Who are you, where are you from, what is your day job?
I’m Hunter Kelly from Columbus, Ohio. My full time job is professional water/wastewater engineer, but I also own Unity MFG which makes parts and tools for old bikes. I started Unity as a way to make some motorcycle money on the side, and it keeps growing every year. All my parts are made in the USA and I try to make them as affordable as possible.
Point out some of your favorite details:
I tried hard to make a bike that would look good at 20 feet and at 2 feet, so I really like the profile and stance, but also added a bunch of little details on the bike. Some of my favorite details are the engraving all over the bike by Curt from 4th Floor Choppers, the molding and addition of hearts on the frame by Jasmin aka @skulltits, and the custom brake rotor and sprocket made by my machinist and friend Chris from Spoke and Dagger in Buffalo. (Those didn’t make in time for the photos but check out my instagram to see them!)
What were some of your biggest struggles building the bike?
The biggest struggle I had with this bike is swapping from the OEM heads to the STD style heads. They needed a ton of work, basically a complete rebuild. The valve guides didn’t match and were too long for a stock lift cam, let alone my Lienweber L51 with 0.508” of lift! Then they didn’t fit the Pangea Speed rocker box covers so I had to hit the covers with a die grinder to get them to fit (the heads were the issue, not the covers!) I had to have the fire ring machined to be able to fit the big bore cylinders. Finally, I found out at the last minute that the magneto wouldn’t fit without removing two fins. Needless to say, it was stressful. If I ever do a bike like this again, I’m starting with the motor!
The second biggest struggle was scheduling and staging all the work so it would all flow logically and smoothly and I wouldn’t have to redo parts because of conflicts.
Did you learn any new skills building the bike?
I learned so much building this bike. There were so many things I had never done before, such as building an exhaust from scratch. My welding has improved tremendously from the time I started the bike! I also learned how expensive it is to have all matching hardware, I’m used to just grabbing some bolts out of a bin, but that wouldn’t fly on this bike!
How does it ride?
It handles great and is really fast! I haven’t even really cranked the throttle because I’m still breaking in the top end. I’m used to my 74” clapped out shovel, so this thing is a rocket ship!
Anyone you want to thank?
There are so many people I want to thank. Honestly the best thing about this whole process is how much people have come out to support me, especially people all across the country that I’ve never met in person. For instance, this guy Fred saw that I bought a Benjeff frame for the project and so he just mailed me all the parts to build the oil tank, free of charge and would not accept any money for it! So many people have picked up the phone, given advice, given support, gone the extra mile on a ridiculous timeline just to help me out and it’s been really amazing. There are a lot of great people in this chopper community!
The list of thank you’s is long but here it goes: first off my wife and son for putting up with all the hours in the garage, Jasmin for painting a rad tank which was the genesis for the whole build, DeathCo Dan for always lending a hand, Zach for all the help welding and the great ideas, Kerry for all the lasered tabs and brackets, the absolute road beasts (inside joke) Dan, Joe, Mikey, Nick, and Chris for all the encouragement and support, Craig for being my #1 cheerleader and talking me off the ledge more times than I’d like to admit, Nick for the photos and help, Jacob for the tips and tricks with the oil bag, Andy for the hookup on the rocker box covers and answering all my questions, Brook for the polishing, Alan for machining the rear wheel and pushing me to make the bike better (his BF bike is INSANE), Ben for agreeing to make me a motor shop frame after years of pestering and then finding me one already made just before he started, R&V polishing for the insane turnaround on the chrome for my sissy bar, lnspltblvd for the hookup on the foot controls, sunset cycle for the primary plate, Morris for the killer magneto and tech support, Bob for the motor work, Lowbrow for having all the parts that made this build possible, everyone who messaged words of support, and finally Biltwell and Born Free for giving me this opportunity!