Evolution Cycles -618-

You won’t know anything if you don’t start building. An hour and a half. Motor in, transmission in, belt drive done. I’m sitting on the frame right now. That’s how fast this moves when you stop waiting to know everything before you start.

That’s kind of the whole point of what we’re doing here. You don’t need to know it all up front. Nobody does. You just need the next piece, and then the piece after that. We’re going to build this whole chopper together exactly like that, a little bit at a time until you’ve got the whole picture. We’re taking away all the excuses for not starting your project. Look how fast that went.

Link in bio to keep up with the full build.

I dropped a Shovelhead motor and transmission into this frame with just four tools. That’s it.

Two 9/16 box wrenches, a 9/16 deep well socket, half inch socket and an hour or so hanging around with a couple buddies. You’re on your way to building your chopper.

Most people overthink this stuff. You don’t every tool Snap-on makes to work on these bikes. Harley kept it pretty simple on the oldies. Once you realize almost everything on the bike is the same handful of sizes it get a lot easier.

The best part of it all. Motor and trans going in, buddies around, everybody telling stories. That’s the stuff. Building a bike is a lot more fun when you have people around.

You can see the full install on YouTube. Link in bio

Tag your favorite companies that need to be up on the garage for this build

I’ll be building a sick Shovelhead for the Cee-Lo Scramble at Born Free Texas. If you want to showcase your company and be in the background of every episode of the build hit us up. We’ll get you up there. Only ONE big banner spot! First come first serve on it 💰🔧

First episode drops tomorrow. Get in while it’s hot 🔥

I come on here and talk about my own stupidity more than anything else and somehow that’s what helps people the most.

Had people tell me watching this channel is what made them put the bottle down and pick up a wrench again. Had a couple come up to me trying to figure out how to keep their relationship together while they’re building a shop from nothing. Had a lot of fathers and sons tell me they got inspired to start building a bike together. I don’t take any of this for granted. Not one bit. Thank you for being here.

What’s something I’ve put on that made a difference for you?

Anyone else running their own shop or building toward it? What’s the part the part you’re looking foreward too? Drop it below.

A lot of guys (and some gals) want their own shop. It sounds pretty great. Lifts, tool boxes, more space. But not many owners talk about how much running a shop takes out of you. Most days I go home drained and it has nothing to do with the actual work. It’s the everything else. Things not cooperating, people wanting their bike back yesterday, wanting you to be everywhere at once. You just have to be straight with people and tell them you’re going as fast as you can. A lot of guys will understand.

The other thing nobody prepares you for is how personal it gets. This shop is my baby. I have poured everything into it and nobody is going to love it the way I love it. That’s just the reality of building something from nothing and you have to make peace with that early or it’ll drive you crazy. It’s hard. It’s worth it. But man it is hard.

What made you start following along?

I started this whole thing to promote the shop. Tell some stories, get people through the door, maybe sell ya’ll some parts and shirts. That was the plan. Nobody told me it was going to turn into this.

Had a guy come up to me at Full Tilt Boogie right after the slow races and what he said to me I’m still thinking about. Him and his dad both got sober. Built their support system around each other. And now they’re both in the garage building their first choppers side by side a Sporty and a Triumph. Because of something I put out just talking about my own life. I didn’t see that coming when we started the Choppin’ It Up podcast. Not even close.

I’m not going to pretend I have the right words for what that feels like. I’ll just say I don’t take a single one of you for granted. Not one

Ever had an old chopper head save you? Cause this guy had the biggest stock pile of parts that he’d never let you see.

My brake line blew on the way to the Full Tilt Boogie after party a couple years ago. When I finally made it there, told the old man who owned the property what happened, and without missing a beat he pulls down his attic stairs, crawls up in there waist deep, and comes back down with the biggest box of stock shovelhead brake lines I’ve ever seen in my life. I’m standing there thinking I’m dreaming. Found the line, fixed it, back to the party. The kind of guy that has a whole attic full of old chopper parts just sitting there — that’s the guy you want to know. Saved my whole night.

Moral of the story: stockpile old parts, make friends with people who do, and somehow I keep finding new ways to destroy brake lines on my own bike.

Drop one of your best roadside or chopper show stories in the comments for me 👌🏼