2005 RB Custom's Rigid Gooseneck Shovel - Sanitary And Skeletal

One of the great things about being a successful bike builder is inspiring new builders. This Gooseneck rigid is clearly inspired by Chica, a fact that Gary Griffin, the owner of this bike, is proud of. As you can see from the amount of Chica's parts throughout the bike, Gary wanted a certain look right from the start-a clean bike with nothing but the bare essentials.

Gary started the build in his garage in Houston, Texas, with a custom Chica Gooseneck frame. The frame sat in his garage for a few months before he realized that he was antsy to ride and didn't have the time to fabricate and assemble the entire bike. With a couple sketches of the bike on construction paper and the frame in the back of his truck, Gary cruised down to RB Customs. The shop was excited to help Gary with his build and made a list of components he was going to need to get it rolling.

The gooseneck frame was custom built back in 2001 by Chica and Nelson Kanno, before Chica's Discovery Channel fame, with 42 degrees of rake and no stretch. A Fred's Frames narrow springer front end was bolted to the steering neck and Chica's Invader wheels were bolted to the front end and the rear of the frame. The front 21-inch wheel is a brakeless spool and the rear 16x4-incher features a small 10-inch drilled rotor and a single, four-piston Hawg Halters caliper as the sole brake.

Built to house a shovelhead motor between the framerails, Gary bought a rebuilt 93ci H-D from RB Customs with STD cases, Keith Black pistons, an Andrews cam, an S&S Super B carb, and a set of RB Custom's Twicepipes exhaust pipes. Behind the motor is a '04 Indian transmission with a BDL 3-inch open primary and clutch.

Sheetmetal was the next necessity, with only the minimal amount in mind. Central Coast Cycles narrowed and pinched a Wassell tank that was mounted high on the backbone. The rear fender is a ribbed Chica and the oil bag is an RB Customs piece.

Keeping the bike clutter free with clean aesthetic lines was important to Gary, so he ordered an internal throttle and internal clutch from Exile. Starting with a set of Chica's Mini Z bars, RB Customs installed the Exile parts and created a perfect combination for this bike.

The next order of business was getting the frame and sheetmetal coated in some color. RB Customs had the frame powdercoated in Triple-Wet Black and got to work bolting the bike back together. Gary heard of an up-and-coming painter in Southern California named Harpoon and sent the gas tank and fender to him. The original concept was a metalflake green that faded into a metalflake yellow, but the Harpoon had an even better idea. He thought of painting black flames on one side of the tank as a tribute to Indian Larry and black scallops on the other as a tribute to David Mann.

Once all the parts of the bike were back in the RB Customs shop, they got to work reassembling the bike. RB Customs contributed a few more custom pieces to the build, a '40s microphone converted into a taillight, foot controls and pegs, and all the electrical work. The seat was made by Fat Lucky's out of Austin, Texas.

Inspired by his friends at RB Customs, Chica, Indian Larry and David Mann, Gary was incredibly happy with the way the bike turned out. In fact, he swears he'll build his next bike in his own garage.