The Great Biker
Build-off: Indian Larry vs. Paul Yaffe
Did you happen to catch the latest episode of this
show?
What a difference in style bike builders have. Namely
Indian Larry and Paul Yaffe. It is really obvious in the beginning of
this builder war that the final products will share mainly one similarity,
it is a chopper. Other than that, these guys are building two completely
different monsters.
So first we head to New York to Gasoline Alley, Indian
Larry’s shop. Larry designs the bike, Paul Cox does the leatherwork
and Gunner the shop dog watches over things. With 30 years in the business,
Indian Larry is THE old school chopper builder. The plan…a jockey
shift, no front brake 1950 pan head reproduction rebuilt with today’s
technology and yesterdays charm. This chopper’s engine will kick
out 100 horses and the tranny will be an old style kick-start. Top is
off with a springer front end.
Twenty five hundred miles west is a modern breed of
bike builder. Yaffe Originals produces sleek, one of a kind, pieces
of art. Paul Yaffe’s shop is out of Phoenix, Arizona. He has won
the Roadster Show three times and a hundred or so shows since with his
unique designs. Paul sketches his designs with charcoal and makes it
happen. The heart for this anti-chopper is a TP engine that yields 143
horsepower at the rear wheel. The frame is a modified custom frame.
Yaffe dropped the neck down and added to the rake to make it seven inches
longer and four inches lower so the neck meets the frame at a more extreme
angle.
Yaffe’s style is most unlike Indian Larry’s
in that Yaffe like to hide as much as he can with body pieces that are
shaped by hand. Indian Larry on the other hand likes to let the meat
show. He believes the mechanics and gizmos of the bike should be showcased.
In Larry’s own words, this is “elegance.” For example,
Yaffe hides his oil filter in the primary behind a piece of the body
while Larry has it in the wide open. Larry mounts the oil filter on
the outside of the bike, which makes it easier to change. This is undeniably
evident at the end of this build.
In the meantime, back at Larry’s, the wheel shows
up and it is really a puzzle. Since Larry is one of the few builders
left that know how to lace a spoke wheel, you are really watching a
master at work. Although, it proves to be a difficult assemble even
for him. The pattern of the spoke wheel is a maze of a pattern but Larry
believes that every chopper should have at least one spoked wheel. He
is not into a machine fabricating these wheels nowadays. Larry finishes
the wheel after a little while and after a distracting visit from Larry’s
wife, Bambi and her dog.
Back at Yaffe Originals, Paul describes to his wheel
guy the design for his front and back wheels, which will be created
by a computer, guided lathe. Yaffe doesn’t only build bikes, he
also has his own line of manufactured parts. He uses one of his own
stock fenders on the bike and barely adjusts it before attaching it
to the bike. Indian Larry has a different approach to his fender. Larry
uses a trailer fender and adds a strip to the center to fit the bike.
Larry says the old fender is more stabile and adds an onboard compressor
for rigidity.
How about a little history on these two? Well, Paul Yaffe was a bit
of a hoodlum while growing up in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles.
He was a drug addict and dealer until he was in a pretty bad accident.
His parents basically paid him to go to a drug abuse program and it
changed him so much that he opened his shop in 1991 and hasn’t
looked back. As for Larry, he quit drinking and drugs about eight years
ago. He too has made his mistakes and served five years in prison for
a bank robbery. It is really amazing how these two have overcome so
much and become so successful.
In Arizona, Yaffe is still under the gun to get this
bike done. Remember, both builders only have thirty days to complete
their bikes so Yaffe has to work through the Arizona Bike Week. Visitors
make their way to his shop to see his latest creations but it is day
20 and there is a lot of work to do. His bike needs to go to paint and
the exhaust isn’t done yet.
Indian Larry is in just about the same boat. He too
needs to get his bike to paint. What’s left to do? He has to lock
the wheels on, add the sissy bar, an old school component, and finish
up the details by end of day. While Yaffe’s seat is missing and
not completed, he is behind until it finally shows up and it is a perfect
fit. Paul has the rear end rise and fall on a coushion of air and he
unveils it to those at Arizona Bike Week. Larry finalizes the bike with
his signature question mark logo and dedicates this bike to Big Daddy
Roth who is Larry’s inspiration and whom he gives credit for his
own career.
And now paint! Yaffe’s bike starts with a silver
metallic basecoat with stripes covered in silver leaf. A black pinstripe
is added for definition. Lastly a candy apple red is laid on the bike
and the silver stripes glow through the candy color. Larry’s bike
is a flashback to the late 60’s. Since the bike is already primed,
a gold metal flame basecoat is sprayed on first, and then the custom
paint artist prepares the tank and fender for ruby red stars. When the
paint dries, he peels away the mask and re-masks it with a plastic mat
with Indian Larry and Gasoline Ally logo is placed. He then applies
gold and silver glue to adhere the gold and silver leaf to. Finally
he removes the mask and brushes the excess leaf away. This is a very
delicate process. A plastic mask is laid over the oil tank and he airbrushes
Big Daddy Roth’s green character on it.
It is finally time for the final assemble and since
it is day twenty-nine, everything better go as planned. Who am I kidding,
you know something will go wrong. These bikes need to be ready to ride
in twenty-four hours and Yaffe’s rear light and license plate
rack is not ready. He really looses it with the manufacturer and cusses
him out up one side and down the other. The exhaust arrives from powder
coat and is ready to be mounted. Paul now goes to mounting the rear
wheel when come chrome plating chips away and it needs to be re-plated.
Meanwhile the oil tank and exhaust go on. This bike is has such clean
lines and everything tuck in so well that you would never know there
was a million little parts and maneuvers going on in there. Later the
rear wheel returns and it is mounted without any problems. The seat
goes on and it is now midnight. The bike is ready and comes off the
rack. Does it start up? And a resounding YES! The 120 Cubic inch motor
starts right up.
Day 30 at Gasoline Alley and the bike is back from
paint. Assembly begins with the motor first then the shaft, channel
locks go on the nuts, then exhaust and sissy bar. Rear fender is then
attached and the cross rear light (like Jesse James logo) is attached.
Larry calls this an “adrenaline producing art form.” Larry’s
bike features a dual carb, which will allow more fuel and air into the
bike. We then watched Paul Cox create this amazing seat. He makes it
seem so easy. Paul says this seat will be an embellished version of
Larry’s question mark logo. He uses buffalo tan, which is wetted
for softening and to make it easier to work with. He scores the design
into the leather and slides it over the seat form. It fits like a glove.
This seat is a true piece of art. Oil is added to the bike and Larry
takes it out for the first test run. Like a dream.
A few days later, Yaffe’s bike arrives at Gasoline
Alley and Larry and his crew inspects it. Soon the two finally meet
and do the typical man hug. You know the one…smack hand, hold
fist to chest and come in for a hug with a smack on the back. Anyway,
it is time to go to New Hampshire, which is over 300 miles away. Along
the way, Larry signs a few autographs and they arrive in Laconia on
opening day. Laconia Bike Week started in 1923 and has grown to 350,000
bikers who descend on this little lakefront town. After a little showing
off, Yaffe shoots flames from his exhaust and Larry burns rubber in
all gears, it is time for the people and fans to choose. Is it old or
new? Two time Build Off winner, Billy Lane, shows to visit and show
his support when the verdict comes in. Indian Larry wins and Old School
Rules.
It had to be a very hard decision to make as far as
who had the better bike. It seems to me that the bikes were both so
far on opposite ends of the spectrum that one could not really distinguish
the two. Modern vs. Old School and fans voted for their favorite builder
in the end.
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