It was an ensemble of odd and eclectic, from a Saber Toothed
chopper, bones for a frame, rib cage wrapped around the tank, to a
cruiser outfitted with four 1000cc RevTech V-Twins. There was a
twin-engined trike with big blowers near a three-wheeled Harley bagger
with a pair of tilting front wheels. Of course, this is about par for
course at the Rat’s Hole Custom Bike Show in Sturgis which always
attracts some of the most exotic motorcycles around. Ted Smith and his
tenured troop of judges had their work cut out for them as over 120
motorcycles competed in the 27th annual Rat’s Hole Sturgis Show, the
international judging team ultimately having to break eight ties.
“We had one of the best shows we’ve had in Sturgis in years,” said Rat’s Hole owner Smith.
Paul Cavallo of Spitfire Motorcycles was the big winner of the day,
taking home both the Café Racer Class and Best of Show for his “Spyder”
muscle bike. Just about everything was engineered in-house and all
tooling was done under the premise the motorcycle would ultimately
become a Spitfire production bike. The power cruiser features a
reinforced backbone with twin oversized tubes that bend down and curve
back and serve as lower frame rails, too. The lower tubes cradle a
fuel-injected 111” S&S V-Twin. The thick tubing serves to house oil
in the frame. There’s no downtube so Cavallo had to design a heavy-duty
set of triple clamps to compensate. The split tank and tail section are
both hinged so they flip up. The bike can be dialed in to rider’s
preference thanks to adjustable clip-ons and controls that can be moved
forward and backward. Twin 23-inch wheels sit beneath bobbed carbon
fiber fenders, CF used for the air cleaner and some of the engine covers
as well. As a whole the build is ultra-clean, its tail/turn signals
incorporated into the tail section and its 1400 lumen LED lights on the
front neatly tied into the triples. Brembo brakes and stainless steel
pipes round out a stellar Spitfire build.
Paul Cavallo’s “Best of Show” Rat’s Hole Sturgis winner is a mean, muscular machine.
The 2015 Rat’s Hole in Sturgis also featured the second annual Black
Hills Bagger Showdown. Over 30 baggers and dressers competed in easily
the most hotly contested category of the show. When votes were tallied,
Oscar of Power House Custom Cycles LLC out of Houston, Texas, edged out
TD Ward of St. Louis, Missouri, for the victory. Power House would live
up to its name as Tony, George and Marcus swept 3rd through 5th with
Power House builds. The company is known for the stretched saddlebags
and back fender they produce in-house, the bags 7-inches lower and
14-inches longer than stock. Their recipe for success includes custom
front fairings of their own design with trick audio systems. Power House
floorboards and bars are also popular items for the Houston-based
company. Their big, bold baggers are slammed with air ride and roll on
monster front hoops. Engines dripping in chrome, twisted pipes and
amazing paint helped the Power House crew stand out in the Black Hills
Bagger Showdown.
The new Indian Scout is proving to be a popular platform for
customization. Recluse Customs out of Oracle, Arizona, tidied one up
with a contemporary Recluse leaf spring front end and a 23-inch front
wheel. The build features custom raked triple trees, a billet speedo
mount and new internally wired bars. Recluse went with a 200/40-20 rear
and tidied up the back fender by relocating the signals and plate
holder. Performance gets a boost from a Recluse intake and exhaust. They
also cleaned up the look of the radiator with a grilled cover.
We’re very familiar with the winner of the Sportster Custom Class. We singled out Brad Hall’s Sportster 48 for
our “Editor’s Choice” award when we attended the Seattle IMS last year.
Hall injected his 2013 Sportster 48 with plenty of attitude, from the
Coker Firestone ANS front tire to the spiked BMX foot pegs. The stock
Sportster bars were replaced with a set of 7/8-inch Renthals teamed with
mechanical ISR levers and see-through grips, its LC Fabrications master
brake cylinder featuring a transparent reservoir. On the side of the
tank sits a miniature Coca-Cola bottle that acts as a sight glass. The
bikes oil lines are copper as is the external oil pressure gauge mounted
to the left of the tank. Hall did the leather work on the bike himself,
from the seat to the hand-tooled sheaths on the fork. While we were
already fans of Hall’s work, it’s good to see him gain recognition on an
even bigger stage.
People who registered their motorcycles in this year’s show got an
added bonus, a chance to win Alice Cooper’s “Nightmare Bike.” Everybody
who entered got a free ticket for the raffle being held for the custom
motorcycle built by EEC Parts & Design and signed by Shock Rocker
Cooper himself. Proceeds from the raffle will benefit Cooper’s Solid
Rock Teen Center and the Norelli Family Foundation. For more information
about the raffle and details of the bike, be sure to check out our Alice Cooper Rocks for Rat’s Hole Raffle and Sturgis Chip article.
Congratulations Paul Cavallo for “Best of Show” honors. Below is a list of other 2015 Sturgis Rat’s Hole winners.
Spitfire Motorcycle's Paul Cavallo hoists the "Best of Show" trophy at the 2015 Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show in Sturgis.
Ever seen a motorcycle with quadruple V-Twins? Neither had we until the 2015 Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show in Sturgis.
As if this Harley XR1200x wasn't sporty enough!
This trike with Twin blowers brought horsepower galore to the Rat's Hole Sturgis Show.
Spitfire Motorcycle's Paul Cavallo hoists the "Best of Show" trophy at the 2015 Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show in Sturgis.
Ever seen a motorcycle with quadruple V-Twins? Neither had we until the 2015 Rat's Hole Custom Bike Show in Sturgis.
As if this Harley XR1200x wasn't sporty enough!
This trike with Twin blowers brought horsepower galore to the Rat's Hole Sturgis Show.
