We can still remember the first time that we introduced James Crosby (the guy who built this bike) to the legendary bike builder Ron Simms (the inspiration for this bike). James was very polite and he asked some very interesting questions about past bikes that Ron had built, and everything seemed like it was just another normal day. Then, when we all walked away from Ron's vendor spot, James became a fountain of information bubbling with little known facts about the early years of Ron, his shop Bay Area Custom Cycles, and just about every single bike that Ron and his crew had built starting back in the early 1970s. What made the event stick out was that James had just met Ron for the very first time not 10 minutes before, but he seemed to know more about Ron and his bikes than some of Ron's employees do-not like a creepy stalker; more like a big fan.
"Someday I would like to build a bike that is a modern version of some of the early rigid frame hot rods that Simms was so famous for building. You know, something with a huge motor, a gas tank, some wheels, and not much else. Something light and fast." James said. For years after their first encounter, James would make it a point to search out Ron's vendor booth at all of the shows so he could stop by and say hello to "Mr. Simms." And every encounter would leave James building that hot rod bike in his imagination, just the way that Ron would have built it back in the 1970s.
Then it happened. Jay Duf wanted James to build a bike around a 124 cubic inch S&S powerplant that Kendall Johnson had assembled for another hot rod project. It turned out that the motor was just too much for the bike it was originally in, and Jay decided to replace it with a motor that didn't have as much horsepower and torque. Jay dragged the motor over to James' shop and put it up on the engine stand. He and James sat there looking at the powerplant and Jay laid out his one and only request: the bike had to look as good as it ran. That wasn't gonna be a problem for James, because he had already built the bike in his head hundreds of times.
James didn't waste any time ordering up a Paughco rigid frame with a 36-degree rake, no stretch, and a Delisle Custom Springer, stock length with no fender mounts. A Baker Torque Box five-speed transmission with a Performance Machine primary drive complete with a set of their mid-controls and a BDL clutch were next on the list. Then a set of Performance Machine Vader wheels (21-inch front, 18-inch rear) with matching rotors, 2-piston calipers, and PM hand controls were also put on the parts list. A Russ Wernimont fuel tank, a set of Flanders handlebars, Chica rear fender, Hi-Tech seat pan, and the cheapest headlight that the local parts store had on their shelf were on the list as well.
James cut and welded, and then cut and welded some more. He made his own pipes and converted a factory H-D turn signal into a stop/taillight for his East Bay-inspired beast. Once all of the tabs were fabricated and the bike was pretty much done sans chrome and paint, James blew it back apart. He shipped the frame and handlebars off to Concept Powder to be powdercoated black. The new pipes among other things were shipped off to Millennium Plating for a coat of chrome. The oil tank, fuel tank, and rear fender were shipped off to Chris Wood for a base coat of Crimson Gold with '70s-inspired panel graphics and the words "'Till The End," which are the only real clue to the inspiration behind this hot rod chop.
The finished bike was unveiled to the owner, Jay Duf, who loved it. The bike looks and sounds like a no-nonsense powerhouse-just like the ones that made the East Bay famous in the '70s. Jay and James would like to thank Tom Foster and Roland Sands for all of their help getting this project on the road, and Ron Simms for the inspiration.