Lodi, CA~August 24, 2009 – Bryan Schimke, the immensely talented custom bike builder and owner of TPJ Customs out of Lodi, CA and his good buddy Satya Kraus, owner of Kraus Motor Co. from Cazadero, CA, hit the road for Sturgis this year on badass custom steel with a pocket full of optimism and a hankering to ride. As hard working custom bike builders, neither of these creative dudes from Northern California get to ride as often as they’d like. So, the main burning goal was to cram in as much wind-time in, as possible, while away from their respective shops.

As you might imagine, all the twists and turns would not necessarily be on the open road. On epic trips, road gremlins often dole out fire, as well as rain, and just about anything else you may not have imagined. This intrepid duo was about to be reminded of the Code of the West.

Road gremlins strike

Schimke was set to head for the Dakotas on the sleek new sled he’d built for customer Gordy Erickson. Kraus was mounted on his personal custom-built bike. Once in Sturgis, however, Bryan was scheduled to meet Gordy and hand over the clean, low-slung TPJ bike. Once Erickson took possession of the new handcrafted machine, Bryan was hoping for more seat time on the new build. It turns out that Schimke was more than a little smitten with his latest creation. But the TPJ bikes are built to be ridden, and ridden hard and Gordy intended to do just that, so there was no guarantee that Bryan would get much alone time with his new love.

Satya was slotted to enter his recently completed build in the prestigious AMD bike show; the same show where Bryan had placed 10th in 2008. As a winner from last year, Bryan had been invited to participate as a VIP judge at AMD this year. In between these commitments were scheduled photo shoots, filming appointments, assorted events like the Legends and Cycle Source rides, Michael Lichter’s party, as well as the requisite Sturgis cruising, people watching, and just balls-out hard riding. These guys had a full schedule of soaking up the Sturgis vibe all planned out and were anxious to get the party started.

But less than two hours down the road on the outbound leg of the adventure, they were attacked by wicked road gremlins, who plague every rider at one point or another. The pair found themselves pulling off the road. The repairs included a seized-up slave cylinder in Satya’s H-D hydraulic clutch. That delicate repair function was more extensive than could be achieved roadside, so the disappointed road warriors loaded Bryan and Satya’s bikes alongside the show bike, in the trailer Satya’s father, Alan, was towing. Reluctantly, they struck back out for Sturgis via four wheels.

A Smoking Welcome Having made this trip before, all three knew from experience that this was just the beginning of several surreal Sturgis adventures to come. Last year a riding friend was a harried victim of the freak road gods, having been hit by a pole downed by a bolt of lightening. He required a trip to the hospital.

That year they managed to dodge the law, avoid being swept away in the flash flood that shut down several events, had a good time, and still made it back to home turf in one piece. So, they thought they were well seasoned for whatever this year’s road trip tossed at ‘em. Fate, unfortunately prepared to put them immediately to the test, as the guys had barely landed at their rental in Sturgis before contending with a house fire.

A neighboring house was belching smoke within 15 minutes of the trio’s arrival and Satya and Alan, being reserve firemen in their home town, rushed in to control things before the local firefighters arrived, while Schimke and Gordy Erickson, who had come to pick up his bike, helped out.

With all the drama of the cross-country trip and smoky welcoming party, Bryan neglected to consider the effect of seeing his newest, “girlfriend,” disappear into the sunset with another man astride her thin steel frame. So the, “punched in the gut,” feeling that came with the realization that the motorcycle he’d spent the last six months building would not be returning home with him came as a surprise.

As Gordy took the handlebars and cruised off on a test ride, a shadow of remorse overcame Schimke. Consequentially, once Erickson returned, with an ear-to-ear grin plastered on his face, Bryan began the process of trying to wheedle “one last ride” out of his customer by whining and pleading and “just plain begging.” Gordy acquiesced on the condition that Bryan would keep the bike clean, so of course, one of his first rides ended up including a trip through a rainstorm and down a nasty, muddy road.

Bryan’s trip with the Legends ride became an unexpected adventure when would-be leader of the pack Steven Tyler of Aerosmith (and now Dirico Motorcycles) fame decided to ditch the prescribed route and instead took the pack off on a trip to Mount Rushmore.

The resulting chaos caused law officers to pull over the confused, straggling riders to inform them that if they continued to follow Tyler, they would be late for the end party and offered an alternate route. Bryan bailed before the law got involved, but still managed to get pulled over no less than twice during his Sturgis stay. Being let off with nothing more than warnings each time, Schimke counted himself lucky and tried to keep to the posted speed limits, but when he came across what seemed to be an apparition on two wheels, he chalked it up to the magic of the road and lost all thoughts of limits.

Ghost rider?

Cruising the twisties outside of town, Bryan cruised up next to a rusted-out ride that seemed to accent the weathered appearance of the woman straddling it. She wore seasoned buckskin leathers with long hair and skin that was as equally sun-baked and brown. She rode with an air of experience that made traveling next to her seem like something out of a cowboy’s dream.

Rolling on the throttle to pass the big boys on Fatboys, Bryan let off the gas to accommodate the curve of the road in case she was not comfortable sharing a lane with him at the high speed they had been cruising. She never backed off. Flogging his ride to keep pace with her, the pair continued to share the twisties for several miles, darting around anyone who dared block their path. The thunder of their engines was the only sound between them, but they were completely in sync. Once in town, the mystery woman flashed him a smile, said, “Thanks for the ride; that was fun,” and rolled off into the distance, leaving Bryan with his own grin and cherished memory.

Showtime

During a day trip through Spearfish Canyon on the day of the AMD presentations, Bryan and Satya had enjoyed themselves on the road too long and made it back to the show just in time to hear Satya’s name being called to receive his 5th place award for Snatch, the bike he’d entered. Being too late to make it up on stage, Alan Kraus took his son’s place before the crowd and proudly accepted the award.

About this time, the boys were starting to eye the open road with a glassy glint and decided to strike out for Bonneville to catch some of the action at Speed Week and started packing their toys. With the last bike loaded and the locking up duties done, the skies opened up and all hell fell down. The crew sat in the truck, watching golf ball sized hail violently pelt the earth when they spotted a man, sans shirt with drink in hand, running across the street.

Suddenly a huge chunk of hail drilled the man right in the top of his head, promptly knocking him to the ground. The pedestrian laid on the ground for a few seconds, got up and looked around, burst out laughing, then scurried off to find shelter. With that little show, the Californians rolled out of town and on to the next adventure.

Both these talented builders will enter a custom bike in the Artistry in Iron show during the Las Vegas Bikefest, October 1-4, 2009. Schimke is currently fabricating his heart out in his NorCal shop to create a bike dedicated to his young son, Luke, for his entry. Be sure to check out Bryan’s other work at www.tpjcustoms.com

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