Builder Bio-Rick Fairless, Strokers Dallas

We had just talked with the good folks at Triumph about sponsoring a special edition of Biker Buildoff featuring Triumph Bonnevilles (they said no for now�) when all of a sudden Rick Fairless of Strokers Dallas builds a Triumph chopper for the Biker Buildoff episode against Matt Hotch of Hot Match Cycles in Fullerton, CA. We are fans of Matt, with his innovative ideas and skill to back it up, but as soon as we saw Rick building around a Triumph motor, we went nuts.

Rick fitted a 300 series tire to this bike. How, you ask? By using a jack shaft to offset the drive chain. Look carefully at the photo above, and you�ll also see the belt drive operating off the jack shaft.

Nice detail with the velocity stacks on the carburetors...

Rick Fairless has a great story. He worked hard in a thankless job for years before taking a risk and pursuing his dream. He opened an Easyriders franchise dealership, and after Easyriders pulled out of that venture, he continued on, renaming his shop Strokers Dallas, after the bar he owns next door to the shop, named Strokers Ice House.

Rick says he mostly builds V-twins, but every once in a while he pulls out all the stops for a Triumph. The paint scheme may or may not meet your taste, but the engineering is pretty impressive.

By the way, this one-off Triumph can be yours for $60k. Visit www.strokersonline.com for more information on Rick�s dealership.

Rick Fairless, Strokers Dallas