The story of this bike is a damn interesting one. It has just as much to do with the parts used on this chopper as it does with bonds, blood, forgiving, and forgetting.

Although this chopper was built recently, the beginning of this story goes back to July 27, 2008, at a sleepy bar in Newport Beach, California. In the early part of the day, two bike clubs clashed leaving two men stabbed and one badly beaten with a cue ball. The fallout from the events that occurred that day included more than 150 Orange County-area law enforcement, including SWAT teams and ATF agents breaking down doors and slapping on cuffs. The army of officers arrested nine persons for a myriad of felony charges, which ultimately shook out to an assault with a deadly weapon charge, a couple drug charges, as well as one 30-day and one nine-year jail sentence.

The bike’s builder Rodrigo Requejo, or T-Rod as he is better known, was present at the event that occurred, and by T-Rod’s account he threw the first punch. T-Rod was subsequently charged with seven felonies from the dust-up.

The bike’s owner was in attendance at the incident as well—not fighting beside him as a club brother of T-Rod but against him as a rival.

With that said, the owner of this bike had been seeing what T-Rod was building both at his old shop Twisted Metal, as well as Illusion Motorcycles where T-Rod was a partner with a former club brother. When T-Rod left Illusion to start his own business dubbed T-Rod’s Speed Shop, the bike’s owner reached out and then after a long conversation and a face-to-face meeting to clear the air, a deal was made between the two to get this bike built.

This is how the bike came together in T-Rod’s words: “After we figured out all the parts and pretty much how it was going to look, we started with the fab work. The owner just walked away and said, ‘Just make it look cool,’ so I got to shape the gas tank the way I wanted and set up the sheet metal the proper way. It’s got a fast motor filled with the best stuff, and it’s meant for riding balls-out. It has a hand shifter on the right and a clutch on the left, but it’s really easy to shift quick because when you are on the clutch your right hand is off the gas and shifting. I am very detail oriented and a minimalist, but heavy on the details, so no wires are shown. The battery and ignition are under the seat and oil tank is under the tranny. The bottom line with my bikes is this: If it doesn’t make the bike faster, it doesn’t need to be there. Screw having navigation, cup holders, and all that bullshit. It’s like a drag car versus a station wagon in my eyes.”

They say that time heals all wounds, but we all know that that’s a bullshit statement indeed. Regardless, it takes a big man to be able to put aside anger and hatred and to do so for the betterment of one’s self and society as a whole. Presently both parties involved in this bike build can still be considered outlaws for sure, but each have found ways of getting over the past and together focused on a future where badass motorcycles supersede what went down in that bar seven years ago.