Life is full of twists and metal-flake turns. Dar Holdsworth is a non-stop individual who can’t ever give up on his dream to build class custom motorcycles. He’s a family man with a dream. As you know, it’s one thing for a brother to have a dream and run at it, smoke cigars, drink whiskey, and live in a seedy garage, but the picture is severely different with there are several mouths to feed, house, insure, transport and emotionally support.
Dar is one of the few to survive 2008 and the ensuing tough times. His mind kept churning out notions to keep his line of Brass Balls Bobbers alive, and he does it with panache and quality construction. His bikes have style, but he made every effort to deliver extremely high quality, exceedingly ride-able and reliable custom bikes. Like Harley and most manufacturers, when the economy tanked in America they reached out across the Atlantic and the Pacific for more vibrant and reliable markets.
Dar was fortunate to find a market for custom American-made scooters in China and Dubai. “This is our latest Classic Bobber we just shipped to our dealer in Dubai, Cafe Rider,” Dar said. “The bike is powered by an S&S V-111 and Rivera 6-speed tranny with an enclosed wet primary drive. The bike has our Brass Balls Retro Brake Calipers and springer brake hanger arm, which we are now selling to the public.
“Typically with our Softails, we mount the rear fender to the swingarm to keep the fender low for a cool, clean look. But it isn’t great for a passenger. So, at the dealer’s request, we made this bike passenger-friendly and machined our own struts to mount the fender high enough for rear wheel travel and customer seating.”
The Brass Balls Classic starts at $26,980. It was awarded 2009 Production Bobber of The Year by Easyriders & V-Twin magazines. This bike reflects old school styling, yet has a look all it’s own. It is set off with a Paughco Mustang styled tank, Knuckle bars and matching meaty rubber front and rear.
Some nine scooters, almost every Brass Balls style have been shipped to Dubai over the last two years. “There is a lot of wealth in Dubai, and it’s flashy,” Dar said, “but generally the very friendly and hospitable folks are middle class, like we are.” So the expanded price of an imported custom motorcycle can be daunting. Dar enjoys working with the folks in Dubai, but they face many of the same financial issues we do.
Dar headed in a couple of other business-related directions over the last couple of years. First, he started his bike kit program to provide affordable, quality bike kits to home dreamers. His kits answered lots of the past bike kit pitfalls, and give potential builders a phased approach, so they can kick off a dream build in financially doable steps, from the chassis, to the driveline, to the controls, and electronics. I believe he has five phases, all about two grand. He has four kit styles to choose from, including the Bobber, Chopper, Freestyle, and Classic.
He is also building on his Brass Balls product line and is scheduled to introduce a line of carbon fiber products in the near future. All along Dar’s bike-building journey, he’s supported veterans. During the toughest times, he snatched up veteran’s damaged motorcycles and refurbished them. If someone donated a bike, he restored it, then either raffled it and gave the proceeds to a veteran’s charity, or gave the bike to a veteran.
Dar is currently working with corporate sponsors to give a bike build Brass Balls kit to a veteran with PTSD. Anyone who wants to sponsor a kit is welcome. He will work with you to pick the appropriate veteran, and then Dar will work and help the veteran through the building process, which will be covered on Bikernet, and within several other sources.
There you have it. One brother’s Brass Balls Classic headed for the Middle East as a pure representative of American Freedom and quality ingenuity. What could be better?
