I've watched this company grow for seven years under Jeff Cochran and Donnie Loos. It's now expanding with the help of Christian Clayton in Phoenix, Arizona.

There's nothing in the world like a nimble rigid with style and '50s class. So when Donnie and Jeff couldn't keep up with the demand, they reached out to Christian. He is now producing EPA-compliant motorcycles, with five models to choose from, and building a dealer network due to expand from the current 15 to 50 by the end of '08. "I'm currently reviewing 320 requests for dealerships," Christian said, slipping narrow shades over his eyes to ride a model just off the line. "Each one of our models is ridden a minimum of 40 miles."

These puppies, belonging to the mysterious Sally, are the essence of blue-collar worker bikes. They're minimalists with just enough additions to pass DMV regulations and EPA standards. As an example, Bruce Rossmeyer is an SPS dealer in Florida, the man who owns five high-dollar, coastal H-D dealerships. "He's not the biggest SPS dealer," Christian said. "Our hottest dealer is a trailer dealer in Baton Rouge."

Donnie and Jeff set in motion one of the greatest branding experiences in the history of custom-bike building with the Sucker Punch Sally name, their logos, Jeff's photography, and their bikes. The last time Sally was spotted, she was drinking at the Alhambra Bar in San Pedro, on the Port of Los Angeles. There's nothing high-dollar about that bar, purely lowbrow. "We want to build the brand around the family, not one guy," Christian said. Didn't he mean one girl? "We love going to shows," Christian said of marketing. "We roll out to any event or open house a dealer has."

"The employees are building the kind of bikes they want to ride," Christian said of the SPS crew, who are predominately hired from the MMI School, also housed in Phoenix. Okay, but let's get down to the bikes and the unique deals behind them, then go for a ride:

"There's never an extra charge for paint," Christian added. "If a customer wants something special, we handle it, no extra fees." They also make a point of delivering a bike to the customer's home, if at all possible. "All the family and friends are in the front yard, waiting."

Every model has a 1-year warranty, unlimited mileage. All dealers have the ability to extend any warranty to two years. If a dealer's customer has a problem with an SPS bike and they don't have the parts readily available, "We overnight the part to any dealer," Christian said. "We don't want unhappy customers, so we handle any request with a 'do-the-right-thing attitude,’ and in a timely manner."

The SPS line of bikes was built on the traditional, rigid street-chop design, and most of the current line remains that configuration, which is nearly 200 pounds lighter than a stock Softail, 456-475 pounds. "The traditional bobber, for $19,995, is the model that made SPS," Christian said. All their bikes are sold in all 49 states, plus Australia. "We're not going to California," Christian added.

Soon, like in 90 days, they are expanding into a 60,000- square-foot facility where they'll build their own handlebars, sissybars, step-up CNC machining, paint, and powder coating, in house. Currently, the crew amounts to 25 in their 16,000- square- foot facility. They've trained all their builders to handle any aspect of the construction process. "One builder builds each bike the three stages," Christian said. "It starts with building the sheet metal around the frame." All the standard Kraft Tech frames have no stretch, and 30 degrees rake.

The builder mocks up the bike, sends the materials to finish, then begins the assembly process, right up to the wiring. Then the bike is wired by the gods, with their signature wiring harness, plumbed, tuned, and road tested by three members of the staff. They only use stock Harley-Davidson handlebar controls and brakes for availability and fitment. Most of their engines are also stock H-D. Before delivery, each machine is professionally detailed.

There's new blood in this line-up with a swingarm, frame- based model. "We can't pack our ol' ladies on a rigid," potential customers told Christian.

"We will also offer models with Panhead and Shovelhead engines, and hope to have signature engines in the near future," Christian said. "It costs over $25,000 to EPA certify each model."

Christian, Donnie, Jeff, and the staff rolled out an example of each 2008 model, and everyone in the group of journalists from various magazines wished they could snatch one and slip it into their backpacks. The "Slim" model drove me wild, even though I couldn't fit on it. I was still sneaking peeks in the back of the shop, hoping to find Sally.

We rode out of the Phoenix industrial quadrant into the surrounding desert, away from 4-wheeler fumes and hot asphalt, into the Tonto National Forest, scooping through warm, gentle curves past Saguaro Lake. At every stop, we switched SPS models and tore through sandy Tortilla Flat, around Lost Dutchman and Rattlesnake Ravine. I could smell Tequila in the air as we stopped near Rio Verde, and I jumped on a Swinger for the first time, before leaning into the Gila curves.

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