People's Champ Contestant - Jack Weidmayer

Who are you, where are you from, what is your day job?
My name is Jack Weidmayer, I’m a 27 year old machinist from Delaware County (Delco) which is just west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I’ve been building choppers out of a small shared shop in my dad’s basement for about 5 years now. Most of the parts I make are done with hand tools you have in your own garage. We recently acquired a small mill for our shop a few months ago, but 90% of this bike was done with things you would find in the average enthusiast's garage.

Point out some of your favorite details:
Hands down the plexiglass fins. I’ve had that idea in my head for 3 years now, and it is incredible to see it completed. Especially since I’ve been able to hide some additional pieces of plexiglass in the windowed neck, as well as the top motor mount. I think it’s so cool to see the sun hit this bike and have the shadow cast a deep purple on the ground as you’re riding along. Aside from the fins, I really love the rear end. The body line comes off the fins, into the rear fender strap mounts and I’m so happy to see that come together. My Arie Vee riser/handlebar combo matched with translucent top clamp bolts from Hardley Worthitson really pop and are fun to stare at while rolling down the road. There are tons more little details, but these are some of the ones that make me most happy/proud of.

What were some of your biggest struggles building the bike?
Everything. I can’t think of one thing that fit correctly or went according to plan. This is probably my most modified bike to date from making the hardtail from scratch, to assembling the motor, welding up the fins while trying to not melt the plexiglass, messing with that god awful k-model repop fender, to modifying/chasing threads on every aftermarket part I bought, absolutely NOTHING on this bike fit or worked as it should. Everything was a battle. It was an incredibly frustrating experience that really pushed me to the limits of my fabrication/mechanical knowledge. However, the added pressure of a deadline really kept me chugging along on the project and I’m grateful my stress persuaded me to just lock in and commit to the build.

Did you learn any new skills building the bike?
So many! Above all else, I was able to really hone my fabrication skills on this project. A lot of what scared me at the beginning of the competition is way less intimidating to me now. This was one of my goals in participating in this competition too. I’m lucky enough to have an excellent mentor which is my father, Mark, and he has been incredibly patient in helping me learn to fabricate on a more in-depth level. I’m still not the prettiest welder/fabricator but I got good at hiding that by developing even better grinder/bondo skills(joking)! Overall, I’m super proud of what I’ve accomplished on this bike and that feels incredibly fulfilling. I’m even more excited to take these new skills to the next build and improve even more.

How does it ride?
It rides great! The bars are super comfy and the motor runs strong. I had a little difficulty learning to ride foot clutch for the first time but adding in a stop for the clutch pedal made it way easier. However; the way my seat is set up it’s on an angle that kind of has me sliding backward and on top of that it hurts my little white ass. I’m pretty happy with it overall though for what it is I think it rides really nicely.

Anyone you want to thank?
My dad! He was a mechanic at Harley-Davidson West in the 80's. Through that experience combined with his 50+ years of continued interest in motorcycles; He has been an invaluable resource in any build I have done, especially this one. His guidance and the ability to reference his wealth of knowledge has saved me countless hours and dollars. I would not have finished this project on time or nearly as nice quality without his advice, and pro tips. A lot of these older pan parts are new to me, and I’ve never had before. So being able to ask him one million questions is really such a blessing.

My best-friend and current boss Pat (@mastersongarage) has also been such a huge support. He’s helped me with a lot of machining, specifically mill work on all the parts I’ve made. Pat’s got welds on this bike, and most importantly has been super reassuring when I expressed concerns with style and my timeline. He kept me grounded in a lot of this, and on the day before paint he came over and did about 8 hours of unpaid labor in freezing outside conditions.

Big thanks to Gary Ginsely for the help with my frame, and Mikey Machine for giving me a wicked high quality paint job on a super short deadline. Thank you to my girlfriend Kelly, she has been super supportive in making sure I was fed and helping me take care of day to day tasks so I could spend the majority of my time in the shop. Lastly shout out to the PA/NJ/NY ACMA Chapters and the tightnight community that is the east coast chopper scene!