Rods & Rides began building boardtrack racers several years ago. We are the first US manufacturer to build and sell complete boardtrack machines in the US and to export throughout the world. We are also able to finance them because we are listed in several value guides, one of them being Kelly Blue Book. We showcased our world-famous #72 bike several years ago at Sturgis in the AMD World show where we won second place in the world. Since then, we have built many of these bikes with many different styles and ideas along the way. This year for Sturgis, we wanted to build one bike that showed it all. The bike was named the Oz. The name fit because it truly is the great and powerful. The machine has everything we have done as a bike shop for years all thrown into one package.

The boardtrack frame is one of the favorite builds we do at Rods & Rides. Because of that, we decided it would be the bike chosen for the 2014 Sturgis. This bike is completely hand-built, unlike a lot of the competition we were up against in Sturgis. The bagger scene has truly changed the shows in the past few years. I don’t understand how they have taken factory H-Ds with fiberglass and big front tires and have competed against machines like the Oz, but this year I was hoping to change the scope of things a little bit. I believe we did!

The attention the Oz got for a single bike was amazing. The bike had several things that I don’t believe had been seen before. The chrome split fuel tanks were a big hit. They were hand-built here, and a good friend named Arkansas did all the chrome plating. He spent a lot of time getting them straight with lead and then copper and plating. Another unique feature on the bike was the oil tank; it incorporated an LED taillight that most people thought was a breather and a clear window to actually watch the oil flow.

The frame itself also had several cool things: hand twist axle adjusters, single downtube with holes, leaf spring-mounted seat, and many small gussets with holes and other little things. The machine really is something to study. There is a lot to look at if you have the time.