Sugar Bear with Bikernet's Layla at Easyriders Show.

We've met all sorts of guys through the years who build bikes. Some found a niche and stuck to it--like Sugar Bear. He started building his own front ends 'cause he couldn't pry one from the fingers of the famous Dick Allen. Sugar Bear grew up in Los Angeles, hanging out at shops like MC Supply and Bennie Hardy's, who was his mentor and built the bikes for the movie Easyriders.

"He became pals with Peter Fonda when he built the bike for 'Wild Angels,'" Sugar Bear said about Bennie. "The Billy Bike was a basic South Central bike in the '60s. I used to sit and listen to the old masters talk."

CB Clausen owned MC Supply. "He was one of the original Booze Fighters and I paid a lot of attention to his ramblings," Sugar Bear said. While learning from the South Central originals, he built long bikes in his own garage: Harleys and 750 Hondas.

"We had just survived the slug era," Sugar Bear said. "In '72 I bought an Amen springer and bolted it to a Harley. The springer bowed under the weight of the heavy bike, so I went back and got another one. It did the same thing. Neil, the owner of the company, told me that if I didn't like his front ends, I should build my own. He was a little upset."

Sugar Bear tried to buy a Dick Allen front end. "Getting one was like pulling granny's teeth," Sugar Bear said. "I ended up with some parts." He started playing with the components.

"Dick's trees were in line with the neck like stock front ends, so I made a set of trees that pushed the legs forward," Sugar Bear said describing his changes. He decided to use oil-light bushings (instead of zirk fittings) that were narrow and not like the wide brass bushings. "I don't use zirk fittings because people don't use them and wear out bushings." He only weighed 170 pounds, so the long front end needed to be light to handle.

"I was good at math in school, so I started to figure out the rake and trail." Sugar Bear taught math in high school as a substitute teacher. He moved out of his garage in '71 and into a shop, but the hours were 4:00 p.m. to 10:00, in order to teach school in the day. About the same time he started fooling with the trail of his front ends.

"I took two straps 3/8-inch thick and drilled holes down the center, 7/8 inch apart until I had eight holes." He bolted them to the legs with a 21-inch front wheel and started to study the flop using the various holes.

"It was like developing power steering for long bikes," Sugar Bear said. He discovered that if he designed a front end with zero trail that it handled smoothly, turned easily and never flopped. "Customers don't need fork stops unless you lift the bike off the ground," Sugar Bear said.

Sugar Bear builds between three and six springers a month by himself. He's never had one returned. "Sometimes a customer will call and tell me that he can't ride the bike," Sugar Bear laughed. "I tell them to ride the bike around the block with their left hand behind their back. I know they're over steering because it feels so light. Works every time."

If you tell him the frame stretch and rake on your bike, he will recommend the length. He is accustomed to building front ends that are 25-30 inches over stock. "Even if the guy orders the wrong size, they usually buy another front end and keep the first one."

Each front end is handmade. He developed special springs to eliminate pogo. He manufactures the spring and rocker nuts, and the clevis at the bottom of the front legs to ensure the axle runs straight. Since the '70s, his springers have remained the same--made from bar stock, not tubing, to the design of the wild rockers. As a test he asks riders to sit on their bike and turn the handlebars one way then the other. "The frame behind the neck should not move or lift."

Sugar Bear is a craftsman who builds each front end to suit the customer's bike. They're wild, yet work like power steering for custom bikes. For more information about his springers or Sportster neck cups that adapt springers contact the man himself at (310) 768-4158.

--Wrench