Seth Slagiel Harley USA

Seth Slagiel Harley USA

OK, the story on the bike. I worked at TOP DEAD CENTER OXNARD for about nine years, now I’m doing my own thing at HANDCRAFT, but when I was there I was doing all the fab work that came in the shop, I did a lot of twisted parts frontends, controls, frame down tubes , and odds and ends. One night thought it would be cool to twist an entire frame, so I did my first one with some help from the shop owner Andy, we put a 47 knucklehead motor in it. That was about five six years ago, from there I now am on #9, this one is #4. Because this one was for me, it has taken me about 3 years to build, customers bikes come first.

 Now the bike, this whole bike was built around some cool moister tester caps that I found at a friend’s shop and thought they would make great gas caps, so the bike was already built in my head. I had caps, some hex stock, a vl springer, S&S shovelhead cases, and a ugly rotary top 4 speed tranny. I started twisting and came up with this vl style frame. When I built this twisted frame I had done a three before it and on all of them I did a lot of twisted parts along with the frame, so on this one the only thing I wanted twisted was the frame.  

 There are so many hours that go in to building one of these frames, and so many details that only I will ever know are there, but ever since the first one I built and just can’t seem to stop building them. Not only do they have to be road worthy they have to look good, the thing that sometimes gets over looked is all the metal blending , with the welds, and how it looks like it all flows into one casted piece. I used some sort of plating on the others I have built, but on this one I decided to paint the frame, so from far away you probably wouldn’t even notice it was twisted. The rest of the bike is just what’s wrapped the frame, it kind of just built itself

 Most of the time people ask me about the tires, or the seat rather than asking about the metal work. Drives me crazy, I’m sure it’s because they just haven’t seen anything like it, and don’t know what to say about it.

 About me, Bikes didn’t change my life they are my life, I grew up on and around motorcycles and the biker scene, Dad died on a panhead when I was six. We didn’t have much money growing up so on cold nights me and my brother slept under a 46 knucklehead in a no bedroom apartment/motel room to keep warm when we were kids, so naturally I would be in to bikes. I have been building them for the last 12 years, so I did not just jump on this chopper/custom wagon and have a true love for this. I have seen a lot of junk built over the years, and I’m very happy that the 500mm tires and hot pink paint jobs have went away. I think there is a trend right now with all the period correct chops, not saying that there not cool, I love them and have built a few myself, but it seems to me that there are a lot of people building the same thing over and over again, and that would drive me crazy just copying every one else. I try to just build what is in my head not what’s cool at the moment, and think if you don’t do that, then you’re probably a day late.

 BUILTBYHAND….