Each year when the bikes roll in for the annual Ride for Dad, I find one motorcycle that stands out from the rest because of the attention to detail in the customization of the bike. Last year, it was the Jamaica inspired Rastafarian Victory Jackpot painted by artist Rick Evans. This year, my two favourite worlds collided – hockey and motorcycles – and the bike that grabbed my focus was a beautiful custom with personalized plates that read BLKIC.
Black Ice is a 2011 Harley-Davidson Street Glide transformed into a one of kind custom ride paying homage to the game of hockey, the Edmonton Oilers and more particularly goalies of the game over the years.
The bike’s owner, Chris Sand, said, “I have played goal since I was a kid, and I still play twice a week and I have always been an oilers fan.”
Sand lives up north and and visits Kelowna often. During a visit to Fort McMurray Harley-Davidson one day, an opportunity presented itself.
“The bike came in as a complete write off,” explained Sand. “There was over $10,000 in damage that occurred during shipping. All the bikes in the truck fell over on it in the crate and all the cosmetic parts of the bike were damaged so everything had to be replaced.”
The hardware of the motorcycle was fine, just the ‘tin’ wasn’t in such good shape and so Sand bought the bike and began making it his own by getting bigger wheels, a wrap around stretched fender, stretched saddlebags, stretched tank, added a carbon fibre inner fairing, Arlen Ness deep cut accents and bolt-ons and then sending it to Baker Boyz Designs Inc. in Edmonton for all the paint (www.bakerboyz.net).
The paint is what catches the eye of a hockey fan (or photographer in my case). Several goalie masks are painted on the bike in strategic locations connected by goal netting and enhancing the black ice experience.
“Let’s see,” says Sand, “Grant Fuhr, Ken Dryden on the side covers and tank, Gary Cheevers on the saddlebags and on the tour pack is Tony Esposito and a replica of an iconic Ken Danby piece called ‘The Crease’ and the Phantom of the Opera mask – the painter put it in, and I thought it was cool.”
The final touches were ten-inch mini-ape handlebars and hog tunes in Toronto added the saddlebag speaker system, and stereo.
With the bike complete, it was time to show it off and what better place than the Baddest Bagger competition in Sturgis where black ice stood with 105 other custom designs.
“It was kind of neat to meet some of the people in the industry,” added Sand. “It was nice to see all these guys with their bikes and their different parts that they manufacture.”
Coincidentally, Sand turned out to be the top pledge earner at Okanagan Ride for Dad last Sunday, June 9, 2013 bringing in $4,300. The prostate cancer awareness fundraiser is close to Sand’s heart after losing his own father, and grandfather to the disease, and seeing his uncle and father-in-law currently battling prostate cancer.
“The red maple leaf on my bike, represents my dad,” added Sand. “I wanted to add a little colour to make it pop – so the leaf represents my father as he was an immigrant to Canada from Norway and loved the maple leaf.”
