American Iron Magazine - February 1996"Low 'N Fat - Plenty of Show 'N Go" |
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When Jack Birch, who has spent most of his 45 years in the auto and motorcycle business, wanted to build a custom bike - he knew it would have to be something outstanding. "I wouldn't settle for anything less," said Jack, who owns Nissan Jeep/Eagle in Waldorf, Maryland. "I was into Brit bikes some 25 years ago, then I got off for about 10 years. My first re-entry to the sport was a '69 Sporty, which was fun for about 10 years, but didn't quite cut it. I needed something more, something bigger." The Fat Boy was just a start, Jack knew he wouldn’t keep it stock for very long. “I loved the look of the ‘Boy,” he said, “but I knew it could be improved. I had ideas, classy ideas.” But Jack didn’t really know quite where to start. “I probably made some of the classic mistakes of doing and undoing and redoing. I couldn’t really get the look I wanted. I wanted the California high-tech profile, but I wanted a variation to that theme.” Then came along Roy. Roy Chamberlin, the owner of C&C Cycle in Crofton, Maryland, had “a huge local reputation as a top builder.” Jack said. “I had seen his work and a few shows and was very impressed. He built some killer customs. There was meticulous attention paid to detail. He seemed like a builder that really knew how to be thorough. But even more than that, I heard he was honest; not the kind of guy that would try to sell me stuff I didn’t need. I felt he’d do right by me.” Jack took his bike to Roy with a saddlebag full of ideas and just handed him the key. Roy doesn’t just throw parts at a bike, said Jack, he carefully plans and designs; it’s a total package and it is finished in good taste. Jack chose colors and a few other specifics, such as the Rick Doss pipes, the three-spoke RevTech wheels, the Arlen Ness floorboards, and the Pro One turn signals and dash. Roy took over from there.
Since Roy builds to go and not just show, he saw that the Fat Boy could use a bit of beefing up. “I was going mostly for cosmetics,” said Jack, “but I really didn’t mind the idea of a few more horses. It only seemed natural that a bike should at least run as good as it looks. But I was hesitant at first because I didn’t want to compromise the Fat Boy’s reliability. I just wanted to ride the bike, not work on it.”
Roy assuaged Jack’s apprehensiveness by guaranteeing the bike would have a lot more power and run better than ever. C&C Cycle ported and polished the heads, installed a Screaming Eagle II cam kit, an S&S Shorty E carb (the card-cam-head work costs about $1500 out the door, said Roy.) For a little more help at the low end, Roy installed HP baffles and White Brothers torque valves, which simply slide into the pipe at the header.
The difference was unbelievable. The bike now has about 82 horses and “really pulls,” said Jack. “The best part about it,” he added, “is that it is drop-dead reliable.” Add a metalflake candy magenta, candy purple and Harley orange with a silver base painted by Steve Salins (design by C&C Cycle), and Jack had the show’n’goer he dreamed about.
But there’s no sense in having such a hot bike if you’re not going to show it off a little. Roy convinced Jack to take it to the B&R Productions Fall Show, where it promptly won the Mild Custom class. Later, the Fat Boy pulled down a fifth-place trophy in the highly respected Pro Builders class at the Toronto Super Bike Show. “I couldn’t be happier,” said Jack, “with Roy, his work and the loyalty he has for his customers. For instance, a brake bracket cover fell off my bike a few months after Roy bolted it on. I was ready to pay him, but he told me to put my money away. He said the bracket cover never should have fallen off in the first place. That’s the kind of guy he is.” |
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written by: Joshua Place photographs by: Mark Mitchell |
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