Cro Custom An Old School Family Affair

Bandit,

Hope you have some time to read all of this, I think you may find it interesting and a bit ironic, or the phrase a small world may come to mind. In any case, I wanted to share some of my reasons for loving bikes and now building them, or at least how it started for me. The pictures attached are the second ground up build I have ever done. A shot of my bro Chuck on his shovel and that’s me on the red Shovel. I got hooked a couple years ago on building classic style chops, partly because of some TV exposure but there is an ironic personal connection to it all. Bear with me.

I grew up in Miami in an area called Westwood Lake, post WWII track housing suburb. It just so happens that the Elvis of bike building grew up in the same hood. Billy his brother Warren and my brothers all grew up together, went to the same schools, wrecked the same havoc. Although the Owens boys and the Lane boys weren’t super tight growing up, we all knew each other well, and our paths would cross all the time in the lake and around the hood.

Billy was close friends with the woman I would later marry. More on that later.My brother Chuck, who is about 10 years older than I, built his first bike at 18. A 1951 Pan with a 10-inch front end. The thing was pink when he got it. I watched him build in the back room of a rented house. I handed him tools got greasy, whatever. Over the years he had bike after bike, and I was always taken to it for one reason or another.

When I was young it was my aspiration to build a bike and ride next to my big bro.That was it; I just wanted to ride with him. The idea of doing something with my own two hands that I learned from him, then pulling up along side him was just something I always thought about.

When I got old enough to ride, my life took a different path and I became an artist and moved to LA to work in film. I always had the bike thing in my mind, but it took a back seat for a long time. After some years in LA, I moved back to FL to spend time with my family. First thing I did was went out and bought a bike. It got my feet wet on riding and as soon as I felt good, the desire to build one started itchin’ me. My brothers and I were at Daytona Bike Week for the Chopper Show, and while walking over to check out this hubless thing, my brother said that’s Billy from the Lake. I didn’t make the connection cause after 10 or so years he looked nothing like the Bill I grew up with. But after I got home it all clicked! I remembered him and Warren being all into cars and bikes, Billy drawing choppers on his notebooks in school. I even drew a big Roth monster type deal on a desk in a class I had with Billy…

In any case, I sent Bill an email to say hi and that I really dug the bike at the show. I started itching to build again, but other than watching my bro when I was young, I had no real idea were to start. Some months later I catch the first Biker Build Off on the tube. I was hooked. Not because this was on TV, but here is this guy I grew up with doing it, and there was some strange familiarity to the ways he was doing things.

It all just clicked after that. I had to do it.I was never into the street pro, flashy bikes or even stretched out floats. I always had a thing for the classic bikes and cars for that matter. My Dad was always wrenching on his ‘54 and ‘55 Chevy and we were always helping out.

Shortly after, I moved back to LA to work, and as soon as I got back I started brainstorming the build. It was February 2003; I set a goal to complete my first by Nov. You see, my father was a WWII vet and he passed in ‘99. He lay to rest at the National Cemetery just outside Ocala FL. My mother lives about 60 miles or so away. Every year we have thanksgiving at my mothers and we ride to the cemetery to see my Dad. Just family riding on the beautiful roads, stopping for a beer or two, and telling stories about my dad.

So, the goal was, finish this bike, head to FL and ride with my bother to see my Dad.

Along with seeing Bill on the tube, as an artist I loved David Mann’s stuff and I would always copy his work from Easyriders when I was a kid. So I knew the old style post WWII bobber was what I wanted to build. Simple, tough and clean. Anyway, I stumbled across the Sucker Punch Sally guys just about the time they started the first round of their bikes. It’s the style I liked, so I called them and had them ship a roller to me, along with a few other odds and ends. It was the first bike they shipped and they wouldn’t do it again for a while 😉

It took a couple months to get all the parts together, the SPS stuff, swap stuff and a motor and I built the bike in the living room of my studio apt. Got it done literally the day before I was to head to FL. Didn’t have it running yet, but put it in the truck, drove cross-country in 3 days. The next day. my brother Chuck and I jammed into the garage and got it running. It was such a great feeling to have him there to help me start it up for the first time. It was a very emotional moment.

Turkey day, we got out on the road and jammed! I can’t tell you what a great feeling that was to be on a bike I built riding with my family.It was and is what building and riding is all about to me. I could care less about the fads and wearing the Harley shirts. I still have that Cali Rigid Special I call it, and I ride it all the time. I go home every year for T-Day and we do that ride to see my Dad. I will do that ride this year on this new bike.

I built this one from the ground up, no one else touched this bike other than a buddy cleaning up a couple TIG welds. There are some cool one-off things I found like the Turner microphones for the air cleaner and tail light. The struts and motormount I hand made by bending steal by eye. The tank is from Independent built from some sketches I sent them. The fender is hand made from WCC, I pulled some strings to get it at the time. Billy is a friend of mine.

The front end is a mix of an old 45 from a swap and new stuff from V-Twin.

The oil filter is the same, off an old ‘50s Pan and a couple new parts to rebuild it. The motor is a 1980 Shovel S&S cases, I picked it up from a guy who had it sitting in his garage for a couple years. The heads were polished by Jesse at WCC. I modified the old throttle to take a new style internal. My good buddy Toby at Motion Pro built a cable for me.

I don’t have all the super great tools to build yet, just the basics, so there is a lot of blood and sweat in this bike and it’s been a really great project.

Over the last couple years, finally getting in to the bikes, I have really found a home in it. I have reconnected with some childhood friends that have the same love: Billy, Warren and I stay in touch from time to time. I have grown closer to my bother, and I have become a better person because of it. Sure, it’s a time of fads with all the chopper stuff.

Seeing Billy on TV brought me back to it, that’s right, but am doing it because I love it, because of family, because of the freedom of knowing your hands can create.I’ll do it for the rest of my life without question. All the bikes I build will be rigid, simple, kickers only, and always jockey shift. For me it is all about knowing and feeling the bike, knowing you are connected and that your energy is directly transferred to that bike, otherwise it would just sit there. Pushing a button just isn’t the same. SO, the bandwagon will pull in to the station, but I will keep on rolling down the tracks.

–Caleb “cro” Owens
cro customs inc.
crocustoms.com
310-923-2613