Shop's bike gets on TV, sets record
by JARETT C. BIES
jbies@argusleader.com
PUBLISHED: October 8, 2006
Mitchell-based Klock Werks Kustom Cycles has figured out how to make the "geezer glide" fancy and fast at the same time.
The shop was picked for one of Discovery Channel's "Biker Build-Off" events this summer and chose a bagger - also affectionately known as a road sofa - for the build, says owner Brian Klock.
The bike has since set a land-speed record for its style category.
"Baggers are not as cool to see, but they are fun as hell to ride," says Klock, 40. "We knew we could build wild stuff, or crazy stuff. We do it all. So we decided to go with this idea."
The TV show, which pits two teams of customizers head-to-head, giving them 10 days to complete their machines, had never featured a team building this sort of motorcycle.
Baggers - called that for the distinct saddle bags in the back - are known for comfort. "You can ride one all the way to California," Klock says. "We put every gadget in this bike we could think of, including a Sony DVD player."
The team put together more than 30 painted pieces, along with miles of wiring for the gauges and the fuel injection.
The Klock Werks team was pitted against Chopsmiths Handbuilt Motorcycles, a shop in Indianapolis. The episode airs Oct. 23 on the Discovery Channel, giving South Dakota a chance to see the third bike-building team from the state get national air-time; Tea-based Twisted Choppers and Rapid City's Independent Cycle both took part in the show earlier this season.
When the competition was completed, Joe Mielke, parts manager and part-time service tech at Klock Werks, says the bike, which was named "WFB" for World's Fastest Bagger, had to be tested.
"We went into the build-off knowing what we wanted, and we rolled from that accomplishment into another," Mielke says. "We were going to take this 'grandpa' bike and show what it could do."
It was built for speed, and Laura Ellifson, who works with the Klock Werks team, was picked to pilot the bike when the group of builders hauled it west to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in an attempt to set a land-speed record with a bagger-style motorcycle.
"It felt like being on a huge frozen lake; I half-expected to see someone ice fishing," says Ellifson, a Wisconsin native who now lives in Mitchell. "The atmosphere at the salt flats was friendly, and we were surprised how many people were curious to see how fast this type of bike could go."
After a single pass on the bike, Ellifson, who described her first ride on salt as smooth, already had qualified for a record. A few runs later, she broke her own record, with a personal best time of 147.36 mph. The record, averaging two times, is officially in the books at 143.6 mph.
Klock says naysayers need only look at the time, then at the bike, to see what his team accomplished.
"Guys who ride sport bikes will say, 'So what?' But you have to remember, this is on a frame designed to go 75-80 mph, tops," he says. "It shows that baggers are not just for cruising."
From the TV show to the salt, the team from Mitchell, which also includes Dan Cheeseman, is moving forward with new designs and projects, including its first automobile custom. The team will go to Las Vegas with five motorcycles, including the WFB, for the 2006 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show Oct.31-Nov. 3, the largest event in the world for members of the auto and motorcycle trade.
Ellifson, who made the trip to Utah with her daughters Erika and Karlee, received one more surprise on the day she set the speed record: Klock proposed marriage to her.
"I had absolutely no clue," she says. "There were tears and hugs, and the crowd wanted to know what I said. Yes. Of course."
Reach reporter Jarett C. Bies at 977-3925.