Gas Axe Chop Shop’s Tim Dixon Named King of Builders
A custom motorcycle built by Tim Dixon of Gas Axe Chop Shop won the Freestyle class in the 2019 J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Custom Bike Show (UBCBS) Championship at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center northwest of Chicago. The competition included hundreds of custom motorcycles displayed at the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows across the country. Dixon was also named King of Builders.The Ten Mile, Tenn. based builder’s Freestyle class winning Shovelhead-powered motorcycle features handmade frame and wheels from Gas Axe Chop Shop. Leatherwood Motorcycle Works in Memphis contributed the striking paint on the hardtail with a springer front end.Freestyle winner
In the Custom Harley-Davidson category, a truly one-off brew by Eric Bennett of Bennett’s Performance in Signal Hill, Calif. took home first prize. His motorcycle features a 1977 Harley-Davidson frame with the front powerplant from the twin-engine Jammer Cycle Products streamliner. The water-cooled Shovelhead—the radiator is placed below the set— helped move the Jammer to speeds over 275 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats.Custom Harley-Davidson winnerAnthony Robinson of Gasoline & Coffee in Lancaster, Calif. built the winner in the Custom Retro category. His customization of a 1966 Triumph T100 is also a hardtail with a springer front end. Custom engraving highlights the cases of the 500cc vertical twin powerplant.Custom Retro winnerUsing a 2004 Suzuki Hayabusa as a base, private builder Juan Rodríguez of Chicago went all out to win the Custom Street category. Along with a de rigueur 300mm rear tire and wide rim on an extended swingarm, the Hayabusa features custom paint and airbrushing, air suspension, plenty of chrome and polish, and a shining Brock’s Performance muffler.Custom Street winner.The judges for the 2019 J&P Cycles UBCBS included former UBCBS champion Kyle Shorey of Shadetree Fabrications, director Bob Kay, Kevin Dunworth of Loaded Gun Customs, Mark Cresswell, and Max Ness.Dixon took home $10,000 for his win in the Freestyle class, with Bennett earning a $2000 payday for his victory in the Custom Harley-Davidson class. Custom Street winner Rodríguez and Custom Retro winner Robinson each took home $1500.Photography by Manny Pandya Photography
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends, the weekly podcast brought to you by Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.
Motos and Friends is brought to you by Yamaha. You can check out the amazing YZF-R7 at your local Yamaha dealer, or of course at YamahaMotorsports.com. The YZF-R7 is an amazing supersport machine that is comfortable too!
In this week’s first segment, Editor Don Williams takes the smallest BMW ADV bike on an urban adventure in Los Angeles. The BMW G 310 GS is a full size motorcycle with a modest engine, so of course we wonder if it is a little too underpowered and might struggle. Don put it through its paces and gives us his take.
In the second segment, Neale Bayly and Kiran Ridley have returned from the Ukraine to Paris where Kiran is based.
Kiran is an award winning photojournalist, and as an accomplished documentarian, he has covered stories as diverse as drug smuggling around the Mexican border, to the devastation of the Australian Bush Fires, to the tragedy of the Mediterranean migration crisis. Neale and Kiran reminisce about their motorcycle adventure in the Ukraine, and their observations and experiences with the incredibly resilient people of Ukraine, who have been put through such brutal hardship.