So we’re back in the desert for Arizona Bike Week 2024 and the annual Friends Throwdown. It has been a three-year tradition for us to head across the plains and into the high desert to kick this event off with a ride down through the canyons from Winslow. I will pause briefly here so you can sing a few lines from the song. Great, let’s continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year, they threw a little twist at the Throdown by making it a freestyle event. Rather than build to a theme or base model, everyone was left to their own devices and could build whatever they wanted. We were lucky enough to have been brought in by the Klock Werks team, who were just finishing their project when we arrived in Mitchel right after the Donnie Smith Show. There on the bike lift sat a still, very disassembled Indian Super Chief with what was probably the only fully polished motor on the planet. It, too, was far from the finish line. Regardless, the work was moving at a fever pitch, and there were plenty of other tasks at hand so several trucks and trailers could pull out from Mitchell and make the trek. The team pulled together with unparalleled precision, and before we knew it, the new build was fired up, and the wagon train was headed out to AZ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Once we pulled into Winslow, some 48 hours later, another flurry of activity was already afoot. 12 or so other builders and their teams were scurrying to finish up last-minute details to prepare for the next day’s ride. The bikes were mostly lined up proudly, and we got a sneak peek of what was created for this unique little soiree. Launched in ’22 by Paul Yaffe and Jason Mook, spurred on by Brian Klock, the Friends Throwdown is a build challenge among friends and has become a grand celebration of not only the custom motorcycle scene but of the type of community that has always made it a special lifestyle. Our host hotel was the beautiful and historic La Posada in Winslow. Once everyone was fueled up in all ways possible, we tucked in for a great night’s sleep and headed out the next morning. Now, the temperature was edging up to fifty, so this would be anything but a hot ride through the desert. In fact, we have learned this in the past few years: that the high desert is a very different animal. It’s incredible how fast the elevation change affects the degree meter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Paul Yaffe in the lead, our procession rolled down the mountain and stopped in Pine for a nice lunch and to enjoy the sun warming our riders’ bodies. We had the pleasure of being joined this year by Cory Ness, who, grandly, outlined the type of talent that shows up for this deal by doing a tribute Digger that showed the influence of his family’s past, present, and future. The bike is drop-dead gorgeous and is a runner to boot, but the real treat was hearing Cory’s excitement when he explained how he infused the traditional Digger stylings his father was famous for back in the day with elements from other periods of the Ness family brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jeff Zielinski also decided to build a Digger, but this was a big twin platform that featured a Panhead installed like a jewel in the middle of what I can only describe as a monument to the history of the Digger. It was old school and traditional from front to back, and while he varied from the 7\/8 tubing of the frame, he made up for it with a Diamond tank built by Munn himself, likely one of, if not the last one he will ever make.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curtis Hofmann threw a curveball to his peers. Everyone expected him to show up with a performance bagger, a bike his company has become well known for. Instead, Curtis, who wowed the crowd with his modern take on a traditional 90s chopper last year, decided to take that work a step further and start with a Road King, taking parts of the chopper, parts of the bagger and developing what might be a brand new direction for the custom bike industry. This could be where we are headed by stepping up the handling and performance of that 90s chopper style. It, too, was a stunner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brian Klock killed it with his Indian build and spent most of his time explaining, “Yes, that is an Indian.’ At first glance, you took for granted this was a Softail. With their faring, a set of high risers, and little hard bags from Viking. The bike looked fast just standing there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paul Yaffe’s BMW build was his entry, and seeing this bike in person was terrific. With the boxer motor, the BMW offers a unique challenge to any custom builder in terms of ease of proportion. Somehow, Paul pulled this off flawlessly, and it looked as good in person as any previous social media shots we had seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big Ricky and Brandon Hoffman were the father-son team back to the Throwdown for year two. Ricky’s build was one of the last unfinished projects of his late Hamster brother Mike Cole. It was finished in Cole’s honor and, in typical fashion for any bike of Rick’s, had a striking effect on anyone trying to walk past it. A blaring white Shovelhead with hot rod red stripes. It was clean and perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, Brandon brought his A game with a machine that started life as a Servi-car and ended up a bad-ass board track style custom. One of the neat features was his floorboards; each was a swivel that operated the clutch and brake. The tranny was up, the paint was black, and at sunset, in the desert, it was a neck breaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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