When Dawson Wright started looking for a new bike, he didn't expect to end up with a Sportster. Then again, he didn't expect to fall in love with Klock Werks' bright red "Bare Minimum" chopper at the Donnie Smith Show last year, either. Dawson already owned a high-dollar custom, a Bagger, and a sport bike, but he wanted something that reminded him of his first riding experiences-a bike that was simple, fun, and affordable. Unfortunately, Brian Klock, owner of Klock Werks, wasn't willing to part with the exact bike Dawson saw at the show, but Brian was willing to build him one.
Brian Klock and the Klock Werks team knew how to get this build started because they had already built a bike just like it. They began with a Klock Werks Bare Minimum frame with 40 degrees of rake, 6 inches of stretch in the downtubes, and 2 inches added to the backbone. Next, a set of 10-inch-over H-D Deuce legs was secured to the frame with Perse 6-degree, Wide-Glide triple-trees. A pair of spoke wheels was bolted to the frame: a 21-inch in the front and an 18-inch wrapped in a 180mm Metzeler tire in the rear. Performance Machine provided the stopping power for the bike, including the rotors and calipers.
Motivation for the machine materialized in the form of a modified '98 Sportster 1,200cc mill built by Quigley Motor Werks (Klock Werks' in-house motor shop). They souped up the sporty Evo motor with Buell cams, pistons, cylinders, and ported heads; an S&S E carb; Twin-Tec ignition; and Stinger Custom Cycles cermachromed exhaust pipes, and topped it all off with a Goodson air-cleaner cover etched by Irish Rich. The transmission and primary were left as stock H-D parts.
The Klock Werks team quickly mocked up all the sheetmetal for the bike next. A Klock Werks-modified West Coast Chopper fender with an internal strut was bolted over the rear tire, with a modified Wernimont fender in the front. They took the original gas tank and moved the filler bung toward the front of the tank and the petcock to the rear, then raised the tunnel and welded a ridge down the back. A Klock Werks oil tank was bolted under the seat area, and a set of handlebars was designed and fabbed for the frontend. The bike was molded and then painted PPG Red by Klock Werks' in-house painter, James Mayer.
When Brian built the first Bare Minimum chopper, he had no idea how popular it would be. During the build for Dawson, Brian received so many inquiries about the first Bare Minimum that he decided to put together a kit so anyone could build a similar bike for themselves. Even the J&P Cycles parts catalog picked up the kit to help distribute it.
A few months after their initial conversation, Brian delivered the bike to Dawson, who had been eagerly awaiting that day. In fact, Dawson called up Brain a few months later and told him that he gets more attention and enjoys riding his Bare Minimum chopper more than all his other bikes combined.