2005 Bling's Sickie Custom Chopper - Bringing Bling

Staking out your own claim, making a name for yourself, being your own boss, whatever you wanna call it, to some, it's what heaven must be like. Then again, with all the paperwork, newfound responsibilities, and bigger headaches, it might be a little more like hell. Either way, Bill Dodge, the only man behind Bling'sCycles, would not have it any other way.

Last September, Bill opened up his shop in what he calls the "Long Beach of the East Coast," known locally as Asbury Park, New Jersey. After a stint at a well-known West Coast bike shop and building bikes in his mini-shop in Hawaiian Gardens, California, Bill decided to start his own shop. He first built a few bikes and did custom work on some cars, then he packed up his life-minus some toys he had to sell for all the shop necessities-and moved Bling's Cycles to the other side of the country.

One of the last bikes he built before the move was this custom street/dirt bike. "Everyone told me it wouldn't work, that it was going to be lame and stupid," laughed Bill. As you can see from the pics, they were more than just wrong. The '05 Bling's Sickie runs on a flat-side 93ci S&S Shovelhead and a "Baker 4 the Bill Dodge Special" six-speed with a kick-start. That's right, no battery, just a kicker and a magneto. "The least moving parts, the better," which is the opinion that led to this build.

The rest of the bike arrived piece by piece. The gas tank is a swap meet find with the headlight switch mounted to the top, the race-only hand controls came from Brembo, and the seat pan, along with a grip of other parts, was fabbed by Bill himself. Paul Cox stitched the leather for the seat, which reads "Bling's Mo'Tard," with an emphasis on 'Tard.

The bike was built with a chop saw, an angle grinder, and a TIG welder; it came out of no tools. Bill even bored out the risers with a shop smith. And after beating the crap out of it for 10,000 miles, he has proved his process was seamless. After opening his shop over nine months ago, Bill has stayed pretty busy, with eight bikes and a few custom trucks currently in process. "I prefer to do my kind of stuff," added Bill, and after a bike build like this, who's gonna argue with that.