John Shope’s Dirty Bird Concepts

WORLDS BEST BOSS GIVES SUPER SURPRISE WORLDS BEST BOSS GIVES SUPER SURPRISE PHOTOS JOHN COVINGTON

Hot on the heels of his success at creating one- That’s when John Shope formed a plan to give his of-a-kind custom baggers at Dirty Bird Concepts employee the world’s best Christmas Bonus. While in Phoenix, Arizona, motorcycle mastermind John Rob was away on vacation, John and the crew went

Shope came up with the next great idea: the over to Rob’s apartment and loaded up the stock

Dirtytail. These Softail-based customs not only Heritage right out of the parking lot. The would-be look incredible, they do the one thing that no stock repo men took the scooter to the shop and tore it

Softail has ever done, namely, offer decent handling. down. One look at the old Evo made John think of a

“These bikes are something I’m very proud of,” John name for it, “Rob’s Rusty Roach.” says. “They are comfortable and handle really well.” The Dirtytails can convert the entire Softail line, From Evos to M-8’s, into the motorcycle of your dreams. And they can be designed in a variety of looks, from lowriders that are a nod to the Cholo bikes seen in East L.A., to pavement pounding racers, to wide tire moto-mavericks, even to old school chop jobs with panhead covers and spoked wheels. All marry the love of Shovelhead FLH bikes that included rear shocks rather than a Softail swingarm for a low, lean look. And did we mention they ride and handle great? With over a million The Dirty Bird team had six weeks to turn the sow’s ear into a gold purse. They even toyed with the idea of presenting Rob with a fake bill for fifteen grand as payback for all their hard work. The Softail swingarm was exchanged for a Dirtytail unit with rear shocks and air ride. The neck was cut to accept a Dirtytail 26-inch neck and raked triple trees for better handling. Meanwhile, Dirty Bird’s paint wizard, Manny, created a mindblowing candy apple red paint scheme with badass graphics for the tanks, fenders and nacelle.

Softails on Guy’s Upholstery handled the sweet solo seat the road today, and the wild wheels came from SMT including that

John Shope has the answer for turning your tired 26-incher up front. John went for an open beltdrive stocker into a head-turning temptress. Any Softail and upswept dual fishtail pipes for killer old school can become a Dirtytail. looks and internally wired apehangers to give the

The bike you are drooling at here was the very first Dirtytail even more attitude.

Evo-powered Dirtytail that John built. But there’s When Rob got back from his vacation, John had more to this story. Y’see, John has an employee him come straight to the shop from the airport. The who has consistently gone above and beyond to help world’s best boss was standing right next to the Evo

John and the company to flourish. Rob Martinez has Dirtytail and the conversation went like this: been with John for over eight years, and chances John – “That’s your bike.” are, if you’ve called Dirty Bird Concepts, Rob is the guy who answered the phone and got you handled. Anyway, Rob bought a 1999 Harley Heritage Softail Rob – “No, it’s not.” John – “Dude, that is your bike!” with just 5,000 miles on the clock with the hopes Rob – “No, it’s not! No way!” of turning it into a Dirtytail someday. He even had John – “That’s your Christmas Bonus.” a photo of a candy apple red paintjob that he was dreaming about. Rob bragged that he would have the stock Softail converted into a Dirtytail in just two months. Shope said it would take at least a year. “I told him that bike would look exactly the same a year later,” John recalls. “Six months later, Rob hadn’t done shit to it and I called him on it. He said that he would have the bike finished as soon as he got back from vacation.” Rob – “For real?” For real, Rob. That’s what happens when you have the world’s best boss. To see the entire video of how this Dirtytail came to be, check out youtu. be/L3jxGeBPjuA. For info on John Shope’s parts, products, swag and custom bikes, visit www. dirtybirdconcepts.com or call 623-465-5263. And watch John play the bad guy in the new biker film “Rough Boys”, coming next year. — Dave Nichols BTR 10 | BORNTORIDE.COM