Cali Ron's Road King

(This is a letter we received from Ron Janowcyzk regarding his Road King. Here it is as we received it - Thanks Ron!) Brian

More than a new ride...

Like a lot of us who own and ride baggers, I tinkered here and there, always looking to make my Road King look a little less, you know, old. I watched and read about all of the cool custom stuff being done to just about every other harley model and wondered why none of these hot shot builders spent any time with touring bikes.

Somehow I came across the Klock Werks web site. I was impressed with the work Brian did on a number of very diverse bike platforms that I saw on the website. I was really interested when I saw the work he had done on baggers. Finally, I had found someone who found a way to make these beasts look cool. I reached out for Brian and discovered that he was going to be at a show in a city about three hours from me in Northern California. I attended that show and watched as he and the Hobo placed in the Top Ten with bike entries from all over the world. After the show, I got to meet Brian and spend some time with him. I was impressed by the ideas he had about the clean simplicity that the baggers he built maintained. Although they were clearly custom, the baggers he had done hadn’t lost their practical ridability. I really enjoyed hearing him describe what he wanted to build because I wasn’t looking for a trophy, I was looking for a bike I could ride.

Six months later, my ride was on its way to Mitchell for its makeover.

The plan was for the bike to be completed and back in my garage for my trip to Sturgis. That didn’t happen. What happened was much better. Brian suggested that I fly into Sioux Falls and make the short drive to Mitchell and watch his team do the final assembly on my bike. The plan was then to ride to Sturgis with him, hang out some together and then ride the bike back home to California.

What I witnessed over the next couple of days blew me away. I saw his team spending time completing my bike. Lot’s of time. Over three days, I think I averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night. The Klock Werks team is really interesting to watch. They all work on multiple tasks but someone is always making progress on something all of the time. I had the pleasure of watching Joe Mielke wrestle to diagnose and then find the solutions to at least three complex electrical issues on my bike. I wish I could bring the pragmatic intellect he demonstrates to business problems of my own. It’s really impressive. I guess I’m just not hard wired that way. Mechanically, Tim and Dan were like watching skilled craftsmen or a pair of Santa’s evil elves. In addition to the good work they do, they constantly keep you amused with their stories of drinking, fighting and dating. In addition, Todd was always around doing something either on the water jet or on assembly and Laura was there organizing, planning and providing a welcome presence in contrast to this group of not-so-handsome sweat drenched guys.

I also saw a lot of stuff I didn’t expect to see. There was a constant stream of people from all over the country stopping by to see Brian. Some were customers, some bike builders, some broken down riders, some friends just passing through and some were important players from high profile companies like S&S. In every case, Brian was always the same. He was unbelievably friendly, patient, caring and accommodating. There was a pile of work to be done, final Sturgis plans to be made and bikes to complete. Yet, with all of the pressure and lack of sleep, it just was not in his makeup to act any differently.

To shorten the story, I’ll just say that my bike was completed and we made it to Sturgis on time. We had a few electrical and mechanical issues to work out but Brian was committed to solving all of them. He never let me down.

After spending a couple of days riding the Black Hills, Brian called me. He informed me that we were meeting early the next day. We were riding to somewhere near Rapid City to meet with Mark Langello, a professional photographer who would be shooting my new bike for Iron Works magazine. Needless to say, I felt like a rock star. The pictures turned out great and with any luck, you’ll be seeing them in an issue over the next 12 months.

Almost a year ago, I thought that I would be lucky if I could get Klock Werks to do a project for me. What I got was a chance to watch my project go from frame to bike, get rolling on the road and be professionally photographed for a biker magazine. And, all of this happened during Sturgis Rally Week. How did I get so lucky?

I got a really nice custom bagger that is a kick to ride. It gets a lot of looks wherever I ride and park it. Maybe more importantly, I found a bunch of very talented folks who just happen to be really great people. I consider myself fortunate for having met them and had the opportunity to drink, laugh and sweat with them. My bike is all about this team and what they stand for. I hope they are around a long time. At least long enough for me to convince them to do another bike for me.

Ron Janowczyk