What do you call a guy that used to be a skateboarder, listens to rap and punk music, rides motorcycles, and, during the day, is a business attorney? You call him David Polgreen.
Like any other teenager of the '80s and '90s filled with piss and vinegar, David found that he enjoyed the hardcore rap and punk scenes. The music coupled with skateboarding seemed to give David the release he needed, but unfortunately it also easily explained to society the attitude of people who were pigeonholed into being part of Generation X. So not wanting to be just another stereotype David began looking for something else.
Then, one day, while waiting to get into a show, David saw a bunch of guys rolling up on choppers and knew right then and there he was going to trade in his four wheels for two.
David didn't start building his own bikes until 1999. Growing up in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, David didn't have many people that could teach him about motorcycles so he started learning on his own. He taught himself how to weld, which got him a burn or two. He also used the Internet to do research on how-to projects. "The Internet helped me a lot. I went to the usual chopper sites to learn what I could," David remembers. David was even lucky enough to bounce a few ideas off the legendary Indian Larry, who was nice enough to answer a few of David's "dumb questions."
David was messing around on a project that seemed to be kicking his ass when his buddy Chris Lampman convinced him to start working on a 1961 Harley Davison FL. The bike was just sitting in Chris' garage. So David and Chris started working on the project in October of 2007. They spent the next five months working on the bike.
As David points out, "Almost every part of the bike is either made from scratch or modified." The frame needed a new backbone and new neck forging, not to mention new motor mounts to fit the Panhead motor into the smaller VL frame. They also handmade their own handlebars, top motor mount, foot peg and brake setup, not to mention a kick-starter that gave David a bit of trouble later on. "The kicker was so tight that I ended up hurting my right foot. So, for a while, I kicked with my left. At one point I kicked so hard that I broke my tibia," David says laughing. But he wasn't laughing at the time. "I paid for this bike in bones and blood. But the good bikes punish you. It's worth it."
Besides his pal Chris, David got some help in the form of inspiration. "I stole ideas and concepts from all over." David got a ton of inspiration from both Max Schaaf, and Rockabilly Jay, just to name a few. And in March of 2008, King Diamond was done. He named the bike because "we were listening to a lot of Manowar and King Diamond at the time. We started calling the bike King Diamond and the name kind of stuck."
David says that the Twin Cities have slowly become a hub for motorcycle riders. He has found plenty of people to bounce ideas off and he also finds a lot of custom-built bikes to appreciate. "When someone is riding a nice bike around here, people take notice," David said. Plus, there is a lot of motorcycle history in the area that people don't seem to remember. Tom Summers, who made the bike Prince rode in the movie "Purple Rain" and whose bikes have graced the pages of this magazine, call Minnesota home. David is also happy to say that some swap meets in Minnesota are great places to find parts, and the best part is not a lot of people know about them. I promised him I wouldn't give out these swap meets locations. Don't worry David. Your secret's safe with us, we swear. SC