Motorcycle duo shows off Texans pride

BACLIFF — Donnie Kennedy just stood there, his eyes wide with surprise.

A few others gasped in disbelief as Don Nicolson unveiled the custom-made chopper at Mother’s Bar.

The chopper had long chrome, barbed-wire handlebars and a cowhide pattern seat, lined in beige leather with saddle bags, to match. The most eye-catching part is the large Houston Texan logo tank frame. The blue, red and white piece of art was a replica of the popular logo. The horns of the tank wrapped around the handlebars to give it a unique flare.

“This is our tribute to the Houston Texans,” Nicolson, co-owner of Xtreme Texas Choppers with Kennedy, said. “We’re really happy with the end result. It turned out better than what we thought. It’s unbelievable.”

Nicolson and Kennedy are in negotiations with the Texans to use the chopper during the season. Toro, the Texan mascot, will be fitted on the chopper sometime this week to make sure he has a comfortable ride during games and appearances.

“We’ll be thrilled to see Toro ride the bike onto the field,” Kennedy, a Galveston native, said. “I think the fans will really enjoy it. We built it for them.”

Nicolson was a little more elaborate with his details for the chopper’s first entrance into Reliant Stadium. He even expressed his hopes the Texans play “Thunder Struck” by AC/DC during its first appearance.

“I don’t think I will be able to control myself when I see it,” Nicolson, who is a season ticket holder, said. “It’s going to be a proud moment for both of us when it finally happens.”

Nicolson was the brains behind the body of the chopper, while Kennedy was behind the mechanics. But they made sure they collaborated with each step of building the chopper.

The public is welcome to view the bike in the XTC showroom in Bacliff.

“Getting the ideas together was the easiest part of the process,” Kennedy said. “The toughest part was building the tanks and making sure they lined up correctly.”

It took more than a year to build the one-of-a-kind bike. The two began putting their ideas together in May 2009.

“When we finally got an idea for the tank frame, we tried to get someone else to build it first,” Nicolson said. “We went to a few people, but nobody understood what we wanted. So we ended up building it ourselves.”

They used two pieces of high-density foam to carve out the shape. Then they overlaid it with carbon fiber, fiber glass and bondo. Once that was complete, they carved out the inner foam to make room for the gas tank.

“It took 130 hours to build the logo tank,” Nicolson said. “It took so long because we wanted to make sure it resembled the real thing. We added our own touch when we designed the horns to wrap around the handlebars.”

Kennedy admits the chopper didn’t line up correctly when they put it together the first time. The crew had to take the bike apart and adjust a few things.

“We were about two inches offset from the transmission,” said Kennedy, who got help building the oil tank and a few other parts from Galveston native Anthony Saracco. “The drive-train, which is the engine, transmission and final drive didn’t match up with the tanks. It had to line up if we wanted the bike to run.”

It took additional man hours, but Kennedy is happy with the result. Nicolson, Kennedy and a host of others spent a total of 500 hours building the chopper, which was completed Aug. 4.

“The last thing we did to the bike was polish it up,” Nicolson said. “We unveiled it to the public the same day. Everyone seemed to be pretty receptive to the bike. Hopefully, the Texans will make good use of it during the season.”