ALTON, Ill. — There are two motorcycle enthusiasts in Alton, Illinois, who are looking to put the local chopper scene in the national spotlight, and they are letting their imaginations flow.
“Whatever comes in my mind that day,” Chris Dvorchak said.
Dvorchak and Drew Huddleston are taking those thoughts and building something special. Every day, the two can be found welding and grinding pieces of metal inside Evolution Cycles on East Broadway.
“I just start cutting and go after it,” Huddleston said.
Huddleston owns the shop. It is where he not only puts together custom cycles, but it is also where he makes his own parts.
“I don’t want to buy anything. I wanna make all of it,” Huddleston explained to 5 On Your Side.
He and Dvorchak are creating a custom chopper that’s as much Pablo Picasso as it is mechanical.
“It’s rolling art. It really is,” Huddleston said.
They want this rolling artwork to stand out in the crowd.
“You want the baddest girl at the dance,” Huddleston said.
The dance is the Biltwell People’s Champ motorcycle-building competition. Builders from around the U.S. are under consideration. Huddleston believes getting their chopper to stand out begins with the front tire.
“There’s something about a front wheel (that) kinda sets the tone for the big,” he said.
The chopper is nicknamed "ZZ Chop" after Huddleston’s new granddaughter, and he wants it to be flawless.
“We just don’t slap everything together and be like ‘Oh, that’s cool. That works,’ you know. I want it to be perfect," he said.
The quest for perfection means days, weeks and months of adjustments to the original design.
“I’d get it all done, and I’m like, 'Mmm ... nope,'" Huddleston said.
The custom builds don’t usually end the way they began.
“I have chopper graveyard is what I call it in the back,” Huddleston said.
“Sometimes transferring what’s in your head like onto actual metal, it just comes across right. Figure out little ways to tweak it or make it different and make it unique,” Dvorchak said.
But as the deadline for the competition nears, the reworking becomes stressful.
“When the bike gets closer to being finished, I might not sleep for two, three days,” Huddleston said.
The two have combined for successful builds in the past. The walls in Evolution Cycle shop are covered by photos of their past creations. The scenery gives them confidence of being able to do it again.
“Like, 'Oh, we actually did something cool again,'” Dvorchak said.
They’re hoping this chopper is cool enough to catch the eyes of all the Biltwell voters.
“You want the prettiest girl rolling into that dance so everybody’s head flips and turns,” Huddleston said.
The chopper has made it into the round of 20 finalists. Voting for the final six is underway through Feb. 5.
If you’d like to cast a vote for Huddleston, click here.
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