The People Have Spoken

Your votes helped us compile this list and we couldn’t be happier with the results. If this happens to be your first issue of Cycle Source we do this issue once a year and we like to take a moment to appreciate what we did in the pages of the magazine over the last year. After toling away to bring you the best bikes from the furthest reaches of the country we like to ask you, the readers, how you think we did and what you would like to see more of. After all this magazine is done for you and if we aren’t hitting the mark then we want to know. We’d also like to than the builders of these motorcycles and all of the ones that were featured throughout the year. Being garage builders at our core we know that getting a bike featured in a magazine is as good as it gets, well next to riding that bike down the road with your buddies. We want to share that experience with as many of our readers and builders as we can in a season. While this is the top ten of those bikes, we honestly can’t pick a bike from the past year that wasn’t perfectly selected and that we were thrilled to publish. Thank you all for another great season of Cycle Source.

1. STATIC SHOVEL

brandon miller - Feb/Mar ‘21

This bike was featured in our Feb / March 2021 Issue and marked Brandon Miller, the owner’s, first ground up build. We first ran across this bike in Day- tona and had to get it in print. The story is exactly what we like to promote here, a person who can’t leave anything stock. No matter where they work on their projects or what they have to do to complete them, having the where withal to see it through is key, as was the case with this bike and when he scored it, it was bone stock and not running, a solid challenge.

steve iacona - oct / nov ‘21

This one came to us during our Sturgis Custom Bike Show at the Iron Horse Saloon this past year. Steve Iacona, like so many of us, had nothing but time on his hands over COVID but he put that time to good use. Instead of going crazy or adding to his waist line, Iaconna set out to build the motorcycle he always wished he had the time to build. He threw everything at it and in the end came away with our Best In Show award, a cover of Cycle Source and a complete Paughco

Rolling Chassis.

3. BLUE STEEL

bling’s cycles - Feb/Mar ‘21

This beauty graced our Feb / March cover and was Bill Dodge’s entry for the In Motion Show during the Lone Star Rally in 2019. Bill has a flair for making anything he wants to use into a Bling quality build and when he started going with Twin Cam engines fired by Magneto, no one doubted they would be right in line with his best work. This build is classic Bill Dodge. Enough bling to make it shine in the sun and yet burly enough to jump off a brick wall and keep riding. His ability to mold form and function makes it easy to hold a spot for him in our pages every time he finishes a build.

Ryan McQuiston - Feb/Mar ‘21

An- other one of our In Motion builders, Ryan McQuiston came with the heat. This incredible Pan was his entry and the name came from the idea that he never gets invited to anything. The truth is, we were lucky to have him during the Lone Star Rally and the bike was from another planet of cool. Ryan’s shop is known for that sixties cool molded chopper style and it plays out in our pages exactly like you cats dig it.

5. XS-IVE

Austin Andrella-Mark Stakely - Feb/Mar ‘21

This sweet little XS came to us from the Pandemonium XS 650 Chop Off and was a team build by Austin Andrella and Mark Stakely. Mark had never built a bike before and after living in the same town for over a decade a chance meeting brought them together. Mark started going to Austin’s shop almost every day. Mark helped out wherever he could, started going to shows with him but never really had any interest in building his own bike. While Austin was in Texas for the In Motion Show Mark called out of the blue and told him he had bought a hardtailed XS and it was on. From there Austin walked him through what he needed help with and provided coaching throughout the build.

John Montgomery - april / may 2021

John Montgomery of S&S Cycle built this classic seventies chopper but the story is the stuff legends are made of. You see John found this bike in the annals of S&S. They were talking about getting rid of the bike as it had sat for a number of years and really wasn’t anything special anymore. John must have walked past it a hundred times and knew there was a gem under there. He talked the company into letting him revive it to showcase their SH93 Inch motor The end result was pure class and featured in our April / May ‘21 pages.

7. EXCITIBLE BOY

Paper Street Customs - April / May 2021

Ryan Gore is no stranger to our pages and this killer Shovel came up in our April / May pages. When Ryan got a hand from his brother to enter the In Motion Show we featured it and Ryan had a chance to sell it fast. His brother told him to keep the money and build him another bike, this was the end result. It started as a basket Case that was as much a mess as the term suggests, but Ryan has a flair for finding gold in the rubble and killed it with this one.

8. CROTCH ROT

Brock Bridges - April / May 2021

After building a few smaller bikes Brock blew everyones mind at TMMR with his first long seventies style chopper named Crotch Rot. We got it on our cover for the April /

May 2021 issue and rightfully so. Everything on this bike is hand made including the wheels which he made himself. A ‘77 Shovelhead was the donor and he knew with the frame geometry there would be a gap and he also knew exactly how to fill it, with the exhaust. He made everything else on the bike, the only thing he sent out was the chrome. Even the bitchin white upholstery on that unmistakable seat was all his handy work. With skills like this it would seem the only thing this cat is missing are a few lessons in chrome plating and look out.

Anthony Robinson - Dec. / Jan. ‘21-’22

This bike was featured in our Dec Jan issue and was photographed by Twila Knight, an incredible shoot that seemed to leap from the pages, and the bike isn’t a slouch either. Anthony built this for the Peoples Champ at Born Free, starting with a ‘73 Ironhead he scored from an old grey beard. Anthony turned to Ryan McQuiston for some pointers on cutting and molding the frame. The original plan was to do a traditional wishbone style frame but in the process on of the downtubes bent in and they ended up liking the design so they matched the second giving it an extremely unique look. Originally painted as a beautiful sapphire blue but when the sunlight hit it the paint turned to a muddy purple. He was so mad after a show he went home and tore the whole thing back apart and sent it back out for the red dress you see it in here.

10. ROWDY

Rick Bray - Dec. / Jan. ‘21-’22

Rick Bray continues to push the envelope and Rowdy is no exception. It appeared on our Dec Jan cover and was shot on the beach in Daytona. Just like most of his bikes there are more things to see than you can take in during one look. Pass after pass you will pick up more details, an amazing fact since Rick’s philosophy for building is to not over think it. It all started with a pile of parts that uncle Dennis was squirrelling away. Once upon a time Dennis had financed one of Rick’s key builds and Bray was now in a position to repay his uncle’s kindness. Of course Rick’s metal work is noticeable from a mile away on this bike but it’s his mettle that makes us happy to know him.

pin up of the year

April / may 2021

Model: Hanna Heltzel Bike: Evolution Cycles Photo: Benny Stucker