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Old School For A Friend
By Frank Falco |
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After a few months of research, I bought all the parts to build my custom Harley in August of 2001. I had originally planned on completing the bike by December and surprising my friend Joe with a Christmas/New Year's ride. It seemed Joe and I would always go for rides on the coldest days of the year. I always rode Rigids, so the frame choice was a no brainer, I went with a Santee Wide Rigid with 35 degrees of rake and a 3 inch stretch. I wanted something real fast, because Joe’s bike was always faster than any of the 20 bikes I’ve owned over the years, and I was tired of him beating me. A 100 Inch RevTech and six speed tranny took care of that little problem. RevTech rates the engine at 100+ HP and I that what it feels like to me. I knew that even though it was gonna be an Evo, it had to look old school, so there is no Billet on the bike. I never got into the multi-colored wild paint schemes that are popular today, so I painted the bike white. Lord knows, I am not the world’s best painter but it came out just the way I hoped it would. I also knew I wanted to build the bike in my garage without the help of any shop. I met that goal as well, the only thing I didn’t do was mount the tires to the rims. My local shop, East Coast Super Bikes helped me with that.
Then Sept. 11th rolled around and changed things forever. My friend Joe Angelini Jr. and his dad Joe Angelini Sr. were killed in the World Trade Center attack. I had known Joe and his dad for over 25 years, since we were kids. They were both New York City firefighters. After I would come home from spending time with my friend's wife and his three kids, I would look at my kids, and I couldn't sleep. I don't know if I felt guilty at being alive when my friend was gone, or if I just missed him. So I worked on the bike, sometimes until 5 a.m. I painted and assembled it alone with a picture of my friend on my garage wall to guide me. I could picture things he would have said about this bike. When I needed an extra hand, my 11-year-old son Jesse would come out to the garage and help me.
I have to admit it wasn't always pretty, and not the way I envisioned it. Sometimes I was not in the right frame of mind. One day my neighbors looked at me kind of strange, as I repeatedly punched the rear brake disc, because I was having trouble mounting the wheel in the frame. On that day, I had learned that Joe was supposed to get off work at 9 a.m. on Sept. 11, but true to his character, decided to stay and help when the alarm came in at 8:46a.m. The bike was completed in 3 -1/2 weeks, in time to ride it to Joe’s Funeral, which I know Joe would have liked. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun building this bike. In a way, I think it was my therapy. I was wound up pretty tight on September 11th. I wanted anybody resembling a terrorist to die that night. When I put my energy into the bike, I got back to a more stable place.
When I ride this bike, and I do ride her almost every day to work, I remember my friend, and I think about America. We are stronger now than we have ever been. I have always been proud to be an American, but I have never been so proud as I am now. To me this bike says, "I am an American and Proud of it." I don't know if that feeling is something the cowards who perpetrated these acts truly understand. In addition to being the bike I have wanted for a long time, it really feels like it was born out of this time, connected to the good and bad. It is dedicated to the memory of my friend Joseph Angelini Jr. Specifications: Owner: Frank Falco - Frank Falco, N.Y. Back to the
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