Utter the words "Biker Build-Off," and the first thing that springs to mind is probably a bunch of over-fed white guys with unruly facial hair bolting together V-twin based choppers under the artificial time constraints of some over-caffeinated cable TV producer. Love 'em or hate 'em, these "reality" based bike build-offs have proven supremely successful not only for cable television networks and the celebrity bike builders that they spawn, but also for the show promoters who host the Build-Off "reveals" in front of huge crowds at their events. Palm Beach Bike Show promoter Ron Freire incorporated the taping of an episode of The Discovery Channel's Biker Build-Off programming into his 2004 event. The Build-Off reveal portion proved so popular Freire decided to expand the concept for 2005 and host the first ever Sportbike Build-Off. To insure a big payoff for the crowd, Freire invited six of the nation's top custom sportbike builders to create original motorcycles for the inaugural contest, with all the entries revealed at the 2005 running of his show at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in Palm Beach, Florida, this past summer.
Sponsored by Super Streetbike and spearheaded by the six participating shops-Alum-A-Chrome, Custom Sportbike Concepts, Extreme Custom Sportbikes, Roaring Toyz, RPM Cycle Performance and Superbike Concepts-the Sportbike Build-Off promised the most innovative and creative motorcycles for the 17,000-strong audience at this year's show. Five of the six participating builders come from Florida (only Alum-A-Chrome, located in Stokesdale, North Carolina, isn't located in the Sunshine State), a testament to Florida's emergence as the nerve center of custom sportbike culture. If your only knowledge of Florida's bike scene comes from annual visits to the outdoor T-shirt mall/Harley-Davidson owner's gathering known as Daytona Bike Week, let us bring you up to date: Florida is literally crawling with blinged-out custom sportbikes, and show organizer Freire, who also organizes a series of very popular Bike Nights in the West Palm Beach area, took note. "We were asked by riders again and again if we could stage something specifically for sportbike builders to show off their talents and show what they were doing on the customization side," Freire told us. "That's where the whole idea for the Sportbike Build-Off really got started, because sportbike customizing is definitely growing to the point where I think it will eventually be as big as choppers are today," he said.
Speaking with the builders present at the show, we heard plenty of theories why the custom sportbike tackle coming out of the Sunshine State is so funky. Some credit a climate where rain is as rare as fully clothed females, while others say it has to do with a healthy drag racing and performance scene and an all-around motorsport-friendly culture. Whatever the reason, it wasn't hard to find a half-dozen convenient builders to round out the field of the first annual Sportbike Build-Off and convince them to design and create a mind-blowing custom ride in just six weeks.
The element of surprise is a big part of the competitive build-off culture, so builders kept details concerning their individual machines secret right up to the day of the show. Competition was friendly-most of the builders knew each other from competing at other shows, and some even contributed parts to each other's bikes-but it was obvious these guys had invested deeply into their projects. No one was going to be happy with second place. Serving as the judge for the build-off portion of the show, I was acutely aware of the emotional investment each builder had tied up in his creation based on how they eyeballed my every move as I scrutinized their bikes.