Bryan's Blog

When one of the first thing’s Satan said to me was “Jerry Garcia would love this bike,” I wondered if I was having an acid flashback. Jerry Garcia is dead and I’m talking to a guy named Satan. Later I would find out the head honcho of Satan Cycles was talking about the Deadhead emblems that were etched into the rims of the motorcycle he was working on for the Biker Build-Off being held at the Laconia Roadhouse. Yes, that’s the name he goes by. And no, he’s not evil. A little crazy, maybe, in a mad scientist kind of way, but not necessarily evil.

Satan Cycles is a custom motorcycle shop out of Selkirk, N.Y. Its proprietor grew up in a biker family and has been wrenching since he was young but he only started building promotionally about two years ago. His HQ is an old barn (painted red, I bet) where he does service jobs, sells handmade parts and builds ground-up customs. And despite the name, he’s actually got a friendly smile and his eyes light up with excitement when he talks about building bikes. Satan also has two sons and frequently participates in benefits around his community. He showed me the tiny leather jacket he has for his youngest son, complete with assorted patches. Ol’ Ron Finch made Satan and his youngest boy a ‘Lizard’ out of a wrench that his son insists his dad take with him to all the shows. Satan admitted that the name of his shop isn’t demonic in nature but does attract a lot of attention. Shrewd, but effective.

Amongst his exploits, he contributes to a local rag called New York Rider Magazine with a column called Chop Talk. Here’s an excerpt that was published in the December 2009 edition:

“I was lucky, born in a true biker family. My first used bike came from Uncle Dennis. His yard was cluttered with pans and shovels. That spring I turned 19 Uncle D took me out in the yard and showed me this old chopper. I fell in love insanity with it, (that’s not a typo) the front end looked longer than a city block. It was a 1952 Pan… He said if you learn how to ride this you can ride anything. I was hooked on choppers forever. Thanks Uncle Dennis for that first bike.”

He wasn’t around when I wrote the original Builders Battle for Big Bucks at Laconia Roadhouse article but was more than happy to talk about the bike he’s hoping will win him the $5000 cash prize. Satan is keeping true to his chopper roots with a scoot that has a right-hand-shift clutch tucked in next to the heads of the RevTech engine and a left-hand throttle on some homemade apes that look like the bolts of Zeus. The kick pedal juts off the right side and the transmission is a 6-speed Ultima. He’s hooked it up to a Satan Cycles open belt primary and a chain final. A moon-eyes oil bag ties in well with the look of the bike, while all this has been squeezed into a Midwest Frame. It didn’t have a tank on it yet, but he showed me a couple of small, silver plates that said ‘Special Edition’ that he’s going to stick on the side.

“Yeh, I’m gonna call it a Special Edition,” he said with a smile. Not long after, he jumped on the seat of a custom he had on display when a song by the Offspring came over the loudspeakers, standing up surfer-style. Like I said, not necessarily evil, but maybe just a little crazy.