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randon Keene is the kind of guy you feel good about giving credit to because he never expects it. Humility is an admirable trait and getting hard to find in this instafamous world, but somehow he manages to put out killer awardwinning builds and not lose his head. When it comes to this bike, well, he not only took it a few steps up the ladder, he set the bar to a level that few could argue has confirmed his place among the national builders. Brandon started out with a passion for wandering, spending
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April ‘22 - May ‘22 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
a good part of his early twenties just roaming around the country. He is a carpenter by trade that builds residential houses. So, you can imagine it’s not hard to find work when he would need to. Keene would just bop from town to town, and when his money would get low, he’d get a job for a while. Perfect make up for the motorcycle life if ya think about it. But he came by that naturally too, so who knows which was first. He started riding a Yamaha 70 at age six, a pretty big bike for a little guy, but like many of us back then, Brandon wasn’t gonna wait until
his feet could touch the ground. He’d start off on a milk crate and pop the clutch so the kickstand would spring up, and off he’d go. When it was time to stop, he’d just fall over and then go get the milk crate again. Suffice it to say that he has been riding his whole life. When it comes to this build, Brandon had gained some pretty serious attention with his Shovelhead that we featured in this magazine and knew that he wanted to step it up for his next build. He scored a 1984 Softail at a cheap price that fit the bill perfectly. He could have an Evo
