To be a solid competitor at a motorcycle show or competition, it’s important that your bike has a certain level of “cool factor” to it. A sleek and minimalist design, unique or exposed components, rare or unusual design elements, or any number other things can distinguish a motorcycle from the crowd. We saw one chopper early in the day at Fuel Cleveland that drew an audible gasp from the MPN team for its incredible design. That motorcycle is owned and built by the remarkable Clay Krick.
Krick is a welder and fabricator by trade, and at only 22-years-old, he’s already proved his professionalism and expertise in the industry. Taking a quick look through his Instagram page will garner a number of interesting motorcycle builds, and a few of the 4-wheeled variety as well.
Krick’s latest build is a stunning 1976 Honda CB750 chopper, which topped online voting among six semi-finalists to win the 2022 Biltwell People’s Champ Custom Motorcycle Show at Cook’s Corner, the legendary biker bar in Southern California. The prestigious award earned Krick a $10,000 grand prize and a spot among other invited builders at The Born-Free Motorcycle Show.
It’s no surprise that motorcycle won first place, after all, how often do you get to see custom choppers built around the old CB750 platform?
“I just wanted to make something different,” Krick said. “They’re cheap right now and you don’t really see too many CB750 choppers anymore. I never built one before, so I wanted to have some fun with it. You need a big parking lot to turn it around, that’s for sure, but once you get going it’s a ton of fun.”
The wide turn radius of the bike is thanks to an incredibly long six-foot rigid girder fork on the front end, with no suspension. The project started with the fork, and Krick soon attached a Santee swing-arm frame. Originally it was heavily rusted, so it was chopped from the front of the frame to the back motor mount and goose necked. As this was the first time Krick goosenecked a motorcycle, the bike was aptly named “Loose Goose.”
The already unique look of the motorcycle upgrades even further with its psychedelic paint job courtesy of Krick’s friend Barry of DepthofImage. Inspired by seventies Kelsey Martin style candy paint jobs, the scheme incorporates a variety of different colors, lines, and patterns that give off a very abstract look.
In terms of the motor, Krick has left it virtually stock. It was sat outside and fully spray painted black when he got his hands on it, and after a quick cleaning and polishing it was running fine. Other than velocity stacks and aftermarket fin covers, the engine is as it was in 1976. Krick did ad an electronic ignition and a new clutch, however.
With so many head-turning features to this CB750, we can’t wait to see what Krick builds next!
If you have a motorcycle, ATV, UTV, snowmobile or jet ski you’d like to feature in MPN’s Ride of the Week series, please email MPN Content Director Greg Jones at [email protected].