Birth of the “Rain Maker”
Apr 13, 2010
1 Comment
Article by: Roger “Flat Track” Attebury
Photos by: Mike Bloomburg
Remember the story where the little boy comes draggin a broken bicycle up to the local garage and the owner feels sorry for him and tricks it out? Well it’s kind of like that, only the little boy was 40 something Doug Jones, the broken bike was a collection of misfit parts and the garage owner was none other than award winning custom builder Larry Moore, of Moore’s Customs.
So, a guy (Doug Jones) walks into a local motorcycle shop and says, “I’d like to build a bad ass custom bike I can cruise around on and impress the ladies” so the shop owner goes to the back room and drags out a collection of leftovers including a 100 inch Indian, chrome tranny, some fat bobber wheels and a chrome Harley Springer. Doug thinks “Cool, some shiny paint and I’ll be cruising this baby in no time” Wrong!
As fate would have it, Doug knew a guy, (Lonny Moore) who knew a guy (his big bro Larry) who was just the man for the job. They show up at Larry’s shop with the prize collection of parts and ask what can be done. Larry, having a keen eye for customs, gives it a good looking over and comes up with a plan. At that moment, Larry knew just what the finished project was going to look like, but it was going to take several months of hard work for the rest of the world to see his vision come to life.
Now on television, custom bikes come out of boxes delivered by the UPS man, but at Moore Custom’s, most things get built, not bought. The vision that starts as the concept of the artist is transformed by hand (and very few machines) into a one of a kind sculpture of modern motorcycling art while keeping function close at hand.
The frame for the final build was purchased from Kraftech, a pair of vintage Indian tanks found on Ebay and the build was on. The Indian motor created an opportunity for the Native American theme that would follow the bike to its final completion.
When the world thinks Indian Motorcycles, there automatically becomes a connection with those beautiful vintage machines of yesteryear, and not to disappoint, this modern day marvel is dripping with antique overtones. The original fuel tanks were modified so that one half of one tank would hose the oil supply for the bike, being fed through a series of meticulously bent copper lines leading from the top edge of the tank, all the way to the bottom of the black and polished aluminum Indian engine. Between the tanks a dash panel was fabricated and in keeping with the Indian theme, the tank mounting bolts are hidden with genuine Indian Head Pennies.
Under the seat and in front of the rear wheel is another oil tank, or so one would think, but this large round polished copper tank with its beautiful brass riveted end caps was strategically placed to allow unsightly components like ignition coils and wiring to be hidden out of sight, keeping with the clean appearance that Larry’s builds are known for.
Building a bike of this magnitude takes the efforts of more than one talented craftsman, and while keeping the build uniquely his own style, Larry relies on a team of close friends to help with the details that keep a project like this moving forward. He enlisted the help of longtime friend and race bike builder Roger Attebury of Staracer Frames to help with things like hand built forward controls, knurled brass foot pegs, numerous machined parts, custom built handle bars and a unique brake system utilizing Brembo components with custom fabricated hangers and hidden master cylinders remotely operated.
Typical with any Moore Custom’s build, keeping the handle bars free from clutter is a priority, but in keeping with the vintage feel of this build, minimal chrome external throttle and levers were used and a cable from the front brake lever to the hidden master cylinder makes you forget that this machine is equipped with stopping power born of Italian racing engineers.
Hand built exhaust pipes were ceramic coated and equipped with hand built polished copper heat shields and mounted almost invisible seem to hang there effortlessly. The side mounted tail light was an antique housing of unidentified origin and custom made polished aluminum bezel; lens and protective lens screen were fabricated to insure it would remain unique. The headlamp is a converted spotlight housing with custom fabricated mounting bracket, one of the very few chromed parts used on this bike.
Classic spoked wheels, with black powder coated hubs and rims add to the classic styling and subtle touches such as the fine red pinstripe on the rims and classic red crown valve caps give question to the age of this machine. The seat pan, mounted on independent coil over shock absorbers, is a standard Chopper Shox product, but the seat is far from main stream. Larry’s sister in law Shelly Wahweotten a talented, and only female Kansas licensed Native American tattoo artist, drew a Native American Dream Catcher to scale and it was transferred to the custom hand tooled leather by Hunn Leatherworks of Agusta, Ks.
When the fabrication was complete, the components were sent to Larry’s younger brother Lonny who is the visionary of color for Moore Custom’s. The Moore family being famous for generations of high quality custom builds and extraordinary paint jobs treated the Indian bobber to a color combination that at a glance keeps with the vintage flavor, but upon closer examination screams of multiple layers of exotic basecoats and color combinations.
Adding to the color scheme, the artistic talents of Chad Ward were utilized adding beautiful red outlined copper leaf lettering to the sides of the tanks and brilliant red pin striping on the rear fender supported by hand built chromed struts.
There are always more people behind the scenes that help keep a project like this moving forward, and Larry’s wife Crissie is a big part of every build, doing everything from locating a needed part or scheduling appearances at the next custom show, to keeping the crew supplied with custom embroidered uniforms and gourmet provisions while they are working. And we can’t forget the owner and resident whipping boy of this build, Doug Jones, whose craftsmanship skills might still be in the apprentice stage, but his determination to participate and the contribution of his skilled surgeons hands made working on his motorcycle an everyday way of life from start to finish.
What makes a Moore Custom’s build unique, classic styling, unusual combinations of metals, paint colors and finishes, hand made parts throughout the build and taking every bike forward in concept while never forgetting where motorcycling came from and most of all, carefully studying what every other motorcycle builder had done and never copying any of it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, having a blast while building and riding bad ass custom bikes!
Moore Custom’s is located in Wichita, Kansas. You can reach them at 316-516-8636 or by e-mail (which is the best way to contact them) moorecustoms@hotmail.com
SPECS
Owner: Doug Jones
Builder: Larry Moore – Moore Custom’s
Year/Make: 2010 Custom
Name: Rain Maker
Time to Build: 4 Months
Cost to Build:?
Painter: Lonny Moore
Air Brushing: Chad Ward
Engine: Indian 100 ci
Carburetor: S & S
Air Cleaner: Moore Custom’s
Exhaust: Moore Custom’s
Transmission: 5 – Speed
Primary Drive: Performance Machine
Frame: Kraftech
Rake: 34 Degree
Front Forks: Harley Davidson
Rear Shocks: What ?
Front Wheel: Black Bike
Rear Wheel: Black Bike
Rear Tire: Avon 200
Front Tire: Avon 130
Headlight: Spot
Taillight: Moore Custom’s
Fuel Tank: 1940 Indian Moore Custom’s
Handlebars: Moore Custom’s – Roger Attebury
Seat: Shelly Wahweotten & Hunn Leather
Hand Controls: Early Harley Davidson
Foot Controls: Moore Custom’s – Roger Attebury
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