Some guys just get it. “It” being that unique perspective of figuring out a way–or several ways–for a bike to make a whole helluva lot more sense. Our old pal, Jake Cutler from Barnstorm Cycles, is one of these dudes. Jake was recently tasked with building a cool custom from Indian Motorcycle’s new Sport Chief platform for a very special customer to be announced soon.

Recently, Indian Motorcycle invited Jake Cutler, Carey Hart and Yaniv Evan to take delivery of a brand-spanking-new Indian Motorcycle Sport Chief to have their way with, each putting their own proverbial spin on customizing the new cruiser. Essentially, “having their way with” usually consists of tearing the bike down to the frame and then starting from scratch, but since the Sport Chief is already equipped with some pretty legit components, we’re curious to see what gets ditched and what stays in tact. Once each of these new builds is complete, each builder will gift the new build to one of their customers.

Jake received the bike only a few weeks ago so he’s still in the process of building, but he was excited to take it for a spin in the welcoming weather of the Northeast United States in February. “I’m very impressed with the bike,” Jake says. “I was able to put some miles on it before I tore it down, even though it was about 40 degrees, but it was a lot of fun, especially when I clicked it into Sport Mode.”

Now, we’ve known Jake and the Barnstorm crew for quite a few years. Jake has practically been riding and working on motorcycles since he was around 3 years old. No stranger to Indians, he’s worked on pretty much every one of Indian’s newer models since Polaris relaunched the brand over a decade ago. We’re familiar with this work too. Jake was an invited builder on the Hot Bike Tour because he’s a talented guy and just an overall mensch. Jake is also a guy who will simply just “figure it out.” We had the crazy idea to incorporate a set of Pelican camera cases on our off-road Bagger project years ago. We called Jake to figure out how to get them on the bike.

When Jake gets into a project, he really dives in with both hands and feet and doesn’t quit until it’s exactly how he wanted it or envisioned it. He takes a lot of pride in his work and that level of integrity is something that separates custom bike builders from parts installers. “All my life I’ve kind of liked how mechanical things worked, from that it kind of grew into wanting to make my own mechanical systems and because I have this passion for motorcycles that was a good avenue to blend those two desires,” Jake says. “I can get my mechanical fix and have some artistic license and creative ability and still end up with a functional thing at the end of the day.”

Jake says he’s not trying to reinvent the wheel with this build, more or less just accentuate the performance theme that the Sport Chief already embodies by lifting the front with a little more ground clearance and by reworking the handlebar area. “This bike is cool because it’s kind of a blend of the Challenger, which I’m very familiar with and it’s a bike I really like, and the Chief platform, which I was excited about when it came out, but I hadn’t really gotten into so it’s kind of a perfect storm for me for a starting point,” Jake says. “I’m pumped to put my own twist on this where I’m hoping to get the bike to where as a rider you feel super locked in and the bike is just an extension of yourself.”

You can guarantee that Jake will tinker with some of the cosmetics too, playing with the look and feel. But the overall goal for Jake is to create a really tight and comfortable bike that you can lean into the corners and hammer the throttle in the twisties and straightaways.

We look forward to seeing the progress of Jake’s new Sport Chief build. We’ll be updating you on the progress right here at hotbike.com. Expect the next installment of the Barnstorm x Indian Sport Chief collaboration in early May 2023.