hat people are really learning about us now is that we’re pretty diverse up here in Mitchell, South Dakota. A Sportster chopper, a bobber or a bagger, we’ll do ‘em all,” says Brian Klock. To stay alive as a custom bike builder in South Dakota you better be ready to work on all that stuff, whatever comes through the door, and that’s what Klock Werks has done since Day One. “That’s why we are so diverse,” says Brian. “That’s why we’ve built all those Sportsters, and Dynas, and Softails and baggers. It’s all honed our skills, too, building everything from nostalgia bikes to the old-school bobber thing, to contemporary customs to the baggers.” What most people don’t know about these guys and their shop, however, is that they’ve actually been building custom baggers for 10 years. And custom baggers, as we all know, are hot right now.
     “I’ve been at this, officially, since 1997,” Brian says. “We started in a 700 square-foot garage, staying there until May of 2004. It was just three of us, and no sign on the door.” Yet Klock Werks stayed plenty busy. They even got the call to build a bike that went on the cover of the 2006 FatBook. “I didn’t want to let it get too big, too fast, though,” says Brian. A couple years ago that decision was taken out of his hands, however, when a book was written about how to customize baggers. On the cover it touted “Interviews with the pros” and listed Arlen Ness, Donny Smith…and Brian Klock. “And that was huge,” he says. “Those guys are my heroes. To even be named in that kind of company is incredible. And as soon as that book hit I got so many calls. People didn’t realize that I was into baggers as long and as hard as I was.”
     And now all that expertise is in the FatBook. The parts deal with Drag Specialties really kicked off with the exhaust system built for the Klock Werks WFB (see feature on page __ ). “They’re our new ‘Double Backs,’” Brian says, “and so far they’ve gotten just a great response.” Everyone looks for the mufflers and can’t find them. Then they start asking about the head pipes, then ask who makes these things and where can I get a set? The answer is the FatBook. They’re coming soon, manufactured by BUB. “And then Harley came out with that Street Glide and the bagger market really took off,” says Brian. “Our website exploded with inquiries for custom parts. It’s funny, too, but something like those Under Covers, those neat little parts we have that fit under the floorboards? I’d designed those things four years ago and had them sitting on the shelf wondering what I would ever do with them.” He’s not wondering anymore. They’re in the FatBook, too. So are the Klock Werks Bag Fillers, the Custom Bagger Dashes, the Handlebars and the Speaker Grilles. And there’s lots more coming. There are Bagger Frames, there’s that exhaust system and the Klock Werks “Curvaceous” Saddlebag Tops with latches to match. And the Klock Werks Design Team isn’t done. Just check out the WFB featured elsewhere in this issue. It’s loaded with Klock Werks originality, and you can believe plenty of it’s headed for the FatBook.
     “People saw that bike at Sturgis and we got booked up solid,” says Brian. “People really want these things.” Many say they already ride a bagger, they just want one that’s better looking, a lot faster and still something they can comfortably ride to Sturgis. These bikes fit that bill. As good looking as they are, and as fast, they’re absolutely dead smooth and all-day comfortable.
     “It’s all been pretty amazing,” Brian reflects. “We’ve been very fortunate, and this is definitely a team effort. Everything we’re doing here is coming from the ‘Klock Werks Design Team,’ because that’s what it is. A team. It takes someone like my fiancée Laura who runs the shop and is constantly pushing me forward. It takes guys like Dan Cheeseman and Ken Chenoweth out in the shop making magic out of metal. It takes Joe Mielke taking care of the parts department and Todd Snedeker coordinating it all. And there’s Jesse Hanssen who does all our CAD design.” And don’t let that rural South Dakota address fool you. Klock Werks is right at the cutting edge of design and manufacturing technology. The gauge housing in the WFB bike, for instance. They worked that up with a company called Stratosys who brought in a rapid prototype reader for a month, letting Klock Werks design parts on their computers, write the manufacturing programs and then prototype those parts in plastic almost immediately. And amid all this there’s John Patton working in his own little division of the shop they call “Quigley Motor Werks” taking care of all the engine and dyno duties. “And there’s Randy Rothlisberger, too,” Brian says. A full time firemen in town, he’s Klock Werk’s part-time engine builder, machinist, and mechanic extraordinaire. “Randy’s got to be the most particular and exacting guy I’ve ever met,” says Brian. “Exactly the kind of guy you would want in the shop.”
     Looking forward, Brian says the whole Klock Werks Design Team plans to maintain their diversity and just continue doing what they’re doing, building the cool stuff. “But I guess we’re coming out of the closet a little,” he says, although that door actually got kicked wide open with that blue and cream bobber bike on the FatBook cover. And Klock Werks is ready for whatever comes. “This is all happening at a good time for us,” says Brian. “If all of this would have happened when we were still back in that little 700 square foot shop we wouldn’t have been able to keep up. But now, in our new 7,500 square foot shop just 50 feet away from our original garage, everybody’s pulling together. We’ve gelled into a real team. We’re ready.” So is the entire biker world.

Klock Werks Kustom Cycles, Kustom Baggers
915 S. Kimball
Mitchell, South Dakota 57301
605-996-3700
www.kustomcycles.com
www.kustombaggers.com