Todd Silicato is and interesting enigma in our industry. He carries on like a lot of builders would prefer--the backwoods artist hiding in a cave. He's the master behind lots of builders, but stays in the Shadows off Bolsa Road in Southern California where he can tinker and be left alone, sorta.

Over the last decade Todd developed products and helped build bikes with Roland Sands at Performance Machine. Then he set his own shop into motion and assisted Jesse Rooke with projects and continues to back Jesse's bike builds. He now has a 35-part number line of products including his wild strip bars, brass and knurled grips, billet risers, classic brass rubber mounted risers, ignition modules, crazy pipes, Battery boxes, mirrors, oil filters, air cleaners, gas caps, seat pans, seat hinges, springs and builder's components. Check his web site.

I always enjoy featuring his bikes, 'cause they have a mechanical edge and long-road toughness. This bike has a strange name.

"It started with a pile of parts customers ordered and never paid for," Todd told me and kicked a tire. He started by building a roller for sale, then decided he liked it too much to send it down the road.

"I liked the Spartan forks and had some credit with Westminster H-D, so I went to work," Todd said. The master behind Spartan front ends gave up on the custom bike industry and opened a copper mine. Todd offered to help him with his front-end business, but the man had to do what he had to do.

So how did he build a credit with a dealership? He took a wrecked Sportster and turned it into a jewel. The mysteries continue around the Brass Hole with the new owner from across some border. "Don't mention him," Todd said.

He was preparing for Sturgis 2008 when we spoke and will hopefully have a roller on display next to Barnett's. Next, he's thinking about a production bike. Better keep building that credit with the dealership. Watch for more bikes and products from Todd's SoCal cave on Bikernet in the future.

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