I have finished my most complicated and time consuming build during my history of building custom bikes.
This build went on for almost 12 years.
What complicated the build so much is that I wanted to theme the Bike to a Board Game I had invented back in 1971.
In 1971 my Board Game was called Chessers, it was a cross between Chess & Checkers and the idea was to capture the King and you win the game.
All conventional Board Game have 8 X 8 Playing Squares, 64 total.
But, I designed my Board Game with 9 X 9 Playing Squares, 81 total and that meant you had to buy my Board, you could not use my men on any other conventional board.
I was only 21 so I needed someone to invest, so I sent my game off to Parker Bros. the biggest Game Company in Canada at the time.
I kept phoning them and was told, they are testing it and that is a good thing.
They had my game for 3 months testing it.
After 3 months I received it back with a very nice letter stating that my game played excellent and they liked the concept, but Pac Man had just been released and they thought the computer world was here and were leery to invest in another Board Game at that time.
And they were correct, computer games stole the market, Board Games were gone.
Well, about 12 years ago, I started seeing Board Games again and thought it was a great time to bring Chessers back to life!
Only, the Chess Checker thing was gone.
When I was a kid, every house you entered had a Chess Board on a stand whether they played it or not. It was just the cool thing to have.
That was all gone….
So I thought, I got to bring this game into the now?
Sopranos was at its peak, so I decided to turn it into a ‘50s Mob game,
one side New York & one side Chicago.
The object now is to take out the other teams Mob Boss.
I didn’t change any of the rules, just who they were and where they were.
I wanted the Board to be completely black because everything happens at night.
I wanted the towers to be 3” high to act as buildings with dark streets down below.
New concept, Same Game.
Now called “CONSIGLIERE”
At the same time, I had just started building this new bike and thought….. Let’s theme the Game to the Bike & the Bike to the Game, that has never been done before.
That meant the Bike was going to be black with detailed Dead Mobsters from the Fifties on every inch of it to become “THE CONSIGLIERE”
Away I went…..
What took so long?
Waiting for Copyrights from Patent Attorney (time & endless money)
And all the custom CNC parts using every idea that came through my head to make this the best and last build I would ever do.
I had a buddy with a CNC machine but I had to go on the back burner for him to find time to do a one off for me.
By the time he was done one part, I would design another………
And years fly by.
And of course, endless money……
The Game:
I could not get Prototypes of the Board done in wood properly because I wanted 3” towers to appear like city buildings.
Every time they attempted to do the towers 3” high in wood on a CAD machine, they would snap!
So I said Fuck it, lets CNC them.
I CNC’d 3 Prototype Game Boards.
All the men were hand carved Prototypes.
When the guy was carving them, a person that was in the Game business heard a bit about the game and he said the Game sounds very interesting.
The guy said:
If this guy (meaning me) could get this game down to a $40.00 Game, he would be a gold mine.
I said:
tell this guy to Fuck Off!
I said:
If I ever released the “Consigliere Game” I would have the “Utmost Respect” for the people that lived this lifestyle.
It would be a high end game, numbered and selling for around $300 to $400
He said:
Who the hell would buy a game for $300 to $400?
I said, If I could just interest the people that have bought a pair of True Religion Jeans, Ed Hardy Shirt, Billet Part for a Harley or Street Wise People and of course Harley Riders…. I would not need anyone else!
After completing the Consigliere Bike & Consigliere Board Game.
I did the 2018 Portland Roadster Show, Won Best Bike & Best in Show.
2018 Vancouver International Auto Show, “display only” but 120,000 visitors seen the display.
2018 B.C. Custom Car Show, won 1st in class, Best Bike, Best Display & Psychotic Cycle Award.
I do not consider myself a BIKE BUILDER, I BUILD “A” BIKE!
There is a huge difference…..
In this town there is shops like, Jarz Performance, Ivers Custom Cycles, Suicidal Cycles, Lucky 51 Hot Rod Cycles, Bill Slater and of course the one and only Roger Goldammer.
These guys are experts at ground up fabrication.
I struggle all the way through to build one bike exactly the way I design it.
That is the difference.
