Being in an industry where half-dressed, soft curvy women straddle hot rod machines has it’s advantages. My loyal buddy Curt Lout and I headed down to AZ bike week as a team to see what kind of trouble we could rustle up. Curt is always on the hustle and has a way with words.
Too bad that didn’t work when he was single. It was my first experience watching the velvet-tongued photographer talk women out of their clothes to help “further their careers”. It’s hard to believe but that camera is a powerful tool in the right man’s hand. We hadn’t been in the dustbowl more then a few hours and Curt already lined a up the voluptuous Sandra to do a topless photo shoot. Next we had to find a bike that would work. I spoke with Scot and Mercedes at Redhill Motorcycle Werx and Mercedes offered up her bike “Bitchcraft” for the shoot.
We got it all arranged and the next thing I knew we were in back of a hotel off the main street in Cave Creek having Sandra get “ready” for the shoot. Curt did a few test shots but we had a small window of opportunity before we got ran off or the light went bad. It was the end of the day, the shadows were stretching out long and the blistering heat was getting to all three of us. I wasn’t even really sure what the hell I was doing there but I didn’t complain. There’s a code about shooting bikes in the sun. We needed to catch it low in the sky so it didn’t shower the bike with shadows. That means crawling out of the sack before the sun jumps into the sky, or waiting until it’s about to check out for the day.
We positioned the bike perfectly in front of a huge cactus and Sandra took off her top and as the miner’s use to say, Eureka! We had the perfect light, the perfect bike and the perfect set of…I mean model. She knew exactly what to do and although she claimed to have little modeling experience she was a trooper. I found that my official photographic calling was boot shiner, (not boot licker) and apparel assistant. I also ran interference between the maid who sounded like Bart Simpson from all the “Aye Carumba!” comments we heard from her. I was sure that the cops were going to show up at any moment and haul us off to jail for indecent exposure, but that never came to pass. Curt got some amazing pictures, we all walked away deliriously happy, and I knew I had found my calling.
After the shoot we headed over to the Hideaway. Scot and Mercedes parked there for the day and over cheap Mexican food and many drinks they told us the long away around how “Bitchcraft” came to be.
Scot and Mercedes Ross both had a passion for American V-Twin motorcycles and decided that their combined backgrounds of sales and display design would help them develop the perfect shop. The road to owning Redhill Motorcycle Werx has been rocky. Scot and Mercedes moved to Arizona in 1996 so that Scot could attend MMI. At the same time Mercedes was recovering from cancer and running her store design business, so they loved being back in the desert to see how much AZ bike week had grown. They decided to move to Colorado after Scot finished up his training and Scot landed a job with a local aftermarket shop where he learned about the motorcycle business and got some hands on training. Scot and Mercedes Ross opened Redhill Motorcycle Werx in August of 2000 hoping to do what they loved.
The location was one that Scot and Mercedes eyed carefully. Location, location location was the key as the adage goes. Lots of people reviewed the sleepy town on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park with distain, “There is no way it can support a custom motorcycle shop,” they said.
“We knew from being in the industry that we couldn’t just be another shop, we had to distinguish ourselves from the average shop and become a sought-after destination. I knew that I could make the shop a place that people wanted to find, by investing in all the merchandise that we could possibly afford, and make it cool, while Scot set up the machine shop in back.” Said Mercedes.
And set up the shop he did, he decided he wanted to be a Dynojet center so that he could tune anything and get it right the first time. He also wanted a paint-booth in back so they could be a one-stop shop. They could build a ground up custom and have it painted right there. The only items to leave the shop involved powder coating and chrome. Scot called on his long time friend Phil Greff and asked if he wanted to shoot wild finishes in back of the shop. They set up a booth, called it Black Canyon Custom paint and they were on their way.
This was about the time Mercedes pondered “Bitchcraft”. She wanted to build a bike that would attract women to the custom motorcycle scene and be functional for a woman. She knew that it needed to have a low seat height, be light and fast enough to blow away the boys. She started looking around and Scot, being an R&D guy in the bicycle industry for years, knew that he would be limited in weight if he went with traditional steel. They discovered Wildcat Engineering and made an aluminum frame. They also found fenders and an aluminum gas tank to lighten it.
As soon as they decided on the frame they ordered it and started to get busy. Customers were waiting on project bikes, and they wanted to show off their building and fabrication prowess quick, so Mercedes bike shifted to the back-burner. They planned on finishing the unnamed aluminum bike for Sturgis 2003, but they just didn’t have the time, so they hauled the roller up to Thunder Road. They received tons of praise, as it glistened in their booth. Scot, Mercedes and Phil gazed at it for 10 days straight and vowed to complete it, no matter what, by the next Sturgis. They also came up with this radical color scheme.
They started to get serious and planned to unveil it at the Denver Motorcycle Show and Swap in February. Behind lots of hype and previous appearances, the bike was unveiled knocked out onlookers. They kept up theme of building it light, fast and Mercedes, who is very driven by her work, came up with the name “Bitchcraft”, since she would ride it.
The colors are a new technique that they worked on with their powder coater. They wanted the anodized look but didn’t want it to fade. All of the red parts that look anodized are actually a translucent powder coat. The sheet metal and frame were burnished with a Scotchbrite pad and then clear powder coated. Paint has a tough time sticking to aluminum. This way the candy and graphics had something to adhere to. It made the paint look deep and different from any other bike.
The design scheme was something that Mercedes came up with along with help from the Redhill team. The hard parts used were up to Scot and he turned to TP for the engine and 6-speed transmission. “We used some TP parts before and were really happy with the performance and longevity, so we called them up and ordered the drivetrain.” said Scot.
They really liked the look of Arlen Ness’ parts so they started to put together a list of parts that flowed together, which was the one thing that Mercedes really paid attention to. “I come from an artistic family, so everything had to flow, not match but flow together. Nothing could look out of place.” Said Mercedes. They picked the M bars as a tribute to Mercedes and then got the primary, grips and hand controls form Ness. The pipes were an easy choice. Mercedes respected the Yaffe X-pipe for some time. They threw translucent powder coating on the tips and blacked-out the heat shields to match the rest of the bike.
The bike was assembled and unveiled at the Denver Motorcycle show and swap meet to hundreds of onlookers. Everyone who saw the bike liked the way it was laid out and appreciated all the thought that was put into it. Men and women alike were drawn to every detail. Since Denver it went on to gone win several trophies including, best in class, polish and shine award and 5th place at the Ratshole in Daytona 2005.
“I have another bike in my head that I should complete before Sturgis. Hopefully it have a similar impact, and this time it will make the men even more jealous.” Said Mercedes. I’m hoping Curt and I get to shoot it with another great model and make all of you jealous.
You can check Redhill Motorcycle Werx online at www.redhillmotorcyclewerx.com or call them at (303)823-6363 and you can see more of Curt Lout’s work at www.studio9000.com
You can also purchase the shorts Sandra is wearing, plus more cool clothing online at www.toxicinkclothing.com . Check them out!
