If you see a chopper with ultra clean lines and without any wire and cables, you can be assured that it has come out of Matt Hotch’s garage. And if the owner said he paid a lot of money for the beauty, rest assured it has to be a Matt Hotch design. Well, champion builder Matt Hotch became famous for building radical styled clean choppers. The choppers are hand built only by him, guaranteed for life - and bloody costly.
I'm not sure of the price tag on this Vincent, but is rumoured to be around $85,000.
If you remember the Biker Build Off series on Discovery Channel, you might remember the episode featuring Matt Hotch vs. Roger Goldammer. Heavily promoted as a battle between two heavyweights, Matt was the then 2-time reigning BBO champion, squaring off with 2-times former champ Goldammer. Matt first exhibited his 1951 Vincent chopper, based on a Black Shadow, which was going to take on Goldammer’s very unconventional 2-stroke Yamaha RD250 on the Bonneville Salt Flats for the gold. Matt built his hi-tech version of a post-war Vincent Black Shadow against Roger’s purpose built racing machine with elements of dirt bike and race bike powered by a go-kart engine. Hotch and Goldammer met in Canada to ride 900 miles together to the salt flats of Bonneville. For the record, Goldammer won.
The bike is a major departure for him, since it’s based around a classic British Vincent V-twin, but with a 26-inch front wheel and as Matt puts it, “a bunch of crazy stuff.” As for the choice of the 1950s Vincent, the fastest production bike of its time, Matt says, “My grandfather had one when he was a hooligan and hillclimbing.”
What is a Vincent? well, Vincent HRD Motorcycles made top-end motorbikes 1928 to 1955. Their 1948 Black Shadow was at the time the world's fastest production motorcycle. In 1955 the company discontinued motorcycle production after experiencing heavy financial losses. For those of you that think British motorcycles are all parallel twins, look again; Vincents had a dyed in the wool purpose-built V-twin engine. British companies experimented with V-twins until the proliferation of the parallel twin motor that was much lighter, more efficient, and more compact. It was the perfect engine for the small-framed motorcycles typical of British companies.
Not much info on the bike though on his website or anywhere. Famed Vincent engine maestro Steve Hamel built the engine; a 998 cc (60.9 cu in) 50 degree OHV V-twin. Matt has maintained his ‘invisible wires and cables’ look in this chopper as well, the body is a pure form of art, cuvaceous and on a exercise diet. The rear wheel is a size 180+ mm (probably 200mm) and I definitely like the curve of those twin exhausts.
Not much info on the bike though on his website or anywhere. Famed Vincent engine maestro Steve Hamel built the engine; a 998 cc (60.9 cu in) 50 degree OHV V-twin. Matt has maintained his ‘invisible wires and cables’ look in this chopper as well, the body is a pure form of art, cuvaceous and on a exercise diet. The rear wheel is a size 180+ mm (probably 200mm) and I definitely like the curve of those twin exhausts.
Matt Hotch built a one of a kind Vincent that represents well the meticulous image that British motorcycles have upheld for years. Take a look at the detail on this custom by Matt Hotch. The vintage pieces blend seamlessly with the new parts to create a beautifully integrated work of art.
Matt has been customizing choppers since 16. His philosophy – Perfection Is Possible. It shows.
Info compiled from various sources,
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