Steve Schneiderman walked into my motorcycle shop carrying two chromed new billet Performance Machine wheels and a rusty rigid frame. I'd never met Steve before. He had recently moved to Scottsdale, Arizona with his girlfriend. One of his first stops after he unpacked was Surgical-Steeds.

Steve was on a mission. This was one determined guy. He was carrying what was his dream machine, but so far it was only a pain in the back. In his hands were the only parts he was able to salvage from a bike shop in Denver, that went out of business in the middle of building his motorcycle.

Steve had (the key word here was "had") a motor, transmission, front end, fenders and a tank at the Denver shop. He dreamt that all those components would propel him down the road on the PM wheels that he set in front of me. The shop in Denver also took a large bag of cash for parts he never saw, just before filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. The "fun" money was gone, and when he went to collect the parts he had paid for, the only components remaining were the two wheels and a rusty frame. Standing before me was a man with perseverance and determination to create and own a custom-built bike, no matter what.

Custom bikes at Surgical-Steeds have a "Pedigree", history and a following. Steve wanted confidence that what he paid for would be delivered and with a warranty. After his first hard lesson in Denver he wanted a machine with the certifications of Federal Vehicle Identification numbers so he could obtain full coverage insurance at an affordable price. He already knew that Steeds had been in business since 1989 and building bikes with Federal VIN's since 1994, making Surgical-Steeds the longest surviving established brand of Alternative American motorcycles. At Steeds, we don't build thousands of bikes, but we deliver quality machines that people can depend on.

Steve and I had several meetings to establish a solid budget for his Steed, while working up a design that would bring his vision of a custom scooter to life. He wanted a retro looking chopper in a rigid frame and power to burn that 250 Avon rear tire he carried in the day we met. He didn't want the chassis de-jour (pardon the French) chopper with the extended down tube stretch that you see at every biker hangout. Steve wanted a bike he could ride until his kidneys were ready to drop. He wanted a low, tight "bobber" or Frisco style chopper. A bare bones, bad ass, hot-rod bar hopping rigid bike with unique details to catch the eye of the serious enthusiast.

We started out with the new limited edition RevTech "faux" (more French, sorry) knucklehead styled 100-cubic-inch-motor. Hiding behind the knucklehead-looking rocker boxes and fake generator cam cover lurks the reliable power of an Evo motor on steroids breathing through a Mikuni carb. To keep the vintage styling consistent we mated a working kicker cover onto a 6-speed RevTech transmission. To connect all that power to the gearbox a Primo Brute III, 3-inch open belt drive with Rivera's "Pro-Clutch" was chosen. To add a level of stylish safety a vintage looking billet belt guard by Evo Industries was picked out to keep Steve's pants out of that fat primary belt.

Once the Drivetrain arrived and was pulled out of the boxes, we bolted up an OEM Harley Bad-Boy Springer front-end to the frame that Steve delivered. We had more bad news for Mr. Schneiderman. It seems that the frame had some serious issues with the mounting locations for the motor and transmission. Neither mount was square with each other or the rest of the chassis. It would take a ton of hacking and welding or stacks of shims to make this drivetrain set square with the frame, and even then, the bike was going to face serious handling problems. It would never track straight down the road with the motor cocked to the left.

The decision had to be made by Steve to either live with a compromised ride or purchase a quality chassis. Steve opted to annie-up for our new Daytec "No-Glide", 250 rigid. Paul Kirk at Daytec Center took all the specifications for the bike, which included a left-side brake and pulley combination from Performance Machine. The drive side brake caliper required special mounting anchors integral in the rear section, and Daytec has the fixtures to mount this critical feature accurately, before the frame was delivered. Daytec also heat-treats and stress relieves all their frames. This adds an extra level of durability not found on many aftermarket chassis. This quality is critical on a rigid frames since there's no frame suspension to cushion the beating it will take on the road. The month-long delay in receiving a replacement chassis actually gave us the time to focus on building custom details into the project.

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