Title: American Choppers, Volume One, Number Two
Source: ©2004 Paisano Publications, LLC., November 2004

Outrageous!
And, Yes, You Can See Over The Tank

Mike Mays says he's been doing pretty well at the shows with this bike, a product of Graves Custom Cycles in West Palm Beach, Florida. No kidding. The bike's taken honors everywhere it's rolled a wheel. Debuted in Daytona, Florida, it trophied at both the Rat's Hole show and the Boardwalk show. That's "doing pretty well," wouldn't you say?

No surprise why. Just about everything on this radical is one-off, starting with that way-low frame. "Everyone was playing around with the drop seat idea," Jerry Graves says, "so I figured I'd see just how low I could take it." Getting that saddle down to just 14 inches off the ground took some doing.

Take a look at the run of the chain to the rear wheel, and the special idler sprocket. More of Jerry's handiwork show up in the tank, the rear fender, the front end-- you name it. Front to back this thing is pure Graves Custom Cycles. The shifter, the pipes, the controls, even the modified knunclehead handlebars, it's all Jerry's. He even fabricated the intake to accept that big VW drag-racing carburetor, a custom fuel mixer Jerry made up based on Weber internals.

As wild as it looks the bike's actually a pretty competent street runner, with the road miles to prove it. Mike is all over South Florida on this bike, the third and unquestionably wildest one Jerry Graves has built for him. "It's incredible on the road," attest both Mike and Jerry. And just in case you were wondering the answer is yes. Settled down into that ultra-low seat- just a tick over a foot off the ground- you can indeed see up and over the tank. Honest.

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