I was wet, cold and tired as I rolled the shovel into the bowels of Hell mknown as the south side of Detroit to find the elusive metal smith that people call FabKevin. I was thinking what kind of person could cause this kind of stir in the ol' skool chopper community; I mean he wasn't producing fancy chrome shiny parts. Nope, his wares show up at your door in raw unfinished steel. So, why all the commotion? I really couldn't understand it so that's how I ended up rolling thru the industrial area of Detroit at zero dark thirty reading unlighted buildings looking for his shop. As I took a left down an old decrepit alley I saw the flash of an arc welder and the splash of fresh sparks from a plasma cutter arcing thru the front door of an old rundown warehouse. As I parked the old shovel by the ramp leading to the front door, I noticed a small Maltese cross with Fabricator Kevin lettered across the bottom, painted on the door.

Climbing off the bike I can see the master at work. He is busy overseeing a CNC High Definition Plasma cutter making sure each cut is perfect. I can tell by the concentration in his brow that he expects nothing but the best and that his customers will all receive the same. Slowly he turns his head to check who this intruder would be standing at his shop door in the middle of the night. I introduce myself and thank the gods that I had called him earlier to arrange this meeting, as I am sure he is well acquainted with taking care of trespassers.

Slowly his menacing smirk changes to a grin as he turns off his machine, reaches down to his obviously custom made diamond plate cooler, throws me a beer and tells me to pull up a chair. We started talking casually about the chopper industry and where he believes it will head next, his thoughts and his passions. Slowly information starts coming out about his background and how he found himself doing what he is doing.

Maltese cross motor plate

It just happened that sometime back in his youth he decided he would get into the industrial sheet metal field. Being a rider and a person who turns his own wrenches, he was producing parts for himself and of course as usual, people started to notice. 20 years later and thousands of widgets latter, he decided to mix his two passions into one, metal working and custom Harleys.

It seemed a natural mix and with the machines he has access to from Computer aided design work to his high definition laser, and his friends all clamoring for parts like the ones on his ride he knew that he was onto something. Slowly at night on his own time he started turning out chopper parts. At first it was just for close friends, you know a timing cover here a motor plate there, but slowly the word got out that here was a man that could take your ideas whether it was trying to adapt 6 piston Japbike brakes to your girder front end or making laser carved motor plates with your name engraved in them. He can do it all with top quality materials and at a budget price.

Jockey Shift Levers for Ratchet top Trans.

He started advertising and slowly an underground movement started around his parts, a subculture we will call it that is anti billet and really believes in Kevin's mantra of "If it ain't STEEL, it ain't REAL!" Parts orders slowly started coming in and a contract from Horse BackStreet Choppers magazine for his Maltese cross point's covers, which I will say are an exclusive to the Horse so I wasn't able to sneak out with one.

Maltese Cross points cover only available thru Horse BackStreet Choppers Website

This is the point that the shop is at now, small enough for personal one of a kind parts and Kevin says that it will stay that way, Service that would shock the big boys and the ability to produce whatever your mind can imagine out of steel. You ask for flames, spider webs, Maltese crosses, or your name engraved in that custom part and he makes it happen. That is what it is all about. As we finish our drinks I start looking around the shop noticing some of the standard parts he produces. I ask him for a rundown of his "Stock" Parts and this is what I get :

"Exhaust flanges to make your own pipes for Shovels and STD heads, Taillight brackets, License plate brackets, Fender struts, Brake caliper brackets (to adapt almost any OEM caliper to any frame or forks), Motor Plates, to connect motors and trannies on open belt primary drives, points covers for cone motors, Jockey shift arms, and almost anything else you can dream up. I can offer many steel parts that are no heavier than aluminum parts, because I can make them thinner, and cut out unnecessary material. While I have plenty of my own designs, I can also work from your drawings or templates. If you're cutting out parts on a band saw, and grinding them to fit, I can probably program and burn them WAY cheaper than you can do it yourself. I can program and cut: spider web patterns, flame patterns, skulls, Maltese crosses, or any lettering or shape you want. I make parts for American, British, and metric bikes too."

One of a kind Mid Control Brackets and motorplate

Pretty strong words if ya ask me. But from what I see in the shop, I believe what he is saying. Slowly I get up and thank him for his time and the info and he asks me to hold up a minute as I was heading out the door. He walks over to the CNC machine and pulls out what looks like a motor plate for a shovel, and cut into the motor plate are the words OldDawg. Damn that is something I wasn't expecting and from the smirk on his face he knew it would be on my bike by the next weekend. As I wheel my way west towards my home I couldn't help but wonder if FabKevin isn't at the forefront of a new movement and how long it would be before I started seeing his parts at the local shop hanging on the pegboard.

Thanks Kevin for the beer and the conversation.

All these parts and more are available online at www.fabkevin.com