I was wet, cold and tired as I rolled the shovel into the bowels ofHell mknown as the south side of Detroit to find the elusive metal smith thatpeople call FabKevin. I was thinking what kind of person could cause thiskind of stir in the ol’ skool chopper community; I mean he wasn’tproducingfancy chrome shiny parts. Nope, his wares show up at your door in rawunfinished steel. So, why all the commotion? I really couldn’t understandit so that’s how I ended up rolling thru the industrial area of Detroit atzero dark thirty reading unlighted buildings looking for his shop. As I took aleft down an old decrepit alley I saw the flash of an arc welder and thesplash of fresh sparks from a plasma cutter arcing thru the front door ofan old rundown warehouse. As I parked the old shovel by the ramp leading tothe front door, I noticed a small Maltese cross with Fabricator Kevin letteredacross the bottom, painted on the door.
Climbing off the bike I can see the master at work. He is busyoverseeing a CNC High Definition Plasma cutter making sure each cut is perfect. I can tell by the concentration in his brow that he expects nothing but the best and that his customers will all receive the same. Slowly heturns his head to check who this intruder would be standing at his shopdoor in the middle of the night. I introduce myself and thank the gods that Ihad called him earlier to arrange this meeting, as I am sure he is wellacquainted with taking care of trespassers.
Slowly his menacing smirk changes to a grin as he turns off hismachine, reaches down to his obviously custom made diamond plate cooler, throws mea beer and tells me to pull up a chair. We started talking casually aboutthe chopper industry and where he believes it will head next, his thoughts andhis passions. Slowly information starts coming out about his backgroundand how he found himself doing what he is doing.
Maltese cross motor plate
It just happened that sometime back in his youth he decided he wouldget into the industrial sheet metal field. Being a rider and a person whoturns his own wrenches, he was producing parts for himself and of course asusual, people started to notice. 20 years later and thousands of widgets latter,he decided to mix his two passions into one, metal working and customHarleys.
It seemed a natural mix and with the machines he has access to fromComputer aided design work to his high definition laser, and his friendsall clamoring for parts like the ones on his ride he knew that he was ontosomething. Slowly at night on his own time he started turning out chopperparts. At first it was just for close friends, you know a timing coverhere a motor plate there, but slowly the word got out that here was a man thatcould take your ideas whether it was trying to adapt 6 piston Japbikebrakes to your girder front end or making laser carved motor plates with yourname engraved in them. He can do it all with top quality materials and at abudget price.
Jockey Shift Levers for Ratchet top Trans.
He started advertising and slowly an underground movement startedaround his parts, a subculture we will call it that is anti billet andreally believes in Kevin’s mantra of “If it ain’t STEEL, it ain’t REAL!”Parts orders slowly started coming in and a contract from Horse BackStreetChoppers magazine for his Maltese cross point’s covers, which I will sayare an exclusive to the Horse so I wasn’t able to sneak out with one.
Maltese Cross points cover only available thru Horse BackStreetChoppers Website
This is the point that the shop is at now, small enough for personalone of a kind parts and Kevin says that it will stay that way, Service thatwould shock the big boys and the ability to produce whatever your mind canimagine out of steel. You ask for flames, spider webs, Maltese crosses, oryour name engraved in that custom part and he makes it happen. That iswhat it is all about. As we finish our drinks I start looking around the shopnoticing some of the standard parts he produces. I ask him for a rundownof his “Stock” Parts and this is what I get :
“Exhaust flanges to make your own pipes for Shovels and STD heads,Taillight brackets, License plate brackets, Fender struts, Brake caliperbrackets (to adapt almost any OEM caliper to any frame or forks), MotorPlates, to connect motors and trannies on open belt primary drives, pointscovers for cone motors, Jockey shift arms, and almost anything else youcan dream up. I can offer many steel parts that are no heavier than aluminumparts, because I can make them thinner, and cut out unnecessary material.While I have plenty of my own designs, I can also work from your drawingsor templates. If you’re cutting out parts on a band saw, and grinding themto fit, I can probably program and burn them WAY cheaper than you can do ityourself. I can program and cut: spider web patterns, flame patterns,skulls, Maltese crosses, or any lettering or shape you want. I make partsfor American, British, and metric bikes too.”
One of a kind Mid Control Brackets and motorplate
Pretty strong words if ya ask me. But from what I see in the shop, Ibelieve what he is saying. Slowly I get up and thank him for his time andthe info and he asks me to hold up a minute as I was heading out the door.He walks over to the CNC machine and pulls out what looks like a motorplate for a shovel, and cut into the motor plate are the words OldDawg. Damnthat is something I wasn’t expecting and from the smirk on his face he knew itwould be on my bike by the next weekend. As I wheel my way west towards myhome I couldn’t help but wonder if FabKevin isn’t at the forefront of a newmovement and how long it would be before I started seeing his parts at thelocal shop hanging on the pegboard.
Thanks Kevin for the beer and the conversation.
All these parts and more are available online atwww.fabkevin.com
