01x03 - Forging a Family

[bunniefuu]

Miss you.

I missed you.

- Oh, my goodness.
- He doesn't like that.

No.

Oh, bro, it's epic.

It's a JD... JD Knucklehead Chief.

- Indian... Yeah.
- JD Knucklehead Indian Chief.

- Yep.
- It's a good name, dude.

Chief of the Knuckleheads.

It's a really special moment

because I've always wanted '36es.

And this is the reason why.

When I first saw this bike...

"I wanted to have a '36."

And so when I told Jeremiah

I said, "I wanna have...
I wanna have six '36es."

- Bullshit.
- And Jeremiah goes

"That's impossible. You're not
gonna be able to get six '36es.

I've only seen a couple."

And so, my goal
has been to get six '36es.

Only because he's my little brother,
and I just wanna spite him.

I think the genesis
for doing six '36es is a...

it just kinda came out of a...

I guess Jeremiah just giving me guff
about it not being possible.

He's never seen six '36es.

Being able to find
six '36es this quickly

and be able
to make these kinda bikes.

You know, it's the first year
of the Knucklehead.

I have an obsession
with the Knucklehead motor.

You might call it a problem

especially the ones from 1936.

They're so rare
that they're holy grails.

I'mma do something
that's never been done before.

Get six of these historic
'36 Knuckleheads

on the road together with my friends

and do one epic ride.

The first four of the '36es

I've already built
with some amazing craftsmen

like Big Scott Stopnik
and then Socco Obestein.

Now I'm asking Jeremiah and Max
to come on this journey with me

and build bikes five and six.

I love Knuckleheads.

But Knuckleheads now are...

not as easy to come by

as they were 15 years ago.

The parts we're finding now are just
completely stuff that was trashed.

I love the fixing of it

of fixing something
that was totally broken

and putting it back together.

Jeremiah's un-f*cking-believable.

He does everything. Knows everything.

Some people are style.

Some people rebuild every part of it.
Some people do everything.

Jeremiah does everything.

The thing with old engines is...
or anything old

like this stuff isn't new.

Like, we're fixing it, yes

but it has to be...

it has to be broken in.

This is a mechanical, like, being
right here.

And all these things,
it's like joints in your body.

Everything has to warm up
and like... like, I don't know.

It's like, for when an engine
is re-birthed after you rebuild it

and people that only rebuild engines
know this

like, every piece
has to be fit and sized

and, and everything has to wear in
to where it finds that spot

to where it wants to live and operate

like a, like a well-tuned athlete,
you know?

And if you don't take that time
to break them in, some people say

"I just build a motor,
and I just get on the road and go."

All right, well, more power to you.

He's opened a world to me
that I just knew nothing about.

Our families are extremely close.

I love 'em with all my heart

and so he's done
a lot of things for me

and I've done a lot
of things for him.

Just trying to help
each other's careers

and help each other out.

He's like a little brother to me,
and...

I love getting him into sh*t.

This is my oldest hen. This is Jule.

She's seven.

She's a little beat up,
but she's our oldest girl.

She's like, my... my bikes.

- I like 'em...
- A little torn up.

Little torn up
and got lots of personality.

The thing
with building a Chopper is...

It's a blank canvas for you
to do whatever you want.

You know, you could either fabricate
every single piece on the entire bike

or you could just piece together
what you have and make it your own.

- It's all comps. Natural yarn.
- See 'em?

What an amazing space.

So, my vert ramp
was started here and went there.

Now there's the ring back.

You had a 12 ft...
you had a 12 ft vert ramp.

Yeah. I had a full vert ramp
back here.

- Yeah.
- And mom was cool with it.

I grew up skating inside
of a warehouse

an old ironworks building.

A ramp that my mom
let me build inside the house.

So that... I was alone,
or with her boyfriend

skating six, seven days a week.

So it's like... it was, like,
built right...

Wall-to-wall dude. In fact...

You get to, like,
hit the rafters, basically.

I did, yeah.

You see how that one's cut out?

I cut it out
because it was in the way.

You'd have to air over it

which was like a 6 ft air. So, yeah.

Max is, like... he just carries
this vibe with him where it's...

I mean, everything he touches.

I mean, like, his style
in skateboarding just blows me away.

And what he can do
and then what he brought

to the motorcycle industry.

His clean lines, just the way his...
his paint jobs.

And I mean,
when I first saw the first 4Q bike

I was like, "What is this?

He just changed the game."

You're like,
"Man, this guy's unbelievable."

I think as a skater,
you learn failure is okay

'cause you fail repeatedly
to learn something.

My first bike, I'm actually
not really embarrassed about

but I see a ton of flaws in it.

I think that's the thing
about skaters

they make great photographers.

There's a lot of skaters
that are amazing photographers

because skaters speak
that alien language to everyone.

They look at a set of stairs
or a bank

and they're like, "Oh, man,
look at that. That's insane."

Well then, you wanna sh**t it
and you want it to look good.

I know that transfers into this.

I mean, you... you're looking
at the lines of everything

and... you just switch
a rear tire sometimes on a bike

and you're like,
"Oh, there it is, finally." You know?

And like, for two months
you've looked at it like

"What the f*ck
is wrong with this thing?"

It was just the tire, or the size

you know, if 16 versus an 18,
and bam, that's it.

Max definitely paved his own way
in skateboarding

and I... I can relate to that

as a... as a skateboarder growing up

'cause it gave me that eye.

But it's never been
on the level that he is.

And so, it's always
very inspirational to see

how he's transferred that
into his art form now.

All right, so...

here is our next project.

It's the fifth '36.

- Looks like it.
- This is... it's number five.

I wanna throw it in something that...

is pretty awesome.

Another crusty old bike?

It's not another crusty old bike, no.

It was a pristine, beautiful bike,
but it wasn't '66.

So, the history of it

I bought it. It's a showbike.

I asked for permission.

I said, "If I bought this

is it okay if I could remove
this motor?"

Like, I love showbikes. You know me.

I love all these vintage old bikes,
but I wanna ride 'em.

So, you have a survivor showbike?

Yes, because the person
who made it was a painter.

He's amazing.

- It's amazing...
- Okay, so '60s amazing showbike.

Okay, what... I wanna...
I wanna see it.

Quicksilver is
this super famous bike.

I've seen it all the time.

You know, it was really scary

'cause I'm like,
"This is sacrilegious."

And I'm like...

I already have permission

so don't be like,
"Oh, you can't do it."

You're gonna mess
with an original showbike, okay.

- It's not the original motor.
- Okay, okay.

So, but here's the thing.
It's like, the motor's massive

and it's like, you'll, like,
burn your a*s off.

It's like the... it's...
it's just for show.

I would rather ride it.

And if we're making '36es

I'm asking if we can take this,
put it in there, okay?

We'll take it down to Jeremiah,
get the motors

put it all together,
surprise Jeremiah.

And he just...

I mean, you're talking to...
This... this is a very famous bike.

The Quicksilver was built
by a guy, Dean Lanza.

That was a...

He has a cool roster of Choppers
that he built.

And they became fairly collectible.

All right, I'm gonna wheel it up.

- Okay?
- Okay.

Faith, don't look.

All right, I'm not looking.
I'm turning around.

Don't look. Close your eyes.

Oh, yeah, they're closed.
I'm turned around.

It's... looks like a drag bike,
but it's a Chopper

and everything's kinda molded
so that it looks like it's one piece.

It is its name. It looks like
this quick moving piece of silver.

- Ready?
- Okay.

Get the f*ck out of here.

The Quicksilver, baby.

Oh, my god.
The history of this bike is insane.

The first time I saw the Quicksilver

I was blown away.

Dean Lanza built Quicksilver
back in the late 1960s.

And it's probably
his most unique creation.

It was a revolutionary design

and cemented its place
in bike folklore

as the grandfather of Choppers.

There's tons of articles about it.

It's a beautiful bike. It's a Pan.

It's one of the baddest
showbikes on the planet.

Like, it's just so fluid.

I don't wanna take
anything away from it.

It's beautiful, it's sacrilegious,
but it isn't the real motor.

It isn't the one that went with it.

And it's a Chopper.

It's a Chopper.

So, it's also just go to like...

"Look what I got, bro. Let's...

let's make something with this."

And he gets excited about it,
and like

"What are you doing?
What do you mean we can't do this?"

And I'm like,
"Well, it's not the real motor."

He's like, "I guess. Is it not?"

So, I guess, you know,
that was that one man's dream.

I'm like, "Let's just evolve it.
I'm not gonna paint it black."

- And it's like...
- Yeah, let's do it.

- Yeah, right?
- Let's do it.

- All right, baby.
- Let's do it. I love you, man.

But look at that. But look, '36...

A '36 Knuckle in that?

One of the '36es,
like, we're gonna take...

just taking a historical bike

and that... that paint job,
what it's known for.

But I wanna ride
the g*dd*mn thing, that's...

The thing is, when I buy these bikes

I don't want it to sit in a museum.

I wanna ride 'em. I wanna sh**t 'em.
I wanna film it.

I wanna... I mean, life is short.

I wanna do this.

Bro, it's dope.

The fifth.

The fifth '36.

Dean Lanza, the guy who built it...

I mean, you can just look.

I've fabricated gas tanks
from scratch

and fenders from scratch.

And looking at his fabrication
and his paint skills

and when I saw that bike...

Like, I've seen it for years,
you know?

But I never got to see it in person

to where I get to spend
like, hours and hours...

of looking at a creation that was
created 50-something years ago.

"All right, well,
let's take this bike.

I wanna put a Knuckle in it.

It'll fit with what we're doing.

Are you guys cool with it?"

It's like, "Yeah, I think it'd be
awesome if we could ride it."

I'm like, "It's pretty impossible
to ride it the way that it is."

It's like a Jimmy Hendrix song,
you know

like a good one you hadn't heard

where you're like,
"I remember seeing that."

And I was like...

"That's... it's special."

It's a... it's a cool thing.

I don't know how to describe it.

Aside from that it's...
it looks like a drag bike Chopper.

I was like, "This is an amazing piece
and I wanna ride it."

Let's... let's do it.

And so I think everyone
kinda got behind it.

I'm sure people are gonna be pissed,
but I mean...

I don't know.

Originally, this thing had this, like


in the weather for 30 years.

I wanted to switch it to a Springer

but I think the bike
we're doing for you

- it's perfect for that.
- Absolutely.

So, we'll rip it apart.

- Clean it up.
- Well, it's frozen. sh*t.

Frozen to sh*t. Yeah.

- Oh, yeah.
- Oh, yeah.

It's like we're making Thor's hammer.

Look at this.

Holy sh*t.

Yeah.

This is the front fork

but it sat for so long outside

it wouldn't fit in here with...
hanging this up.

I don't know if you can see in there.

- Jason's cleaning the floor.
- It's a lot of...

That's a good man.
You know what else he cleans

is the little thing
in the bottom of the sink.

The little strainer.

It's the first thing I noticed
about him.

He made tea,
and he cleaned the strainer.

- Raised by a woman.
- I tried to marry him, but...

He said no.

So, basically COVID happened.

- Right.
- I couldn't be with you.

We had a frame.

'39 with a '40 motor.
We're gonna make a 4Q bike.

- Yeah. '40 4Q.
- '40 4... '40 4Q.

And then we got a whole design
set up for it

and it's gonna get nickel-plated.

Yep. What happened was,
I took the motor out

or, you know, to use
for something else for use.

You brought the '40 motor

and when I had the motor
out of that frame

I noticed some damage.

The old frames took a lot of abuse.

So, I sent it to a guy

- that's the best.
- Yeah.

Well, COVID happens

six months turned into
a year and a half.

The guy had
some unfortunate circumstances.

And then I thought,
"Our... our project's done."

And the other day,
I looked at my own bike

and I was like, you know,
this frame's perfect.

Take my whole bike apart.

- Give you the frame.
- Yeah.

And redo the project
in a different style.

- We were doing nickel-plated
- Yeah.

with fancy paint.

And now we're gonna do
the Bay Area...

the best Bay Area crust.

I just kinda needed to go,
"Well, let's go pick through

all the amazing collection

- Yeah. Yeah.
- of things that you have.

Build this sick, what your style is,
maybe pull the Frisco."

- Let me get some fenders out.
- Yeah.

I'll get on the ladder
and you say when.

- Absolutely.
- Okay.

So, I kinda have a fender problem,
just so you know.

This one.

This one, maybe we make that pink
with the... with the stripe?

- With the golden... stripe there.
- With the gold pearl.

Do the gold pearl down the peak.

I love taking things blue
and making 'em pink.

I'm not gonna lie to you.

Yeah. You hate blue.

There, bro.

- That's f*cking beautiful.
- Yes.

That... we'll just stop there

'cause I don't wanna embarrass
anyone else's fender collection.

- Oh, yeah.
- You know what I mean?

So, this'll be kind of
a bigger boy bike.

I'm gonna make something
a little longer for you.

Yep.

This is a tank that I just
test paint colors on...

to see, you know, how they spray out
so it won't look anything like this.

And then you love
that Frisco-mounted sporty tank.

Oh, yeah.

One of the greatest things
about being on this show

is you get to go to so many studios

like craftsmen-artist studios

and you get to be in their world

the world that they created,
what they're inspired by.

I get to create something with them

and so it's definitely
like these wonderful moments

where, it's like pinching yourself
and you're like

"I'm starting to build a bike
with Max at 4Q

and I can't believe it."

Hey guys, if this is how I go

take care of Rachel.

- Booyah.
- Oh, yeah.

- Okay, while I'm up here...
- Yeah?

Pick a... pick a primary.
Any primary.

Do crusty rusty.

- This guy, right?
- Here, right.

This... this dude?

- Oh, bro.
- Yeah, that's right.

What do they say?
The pièce de résistance?

Get on my shoulders.

All right.

I wanna be able to have it someday

so it's gotta be so cool
to be able to come in here

and just be like,
"Oh, what about this one?"

Oh, it's so nice.

It's wonderful to be in his shop

and be able to pick
all these little pieces.

And it... just find its soul
and its life.

Someone that you look up to
and who inspires you

and you're gonna go create
this bike together.

I feel very blessed
to be able to do this.

- Cool.
- Super cool.

- Cool.
- All right.

- So.
- '40 4Q.

All right, on it.

Let's... let's do paint.

Max's style kicked off
so many things in our community.

Growing up skating really
kinda gives you this eye

that is something of its own

and I see that in his work

and I love how he brings it
to his work.

His paint jobs are unbelievable

and you can just stare at 'em,
and they're so deep.

I just really admire, one,
watching him paint

but, two, just the... the finished
product of everything.

He's teaching me how to paint

and it's just a wonderful experience

to sit next to someone
who's a master at it.

With Max, you can see, you know

his... his passion and love
come into his craft.

He's just so f*cking cool, man.

There's people
that come into your life

and they open your mind.

They are a reflection
of what you wanna be

and I think Jeremiah
and Max have that.

It's weird to be, like... like,
very starstruck

when you meet, like, actors
and this and that, different people.

I'm like, I actually got starstruck
meeting these guys.

The first time I met Max

this was early in the days
of the blog

and seeing him in Dice Magazine,
I think dating back to 2005.

I was just in love
with his style, his paint.

He's just very creative.

That he was a skateboarder

and not that he was just
a regular skateboarder

he was like, amazing,
like, skating with John Cardiel

going on skate trips
on the other part...

Like, this dude
ain't just building bikes.

This dude's a badass,
and he ain't no fake.

This guy is as real as it gets.

The first thing I ever saw
of Jeremiah was on YouTube

and it was like him
kick-starting a bike.

And he had Vans on,
and he had shorts on.

But just from the way
he walked and moved

I was like, "This dude skates."

I respect that guy a lot, man.

'Cause he's... he's made it
in the skateboarding world

which is, like...
That's difficult, you know?

And I was a skateboarder,
and I still am a skateboarder.

You can't ever give up on skating.

I'm... I'm not what I used to be

but I watch Max, and he's, like,
six years older than me

and he's still blasting
his frickin' front side airs

but just k*lling it, you know?

I think what makes Max so special

is that he is a... he's a pioneer
in the sense of the style

and he's perpetuating a...
a style from the... the late '60s

that no one really has.

And he really lives it.

He's an artist through and through

and I feel like
my relationship to him

is really fueled by his love
for skateboarding.

My love for skateboarding.

And you know, him really
bringing that flavor to motorcycles.

Jeremiah, he had asked me
to paint something.

I... I asked him to paint...

see if he could paint
a gas tank for me.

And there was no hesitation, he...

From, like, the first time
I started talking with Max...

I mean, we've all had
our rough roads with friendships

but me and Max...

Jeremiah was...

got into the Chopper thing
shortly after I did.

And he started Love Cycles.

And there wasn't a lot of us
back then

that were, like, under the age of 40.

And Jeremiah

his first bike was cool.

He did a good job,
and so I took notice

and then we're, like, fans
of each other.

And then we met each other at a show

and we've wrestled each other
at every show ever since.

And I think I've lost
every wrestling match.

Yeah, I call him
more than he calls me

just 'cause I get...
like, eleven o'clock at night

I'll just... like, "I gotta...
I gotta talk to him."

And he'll be like,
"I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He just sends me selfies
of himself with his shirt off.

He's constantly sending me selfies.

And I'll f*ck with him. I'll be like

"Oh, another cute selfie
from Jeremiah."

And he never... he'll never stop.

He's very old-fashioned.
He loves his families.

He loves being a craftsman,
and he's a pure soul.

It's rooted in his title,
Love Cycles.

Does everything.

It's really inspiring
at the same time.

He's just the most amazing
family man.

Max just being a skateboarder

and just being
an awesome human being.

And, you know, we've been able
to ride motorcycles

on the other side of the damn planet

and we've been able to meet
some of the coolest people

and become really good friends.

It's a... a friendship.

I love that guy, man, you know?

I can whoop his a*s
in wrestling, though.

Bought this bike
that had been in a fire

and I restored it

and it ended up in...
in the museum in Milwaukee.

And I took it outta the museum
a couple of months early

to... to race it

and I was getting really good
at building engines

at that point in time of my life.

I was... I was so nerded
out of performance

and I wanted to build everything

and I wanted to build the fastest,
most powerful bike I could build.

And I didn't care of the consequences

of doing a hundred and twenty
down Grand Avenue

at two o'clock in the morning
all by myself

or going out to the desert
by Joshua Tree

and going as fast as I could.

I couldn't recognize
how stupid I was being

because I was...

I was so sucked in
by this mechanical thing

that it was like a drug,
that it was like

the faster I turn that throttle,
the more I wanted to do it.

And that day on the beach...

My good friend Benji said, "'Miah,
you already beat the fastest guy.

Just wait til tomorrow."

I called Mona on the phone

and I told her
I just beat the fastest guy.

And two minutes after that I was...

you know, I was... I was screwed.

I couldn't foresee the dangers
involved of what I was doing.

I just felt invincible
because I was on this...

this bike that I had built
from nothing, you know?

And it was so powerful.

My inexperience of racing
on the sand and my ego

or you could just say drive...

I wasn't thinking about Mona

I wasn't thinking
about Angus, Paloma, Jonas

anybody that I was around.

It was just Jeremiah
and "How fast could I go?"

And it didn't matter.

And for a couple of years
after my accident

I couldn't get excited anymore.

I had all this blank canvases
in front of me

and I couldn't touch any of them.

And it wasn't the bike that did it.

It was me being... taking this bike
and almost k*lling myself.

You know?

That was the hard thing

losing full use of my hand

being so stubborn
that I could do anything.

I didn't need to listen
to the doctors.

I still didn't wake up,
even after wrecking.

I couldn't wake up and say to myself,
like, "Stop."

You know? Just focus on the moment
of what's here right now.

One day at a time.

The accident is what drew
the line in the sand

if I was gonna keep doing this.

And Mona was gonna still support me.

I don't know how she puts up with me.

My family has been, like,
number one grounding point.

And even though I lost touch...

they were always there for me
when I couldn't recognize it.

It's just overcoming
these mental hurdles, you know?

Depression's a messed up thing,
you know?

I think Jason came back around

and believed in what we were doing.

And I've noticed
that in the last year

Jeremiah's inspired
to build a Chopper again.

I couldn't try
and live in the future.

I just needed to focus every day.

And I still struggle
on focusing every day.

But when I do and I can focus
on one day at a time

I feel like life just is so fluid.

I've got all these ideas

and I've got all these
blank canvases in front of me.

I'm gonna build something
that all my creativity goes into it

and there's no concern
of what somebody thinks

or who do I have to build it for,
or a timeline.

It is validating
when someone that's done

some really cool things
with their life

has said, "Hey man, I believe in you.

Let's do this thing."

And I feel that Jeremiah
is validated again.

And he's ready to build
some bitching sh*t with Jason.

Getting over that hurdle,
like, hurdles, man

for people that are struggling
or going through depression.

And I was in here
at the end of last week...

and I came in, and I had
had this bottom end

of a motor I'd been working on
for the past year.

It just went together
like it was a... a dance.

Like, all my knowledge
came back to me

like, how to fit it, how to size it.

I could remember
how to make this dance again.

Man, life's good, you know?

Life's... life's awesome.

As far as bikes, man,
I just wanna keep creating.

No matter what it is.

No matter what it is, never stop
using that part of your brain...

to where you wanna create something.

Mark.

Thanks.

All right.

- Okay.
- It's a long time coming.

Late '60s, Dean Lanza,
amazing artist, amazing painter.

This was a showbike.
It's my first showbike.

Show me, bro.

We took the Pan.

We put a 1936...

nickel-plated dual carburetor.

Holy sh*t.

Bro.

Jeremiah.

Bro, look at that.

Wow, bro.

Being able to put the motor

that I really cherish
and love the most

put it in there, have it all
nickel-plated

dual carburetor.

Start it up, man. Start it up.
Let me hear it.

All right.

Look at that, baby!

That was insane.

It's so beautiful.

It's so complex and complicated.

Look at that paint, George.

This looks great.


of bikes.

Dean Lanza's amazing monument

and I wanted to put
a nickel-plated nutter in there, so.

It's a '36. It's weird as it gets.

And it's beautiful.

We're gonna take it
for a ride tomorrow

'cause we lost the sun,
but tomorrow's gonna be a great day.

It's really beautiful
to watch Jeremiah

'cause that bike is a chapter
in our relationship.

It was a chapter in... in his life.

Who would have thought that this bike

would've forced us
to get to these... these times

that were extremely hard on him.

Look at that.

Six '36es, buddy.

I told you.

I told you.

Just like the way your heart beats,
like, nothing stops it.

Like, when I feel like
I get creative again

like, just putting
that bottom end together

I feel like the next step is

I could just create
this badass sissy bar

and make this frickin' k*ller tank
and these pipes.

And I could just see it all flowing
with my eyes closed.

This was something
that was a respect to the history.

Dean Lanza is amazing.

And I think Quicksilver
kinda came into my life

and I feel
like this all came together

and the universe
kinda came together for this bike.

And I wanted to make
something special with Jeremiah

but the truth of it is,
like, Jeremiah and Max together

was very important
for this all to come together.

Jeremiah was going through
a pretty tough time

and what was going on in our lives
and what needed to happen

it really helped bring one
of my best friends out of a hole.

It's kind of the most
prolific storyline

that moved me
the most in this whole series

because of really
the back story of, like

what's been going on with two
of my really, really dear friends.

There's only so much
you can do for your friends

but he needed
to come out of his shell.

And he needed to find it.

And I feel like this bike
got that little bit back.

Got him rolling again
and got his inspiration going

and he's... he's got his mojo back.

And really what that was is, like,
rescuing a friend.

Being there for a friend.

It just was the right thing
to get him back into his craft.

I really thank everyone who could
make Quicksilver come together

because it was such a...
an important piece

for one of my best friends
to like, survive.

This is a survivor bike.

And I feel like we got through it
'cause of that.

Do you think that's the farthest
that this thing's ever been ridden?

On an actual road,
I mean, yeah, it's...

Dean Lanza, I think, took it up
the drag strip a couple of times.

Yeah, you know, but not as far
as doing 20 mi on it.

It was just meant to be a showbike.

How we doing back there?

Yeah?

Okay, Jeri, gonna need
your help here, brother.

Oh, man.

- Holy sh*t.
- Yeah.

Bro, it looks huge.

I know, it's... When you buy them
it's f*cking tiny.

Bro, here we go. There we go.

- Yeah?
- Yeah, right there.

- Bro.
- Oh, boy.

Oh, boy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Almost lost a thumb in the process.

Oh, man. Damn.

And I make everything
king-sized, like the shifter.

- This is it.
- Brake.

Where's...
This is going... this is going to...

It's going to England, baby.

Dude, it's unbelievable.

- Let's watch you fire it up.
- Oh, my god.

Let's do it.

All right.

- So.
- Let's start it.

Right here.

Bro!

Oh, it's a lot of that. Lights off.

Got a big boy bike.
We're going to k*ll rattlesnakes.

There's no key. No right?

- No key. Do not need those.
- No key.

Never had a bike
actually start this easy.

- Really?
- Yeah, dude.

- Real nice.
- Yeah?

- Yeah.
- Too fast?

It's timed perfectly.
Like, it's... Everything's tight.

It's good to go.

Intense... intense three weeks.

Yeah, well that's the beautiful thing
about this story.

- Totally.
- We planned to do something else

and then this ended up exactly...

by listening to our loved ones and...

- Yeah.
- trusting and...

- For sure.
- trusting in the universe.

- Yup.
- We got down to the last minute.

I literally, like, leave
in a week and a half and...

Perfect, dude.

- It's perfect.
- Oh, yeah.

My old frame, that front wheel
I just had got

- and it was just was, like, perfect.
- Yep.

The brake pedal is hollow inside

so that it's light
and it snaps back quick.

Those are old vintage table leg ends

- Sick, bro.
- to go with our white-black theme.

And then you have extended
the shifter on

so your big foot
could fit under there.

Everything's up-up.

So...

- So one up...
- Yeah. Yeah, GP style.

Like, race-bike style.

It says it on the gas cap,
so when in doubt.

When it doubt... What was it again?
One up... Three...

"One... one up. Three to get down."

"One up, three to get down."
f*ck, it's beautiful.

I love how you put these
two different colors, too.

- Yeah. Cool.
- I can't wait to ride it tomorrow.

So, check it out, man.
We got six '36es.

All of us are gonna ride '36es,
Choppers.

- I can't wait.
- Bro, yeah...

So we're gonna do that tomorrow.

'40 4Q bike.

My... my love for Knuckleheads is
I love the look

the aesthetic of 'em,
and... and it's really the sound.

'36 was the first year.

It's not the best Knucklehead.
It's just the first Knucklehead.

And it really was the one
that, when I was little, I was like

"That's the one I always wanted."

It's... it's a very unique motor.

And they're so rare.

It's the most beautiful engine
in the world to me.

This sh*t will grind you down

because you're constantly having
people try to criticize your work.

You know, that thing with people

where they love you when you're down?

Jeremiah and I faced a lot of that
in the Chopper thing

where people were kinda waiting
for you to fail.

I'm not saying we're at the top,
but we're doing good, you know?

And... and having Jason on our side

didn't... didn't help those things.

You know, there's memes
made about making fun of us

and all this silly sh*t
because we built bikes for Jason.

Some guy that had the means
to help support our craft.

It's a wonderful place
out in the desert

so it was cool to bring Jeremiah
and Max to my kinda territory.

It's kinda where I grew up.

I felt if my mom's house
as being on J. Tree

so it was one of the coolest moments

because I've never got to ride with
Jeremiah and Max at the same time.

How long's it been
since we've all been together?

- Never. Never.
- Never.

- That's so crazy.
- The three of us.

- Isn't that crazy?
- Yeah, this is the first time.

- That's insane.
- Yeah, that is pretty weird.

We talk all the time.

I'll be with Jeremiah,
and we'll call Max.

I'm with Max, we'll call Jeremiah.

And it just has been going on
for 11 years now.

And we've never gotten together.

So, I gotta tell you this,
making this show

this has been the hardest
out of all the stuff to sh**t.

The whole dream of being able to have
six '36 Choppers...

riding on the road.

It's just one of these weird things
that was in my head.

And the fact that Jeremiah was like

"Nah, nah, you can't do this,"
and I was like, "We're doing it."

The feeling of bringing
those together

I've just never seen it before.

Even when I talk
to the old-timers too.

They... they were just like,
"It doesn't happen."

Everyone's got a different style,
and I love eclectic.

It's just, like, man,
this is our piece.

It's a little Picasso
that I'm, like, I appreciate these.

I get to ride this artwork.

But I've always said, man, we get
to ride our artwork around town.

And not... You'd be an as*h*le

if you had a painting
outside your truck

and you were like, "I painted this,
so check this out, check me out."

This one is, like...
it's almost like therapy.

This is a lot of healing stuff
that happened

by just building these two bikes.

And you know,
the biggest one was Jeremiah

which I've shot,
you know, documentaries about him.

We built so many bikes together.

I've shot so many things together

and you know, Jeremiah's had
a lot of growth in the last year.

Taking Quicksilver, it's been really
beautiful to see you finish.

And like, your face
when you started it up

that spark happened again.

And then seeing you come here
and looking at how healthy you are.

I'm like, it's... it's f*cking...

Very proud of you.

Yeah.

Quicksilver was... it was a hard one.

And when it showed up at the house.

You know, and you're like,
"We're gonna change it."

And then I'm like,
"I can't... can't change it."

And I'm like, "Okay, wait. Okay,
I could do it. I could do it."

You know? "I could... I could do it."

And I had closed my shop down

And...

and I had just fallen outta love
with bikes.

It came to a head, you know.

A year and a half later,
you're like, "'Miah, we got...

You gotta do it."

And those months leading up
to that were, you know...

I had been struggling,
and I had quit... quit drinking.

And I'd go into the shop
and I... I could just sit there

And I couldn't... I couldn't love
what I loved, you know?

"How am I gonna build this motor
to go into, like

the baddest Chopper on the planet?

I don't have the skills right now."

And I was calling Max, like,
"What do I do with this thing?"

Max was just like

- "Just do it, like..."
- Just start.

- "Just, like, just start."
- Start.

And... and I'm like, "Okay.
I can do the bike, and...

I can build the flywheels,
I can balance the flywheels

I can fix the case,
I can bore this in", like...

Everything was lining up, you know?

And it was going so perfect.

And I was like,
"This is not how it goes."

Like, this isn't how it happens,
you know?

And that day, that morning, I...
I... I go in and got Mona

I said, "It's gonna...
I think it's gonna start, babe."

And...

It fires up.

I couldn't believe it.
Like, I'd never built a Knucklehead

with all the rocker arms
and everything exposed

and no oil to the top end.

And it was running. It was like...

I felt like I got to be kinda like,
reborn again, like

and I'm gonna build a Chopper again.

"Max, I want to...
can you paint my Chopper?"

Like, this... I wanna do... like,
"I wanna do that," you know?

And, but just take it easy
and listen to the signs.

'Cause those are important, you know?

- Good to have you back.
- And like, you got... You know I...

I love motorcycles, you know?
And I love you guys.

And I'm... I'm honored
to do Quicksilver

and I hope I did it justice.

- It's amazing.
- Thank you, Jason

- for pushing me to do it.
- Yeah, buddy. Yeah, guys.

'Cause, it's been a journey, and...

I wouldn't be here without you.

Talking to one of my best friends
about what he's going through.

It just was, like, I was moved.

And that's the...
that's the real magic.

And I'm happy, I was aware,
to capture that moment.

Both of us had to like,
"Get your f*cking act together.

Do what you were born to do.
Someone cares.

And, you're gonna show
so many people. Let's do it."

Like, "Buckle up, and let's go."

Most of all we didn't wanna
let you down.

Yeah.

The spirit of what
these two bikes are...

really super impactful,
I think for all three of us.

You know, the friendship and just
going like, this is uniting us.

We've all been talking for, you know,
a long time, and now this is it.

Sitting under this tree talking
about this kinda stuff

and knowing what we've all...
what we've all been through.

- I love you guys, and
- Same, man.

- I learned... I learned a lot, man.
- Thank you.

- Thank you.
- Love you, brother.

I know.

All right. Let's go ride some bikes.

It's pretty f*cking cool how healing
that whole process was, man.

That was the most intense therapy
session I've been through yet.

- It was a good one.
- Oh, g*dd*mn it, man.

Riding with the six '36es at dawn

all personalized, some survivors,
it was a beautiful thing.

And it was really just coming out
of two friends going

"Oh, that's impossible,
that's impossible."

I'm like, "Well,
I'd like to see that."

It was really fun to be able
to dream that up

and then all your friends
build those.

And customize them

it's just... it's having
your wildest dreams come true.

And so, that's why
six '36es came out of it.

It was extremely special.

It takes a long time for some of us

to feel comfortable in our own skin.

And to believe in who we are.

And that has been the journey.

I'm elbow to elbow.
We're like a David Mann painting.

We're like, literally touching
each other.

My handlebar's hitting Max's
and we're just riding at top speed.

Sun's coming up. I'm so close.
I can just hold onto them.

I felt like we were
in one of those paintings.

Who knows, in a hundred years,
are there gonna be motorcycles?

They're really beautiful, and I know
how much fun they offer

and what they've been through,
these machines.

Whether it be w*r,
good times, bad times.

Like, I just love all the history

like, it's wrapped up
and soaked into them.

I hope more people
can slow down and enjoy.

These machines are really simple.

Just being on the road,
like, the universe

you're just connected
through this machine

and you're riding right next
to one of your friends.

I'm through and through
just a... a roamer.

A vagabond,
and I love... I love moving.

It's just that vehicle,
that's how I move through life.