In most cases it's better to be lucky than to be good. But for Matt Adams, good is better than lucky. As the former fabricator at Lucky's Choppers, he built this bike as his first solo project on Lucky's equipment, while he still worked there, and he used the proceeds of the sale to help fund his own startup: RedSoul. In many circles this would be grounds for termination, or an asskicking at the very least, but Matt and former employer A.J. Magnesi are still on very good terms and continue to collaborate on projects on a regular basis. That's how they roll in Seattle.
Actually, if you've ever seen a Lucky's Chopper, you'd see airbrushed graphics and sharp points, and loud, in-your-face styling, while clearly Matt's first RedSoul creation is a little different. Leaving to start his own shop was a matter of artistic fulfillment as much as a professional decision.
Straight out of high school, Matt was accepted into the architecture program at the University of Washington ("U-Dub" to the locals), but got seduced by the more hands-on thrills of twisting metal and building bikes at his job at Lucky's. Matt was lucky that he had an employer in A.J. that allowed him to discover through trial and error the ins and outs of metal fabrication. He swiftly discovered that he had a natural talent for sculpting steel, and became Lucky's and Seattle's premier fabricator. At the same time, he was building a side business of hand-tooled leather seats that added to the name he'd made, including a seat on one of Todd's Cycle's bikes. But through this all, he was mostly carrying out the visions of others, which, if you remember the budding designer/architect that we started this paragraph with, was a little unfulfilling. So when the Diamond sold, he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger and buy the basic metalworking tools he'd need to start up his own shop, with help from partner Joe Cooper.
Design-wise, the Blue Diamond is superficially similar to the bikes Matt built for Lucky's, but integrates his keen sense of clean design. The Tim Conder paint job is understated, merely following and accentuating the lines of the bike, not drawing too much attention to itself and going with the flow.
The same could be said of the bike in general. The slightly unconventional use of paint and chrome isn't done to shock and surprise like on so many chrome-tanked customs; rather, it just draws the eyes around and through the machine. The lines of the bike lead you on a trip around it, helping you find cool little details instead of tossing them in your face. I had "oh, look at that" moments even just looking through the photos that I took myself.
The bike is awash with trick shit that doesn't jump out and grab your attention, but submits to the overall look. An integrated piece that melds motormount and spark plug conduit follows the line that a jockey-shifter might. A pair of Lucky's Chopper bars are mounted under the top tree, but in a way that simply leaves the trees clean except for the spiked bar mounts. There's a great S-shaped line that flows from the tip of the rear fender, through the seat and down to a very subtle beak-shaped oil tank under the seat. It's painted to match the rest of the bike (right down to the white contour line), yet is basically hidden by the seat and the exhaust pipes on either side. The pipes flow from the motor back to where their integrated rear mounts also mount the handmade leaf-shaped pegs for a minimum of holes in the frame. The leaf shape continues onto the hand-built forward controls, which are elegant in their simplicity and the way the master cylinder is tucked away on the brake side. Even the seat is lower-key than most of the wild creations he's known for, while the fish-shaped tank, with its tiny aluminum cap, is simply and organically beautiful.
Matt freely admits that the simple, clean lines of the Blue Diamond (so-named for its Diamond Chassis frame) are from a wish to make it appealing to the largest possible audience, so it would sell as quickly as possible. But while that's easy to state as a goal, it's harder to pull it off and still have a trick chopper like this one.
The motor was built by A.J. at Lucky's; as he's a factory-trained tech, it was a no-brainer. The internals are pretty vanilla-Twin Cam 88 (other than the S&S cases to fit into a traditional rigid frame). But Matt had his way with the motor as well, turning the fins in a lathe to make them round, and reshaping the fins on the heads as well to make the Fathead powerplant a little less bulky looking.
We gave Matt and RedSoul a little coming-out party with a coveted spot in the last issue. He talked about the Seattle style bikes and how they're made to be ridden in all conditions (rain, potholed roads, etc.), despite having a ton of chrome or a $5,000 paint job, and this one is no exception. In fact, it may be the perfect example. Matt talks about how he'd like to claim Seattle as his turf, and raise its profile in the national scene. If he keeps building sweet rides like this one, he just might.