People's Champ Contestant - Chris Hatton

Who are you, where are you from, what is your day job?
Chris Hatton from a small town of Risca in South Wales,UK. At the start of this competition I was a tattooer of 25 years, but times change and things move on, I’ve changed careers and have been a full time welder for the last two months

Point out some of your favorite details:
Favourite part is definitely the paint colour and artwork, Lee Carter laying the colour down and then the artwork Sami Graystone did is unreal. Looking past that I’m really happy with how the oil tank/fender/seat unit came out, was a definite worry but I’m glad I stuck with it.

What were some of your biggest struggles building the bike?
The fabrication went fairly smoothly in general I’d say, like everyone knows the last 10% takes the longest. Had a couple problems with the motor once it was time to fire her up then once they were sorted the problems led on to magneto. That really tested me to be honest, almost threw it away a couple times but we persevered and got it dialed it.

Did you learn any new skills building the bike?
From the start of this build I tried to hone in the skills I’ve learnt from previous builds and improve on them. I definitely learnt and lot about magnetos and Mikuni carbs having never used them before.

How does it ride?
It’s so much fun blasting through the local hill side country lanes.

Anyone you want to thank?
So many people….
All the old boys that have over the years taken the time to share their knowledge with me to get me to the point of entering this competition I’ll be forever grateful. My fiancé Sami for encouraging me to enter People’s Champ and pushing me to get the bike done in plenty of time. All the locals that have been around to bounce ideas off and bullshit with.