Archives: 2006 NYC Knuckle – Bloody Knuckles
Anybody who knows their way around their own kitchen can take some spices, toss them together with chicken and pasta, and call it dinner. But a professional chef can take whatever food is available and make it a great meal. Nick Genender at New York City Choppers took a very similar approach to building the spicy hot bike you see before you.
Nick is the kind of guy who likes a little challenge with his work. He keeps his creativity on its toes so his work doesn’t grow stale and predictable. The obstacle he made for himself with this bike was to turn a bunch of parts laying around the shop into a hot custom motorcycle.
When you think about it, this is easy and hard at the same time. Nick is a professional builder with a successful shop so he has a lot of nice pieces to choose from. The trick is finding parts that he thinks will make a great bike altogether.
In this case, “great” meant a knucklehead bob job. Nick had a Flathead Power 103-inch knuckle crate motor that was begging for a project and he decided it would go great with one of NYC Choppers’ Softail frames. With this dynamic duo forming the basis of the bike, he now needed to add other parts to go with the classic bobber look he wanted.
The frame was modified at the neck with 8 inches of stretch in the backbone. It was shaved 2 inches at the downtube to give it an aggressive, hunched stance. A Wide Glide Springer found itself attached to the chassis. Not only are the forks a nod to classic style, but so are the NYC spoke wheels. He kept the tire sizes pretty modest. It seems Nick likes to turn his bikes when he rides, so no 360 rear rubber was in danger of getting shanghaied for this bike.
As far as the motor and driveline go, he saw no need to tweak the powerplant itself. It was put into the frame as-is and connected to a Baker 6-into-4 trans via a NYC Choppers’ 2-inch open primary. But that doesn’t mean Nick’s shop left it looking stock. That is, unless, you think pipes that curl around the motor into a collector inside the primary belt is standard issue.
The tanks and fender aren’t exactly generic either. NYC Choppers bobbed one of the shop’s own fender blanks, then added an old-school looking V-twin taillight to it for the back tire skin. A smooth, oval oil bag and NYC Choppers’ gas tank round out the sheetmetal package.
When it came time for the finish, rather than chrome it out, Nick went with a combination of paint, polish, and powdercoating. The frame, tanks, fender, rims, and cylinders were bathed in red. The handlebars, gas cap, headlight housing, and parts of the frontend were powdercoated black to offset all that bold color. Bold is also a great way to describe the project as a whole. Nick set a creative challenge for himself and not only did he succeed, he excelled.