Two Custom Big Twin Motorcycles From Texas
This article was originally published in the October-November issue of Cycle World’s Big Twin magazine.
Next time you’re passing through the Texas Panhandle, make a pit stop in Amarillo and check out a few of the area’s more interesting attractions: old Route 66; the Cadillac Ranch; the yellow rows of Texas wheat (ouch); or best of all, the Soncy Road Body Shop’s Texas Twosome.
Mark Warrick, creator of the pair of bikes seen here, has garnered quite a following for his Amarillo-based customizing business. He operates out of his Soncy Road Body Shop, which, as the name suggests, also does its fair share of metal-bending and mending on the area’s four-wheel population.1
Looking at Warrick’s two customs, you’d never guess that he’s a mere 29 years old. But the high quality of his work says that in the customizing game, he’s a veteran. He’s been fabricating custom Big Twins since 1991 while also building street rods and dealing with the everyday crash work that keeps his bustling body shop plenty busy. In that time, he has established a reputation for building simple, clean, quality motorcycles, and he lets that reputation speak for itself. Besides a few appearances at Laughlin, Daytona and a handful of local bike shows, Warrick doesn’t advertise his services. Kind of defeats the stereotype of the boastful Texan, doesn’t it?
In the few months since completing the chopper pictured here, Warrick has gotten several orders for replicas, with more coming in every time the bike is shown. “We feel we have our own style going,” he says. “We try to build a nice, clean bike without a lot of gaudy geegaws. Our aim is quality, not quantity, and we’re happy to build just five bikes a year.”
Many of Warrick’s customers are locals and people for whom the shop has built cars in the past. But some of his creations go West, to California, home of the chopper style, which Warrick has interpreted in his own version of the classic, long-forked custom.
The silver chopper shown here is the first Seventies’-style bike Warrick has made. It pays homage to the decade of indulgence, with a couple of modern additions, like an engine that doesn’t leak, molding that won’t flake off due to vibration, and brakes that slow you down, like, now. It also has a few features that would have flat stunned ’em in the Seventies, like that full-coverage front fender (yes, it does rain in Texas), the 80-spoke Hallcraft wheels and the hidden rear axle mounts. The most outstanding feature on the silver bike, though, just may be that huge Typhoon carb velocity stack aimed forward at the approaching hordes of insects in the wind.
SILVER CHOPPER | Base machine Built from scratch |
---|---|
DESIGNER/FABRICATOR/BUILDER | |
Mark Warrick | Soncy Road & Highway 66, Amarillo, TX 79159 |
PAINT AND CHROME | |
Molding | Mark Shoemaker |
Paint | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Graphics | John Stromberg |
Chroming | Peerless Plating, Oklahoma City, OK |
Polishing | Full Moon Shining, Amarillo, TX |
ENGINE | |
Year | 1998 |
Model | Big Twin |
Builder | Patrick Racing |
Displacement | 96 cu. in. |
Cases | S&S |
Lower end | S&S |
Rods | S&S |
Pistons | S&S |
Heads | Patrick Racing Billet |
Valves | Patrick Racing |
Cam | Carl’s 680 |
Pushrods | Jims |
Lifters | Jims |
Ignition | Crane Hi-4 |
Carb | Carl’s Billet Typhoon |
Air cleaner | Angled velocity stack by Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Pipes | Samson |
TRANSMISSION | |
Type | Delkron cases, Andrews gears |
Primary drive | Belt drive by Billet For You |
Clutch | Barnett |
FRAME | |
Year 1998 | |
Make | Ness |
Type | Ness/Daytec |
Builder | Arlen Ness |
Modifications | 4” rise, 3” stretch, 40º rake |
FRONT FORK | |
Year | 1997 |
Make | H-D |
Type | Wide Glide |
Builder | Soncy Rd. Body Shop Billet For You 5º offset triple-trees |
REAR SUSPENSION | |
Make | Ness |
Swingarm | Ness |
Modifications | Flush axle mounting |
FRONT WHEEL/TIRE | |
Wheel | Hallcraft 80-spoke |
Tire | Pirelli |
Tire size | 21” |
Rim width | 1.85” |
Brake | PM 6-piston caliper, Ness 13” disc |
REAR WHEEL/TIRE | |
Wheel | Hallcraft |
Tire | Pirelli |
Tire size | 17” |
Rim width | 5.5” |
Brake | Billet For You left-side caliper |
ACCESSORIES | |
Handlebar | Flanders |
Risers | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Grips | Billet Concepts |
Gas tank | D&D |
Oil tank | Modified Daytec |
Front fender | Modified Jesse James |
Rear fender | Soncy Rd Body Shop |
Headlight | Headwinds |
Taillight | Billet for You LED |
Turn signals | none |
Electrics | Aaron Hollan, Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Speedo/tach | none |
Seat | Bobby Fox custom |
Foot controls | PM |
Rider pegs | Billet Concepts |
Rear pegs | Billet Concepts |
Subtler, but just as stylish, the black Pit Bull bike is another example of Warrick’s lean, simple, Soncy Road style. With broad chest and narrow hips, the S&S-engined Big Twin looks lean and muscular. And there are real muscles aplenty in the 106-cubic-inch motor that was assembled by California engine builder John Liligard.
Warrick added his own special touches to the Pit Bull’s Kenny Boyce frame. The rear shock mounts incorporate the fender stays and are machined of billet aluminum, fluted to match the contours of the rear fender and complement the spokes of the Boyd’s wheels. A simple but effective velocity stack helps the 45mm Mikuni carburetor breathe plenty of prairie air. Rubber mounts keep those big-engine vibes away from the rider’s rear end during long highway hauls (very important, since Texas is more than 800 miles wide), and modified Cycle Smith footboards allow the rider to move his feet around.
Texas eases the life of the state’s custom-bike builders and owners by not requiring turnsignals or speedometers. After all, fellow motorists would much rather see you wave an arm than activate a little blinker light when you pass. And the Texas State Troopers will be quite happy to use their conveniently located equipment to tell you if they think you’re going a little too fast. For a small fee, of course.
After producing bikes like these, Mark Warrick has shown he has considerable metalworking skills, enough to build some of the cleanest, most alluring Harley customs you’ll see anywhere—enough, even, to restore the buried Caddies at the Cadillac Ranch, should such an unlikely need ever arise. But he intends to expand those skills even farther in the near future. “We try to keep our customs on a fine line so they still look like motorcycles,” says Warrick, “but next year will see our first full bodybike”.
Betcha it will be an exceptionally clean and original one.
NAME | Pit Bull |
---|---|
Base machine | 1998 Big Twin |
DESIGNER/FABRICATOR/BUILDER | |
Mark Warrick | Soncy Road & Highway 66, Amarillo, TX 79159 |
PAINT AND CHROME | |
Molding | Mark Shoemaker |
Paint | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Graphics | John Stromberg |
Chroming | Peerless Plating, Oklahoma City, OK |
Polishing | Full Moon Shining, Amarillo, TX |
ENGINE | |
Year | 1998 |
Model | Big Twin |
Builder | John Liligard |
Displacement | 106 cu. in. |
Cases | S&S |
Lower end | S&S |
Rods | S&S |
Pistons | S&S |
Heads | S&S |
Valves | S&S |
Cam | S&S |
Pushrods | S&S |
Lifters | S&S |
Primary cover | Ness |
Ignition | Crane Hi-4 |
Carb | 45mm Mikuni |
Air cleaner | Velocity stack |
Pipes | Samson |
TRANSMISSION | |
Year | 1996 |
Type | FXR, Andrews gears |
Primary drive | Primo belt |
Clutch | Barnett |
FRAME | |
Year | 1998 |
Make | Kenny Boyce |
Type | Pro-Street rubber-mount |
Builder | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Modifications | Neck boxed, 2” stretch, 35º rake |
FRONT FORK | |
Year | 1998 |
Make | White Bros./Ceriani |
Type | Inverted |
Builder | C&S Machine |
REAR SUSPENSION | |
Year | 1998 |
Make | Ness |
Swingarm | Ness |
Modifications | Billet parts by Bobby Walden |
FRONT WHEEL/TIRE | |
Wheel | Boyd’s |
Tire | Metzeler |
Tire size | 120 /90-18 |
Rim | width 3” |
Brake | Ness caliper, PM floater rotor |
REAR WHEEL/TIRE | |
Wheel | Boyd’s |
Tire | Metzeler |
Tire size | 180/55-17 |
Rim width | 5.5” |
Brake | Ness caliper, PM rotor |
ACCESSORIES | |
Handlebars | Flanders |
Risers | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Grips | Ness |
Gas tank | Battistini’s |
Oil tank | H-D Softail, modified |
Front fender | Jesse James, modified |
Rear fender | Jesse James, modified |
Headlight | Headwinds |
Taillight Billet | For You LED |
Electrics | Soncy Rd. Body Shop |
Speedo/tach | none |
Seat | Bobby Fox custom |
Foot controls | H-D |
Rider pegs | Cycle Smith floorboards modified by Soncy Rd. Body Shop |