None
Hand Controls: Dozer
Foot Controls: Dozer
Gas Tank(s): Dozer
Oil Tank: Dozer
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Dozer
Seat: Dozer
Headlight: Prism
Taillight: Prism
Speedo: None
Photographer: Michael Lichter