'04 Simms Custom Cycles Special Construction - Best Damn Chopper

The custom motorcycle industry isn't just about building the most exotic bike, using the most expensive parts, then selling it to the highest bidder for a huge profit. There are many people within the industry that regularly donate their time and money to charitable organizations. In fact, with very little research you'll find that many of the more well-known custom builders have built at least one bike strictly for charity purposes. One such builder is Ron Simms, the man behind Simms Custom Cycles in Hayward, California.

Never one to pass up an opportunity to help out for a good cause, Ron was approached to build a bike that would be displayed on the set of Fox Sports' The Best Damn Sports Show Period, then sold off with proceeds going to two charities: actor Mark Wahlberg's Youth Foundation and NBA All-Star Paul Pierce's The Truth Fund. Having been in the custom motorcycle business for more than three decades, Ron has developed very close friendships with many of the top-of-the-line parts manufacturers. So when he placed a call to his friends to see if they would be interested in helping out by supplying parts, they were all as eager to jump on board as Ron was.

The first donations to show up at the Simms shop were two large boxes from Paughco. Upon opening the first box, Ron and his crew found a rigid frame that featured 38 degrees of rake in the neck, 4 inches of stretch in the downtubes along with 2 more added to the backbone - perfect dimensions to build a cool chopper. With the frame secured to a workbench, the Simms guys opened the other box and discovered it contained one of Paughco's new 9-inch-over wide glide shock springer frontends that featured tapered oval rear legs. The next donated parts to go on the bike were a pair of Performance Machine's Roulette wheels. Riding up front is a 21-incher with a Metzeler 90/90, while the rear is an 18x8.5 with one of Metzelers very popular 240s. Handling all the braking duties are more gifts from PM in the form of Roulette rotors and black anodized calipers.

With the build moving along very smoothly, it was time to get the charity bike ready to move along smoothly by adding some power between the framerails. Ron was very pleased to hear that S&S had decided to join the project by sending out a powerful and beautifully polished 117ci motor. Once the powerplant was bolted to the frame, the Simms crew added an S&S carb and air cleaner along with a Dyna ignition and a set of Samson Hell Bound pipes. In order to get the 117's power to the rear wheel, Ron knew he would need some strong driveline components, so he called his friends at Baker and BDL. Baker was more than happy to donate one of its six-speed transmissions and BDL gladly finished up the driveline portion of the build by sending over a clutch and 3-inch open belt primary.

Covering the bike was a rather simple task since the Simms shop has a wide assortment of its own sheetmetal components on hand. Not wanting to draw attention away from the gleaming springer, the Simms team trimmed up one of its front fenders, then mounted it to the frontend. Next, one of their stretched XL style gas tanks was mounted so it rested high on the backbone. Underneath the seat pan, a horseshoe-style oil tank that came along with the frame from Paughco was bolted up. Lastly, the Simms crew modified one of its rear fenders, then mounted it so that it would just barely extend past the back of the seat, affording everyone a good look at the meaty 240.

With the mock-up finally complete, the sheetmetal and frame were handed off to the only guy that Ron trusts with covering his creations with paint: renowned custom painter Horst. Once Horst had all the pieces prepped and molded to his satisfaction, he laid down a candy red basecoat on the frame and sheetmetal, then followed up with some metallic blue flames outlined with purple on the sheetmetal. Since this chopper was going to be displayed on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Horst added some sports figures on top of the tank and finished up the painting session by laying down the Simms logo and The Best Damn Sports Show Period on the tank and rear fender. While Horst was painting the bike, Ron sent the wheels to Pacific Rim for a coat of black chrome, then shipped a set of his handgrips and mirrors to Mass Tech for black powdercoat.

Once all the parts came back from getting color, the Simms team started final assembly. Flanders handlebars were bolted to Paughco 8-inch risers, then a Headwinds headlight was fastened to the springer. To go along with the black mirrors and grips, a set of PM's black anodized hand controls were bolted to the ends of the bars. Down below, more black PM components were added in the form of forward controls, then a Simms side-mount taillight/license mount was bolted up directly behind the primary. Lastly, a seat from Corbin was secured to the frame. After just three weeks of building, the charity bike was complete.

It just so happened that right after the bike was displayed on The Best Damn Sports Show Period, Ron had just signed up San Diego Coast Choppers to be a distributor of his bikes. Ron felt it would be great publicity for both the shop and all his friends that donated parts if he were to let the shop display the chopper until a buyer was found. However, by the looks of this chopper it won't take long for someone to feel generous enough to hand over a lump of cash to the two deserving charities.

Spec Sheet
General
Owner: To be determined
Year/Make: '04/Special construction
Fabrication: Simms Custom Cycles
Assembly: Simms
Build Time: Three weeks

Engine
Size/Type: 117ci S&S
Cases: S&S
Flywheels: S&S
Rods: S&S
Pistons: S&S
Cylinders: S&S
Heads: S&S
Cam: S&S
Carb: S&S
Ignition: Dyna
Pipes: Samson

Transmission
Year/Type: '04/Baker
Case: Baker
Gears: Baker
Clutch: Bdl
Primary Drive: BDL

Frame/Suspension
Year/Type: '04/Paughco
Rake: 38 Degrees
Stretch: 4 Up, 2 Out
Swingarm: None
Rear Suspension: None
Forks: Paughco Springer
Extension: 9 Inches Over
Triple-Trees: Paughco