00:00Can you believe it? Season 4 of the Call Sam Chopper Shop is here and this year we're building something extra special.
00:12That's right. When it came to picking a theme this year, Darren, as you know, there really was only one logical choice.
00:18And once again, we'll raffle off the finished bike with our friends and volunteers of America, Michigan.
00:23And as always, raffle proceeds will help provide homeless vets with shelter, hot meals, and supportive services.
00:29All right, enough chitchat. Let's see how the designs are coming along and reveal the theme for this year's bike.
00:36For fans of the Detroit Lions, the 2023 season meant a return to form for the boys in Honolulu Blue.
00:43The city rallied, people cheered, and a trip to the big game seemed possible.
00:47With all of Michigan riding high, we knew what we had to do. Design a ride to satisfy the pride.
00:54No doubt this year about what kind of bike we were building, right?
00:57Yeah. Ready for this season?
00:59All right. Yeah, of course.
01:00Let me show you a few ideas.
01:01Let's check it out.
01:02We have an artist that she kind of did different versions of it.
01:05Dave lays out different takes on the design. With so many possible elements to include, the combinations are almost endless.
01:13This is my pick.
01:14Yeah, what do you got?
01:15Oh, I like that.
01:16Kind of a little bit of everything.
01:18You like it, Johnny?
01:19I did like the ones with the black paint, too, because being they had the new uniforms as well.
01:23Yeah.
01:24Yeah, that's super cool.
01:25Stick with the traditional colors, though.
01:26One of the things I've learned over the last three seasons is how much work goes on.
01:30This is art. This is engineering. This is design. This is manufacturing. There's so many craftsmen.
01:36And then, of course, it's a machine that's got to work, right? And be safe and get out on the road.
01:41It's not just bolt-on.
01:42As in previous years, a small army will help Dave realize his vision. An upholsterer will add a little pigskin panache in the form of a custom seat.
01:50Is that a football leather seat?
01:52Yeah, it's all the football leather.
01:54That's so cool.
01:55No way.
01:56Yeah.
01:57For paint, Dave has assigned the task to a chopper shop newcomer.
02:00We've got a great painter this year. He's got it. He knows what he's going to do.
02:03Yeah.
02:04He might change a few things here and there, because, you know, when you've got a painter that's an artist,
02:09he likes to do his own little touches to it.
02:12So, what's the process here, Dave? Obviously, you've got to pick the bike, and I think you said a 2005...
02:172005 Road King.
02:19Oh, nice. One of my favorites.
02:22Buy a ticket.
02:24Absolutely. Absolutely.
02:26Right now, the bike is still assembled, so what we do is we take it apart and we do our modifications to it,
02:32and then we've got to put it back together to make sure everything flows right and works right,
02:36and then we take it apart and send it back to the painter.
02:38Well, Mark, it looks like John and Dave got some work to do.
02:42We'll get out of your way, man.
02:43Excuse me, sir.
02:44Yeah, we're getting out of here. Let these guys get their thing going.
02:47With those pesky hosts out of their hair, Dave and John finally start breaking down this beast.
02:53Like all great builders, they know the key to success is starting with a solid foundation.
02:59It's a good platform to build off of. It's, you know, plain Jane Road King pretty much.
03:03It allows you to do a lot of different things to it and change up, you know, bags, wheels, fenders, all that can all be changed.
03:10It's already got chrome handlebars, chrome front end, nice wheels on it.
03:15The bike is free of mechanical issues, but there's a painter who's anxiously awaiting his canvas,
03:20so Dave and John focus on stripping out the parts that will receive a fresh coat.
03:24Okay, let's just get this front fender off here. Get it ready for paint.
03:29Of course, it'd be out of character if Dave didn't make a few improvements along the way.
03:34One of the things that we're going to do on this bike, we believe in stopping power.
03:38So we're going to upgrade the front brakes.
03:41We're going to take the old style brake off. We're going to put a really fancy brake.
03:45It's got more braking power than the actual original Harley Davidson ones.
03:51So you got two piston, four piston.
03:54In this early stage of the process, Dave auditions some design elements,
03:58including stainless steel Lions cutouts he rescued from a previous build.
04:02An organization like the Detroit Lions has strict brand guidelines.
04:06So there's a chance some of Dave's ideas could be rejected by the big cats in the Lions Den.
04:11So John came up with this bright idea. Well, let's use them as floorboards.
04:14So what we're going to do is we're going to take this floorboard, which comes apart,
04:18and just basically using these brackets, and we're going to mount the brackets on the Lions
04:25so that we have a footboard that kind of looks nice.
04:28We packed it up and put it on to make it kind of look right.
04:32And that kind of looks cool, I think.
04:35Another design element that will give this lion some courage is a fierce lion head tail light.
04:42Oh, I love it.
04:45With the twist of a few more bolts, John pulls off the remaining parts to be painted.
04:50And with that, Dave and John call it a day.
04:53On the next episode of the Call Sam Chopper Shop, it's time to spray and pray.
04:58Will the paint job meet the Lions brand guidelines? Stay tuned.
05:04After last season, who isn't a Lions fan?
05:07Everyone in Michigan would love to take this bike home.
05:10The winner is out there. Maybe it's you.
05:13Go to CallSam.com today and get your raffle ticket.
05:16And remember, when it comes to Chopper Shop, everyone wins.
05:19Even if you don't take the bike home, you're still helping to support vets in Michigan.
05:24Thanks for watching.
05:25We'll see you on the next episode of the Call Sam Chopper Shop.
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