The Evolution of Morphing a Motorcycle With City Knife Cycles

 

Motorcycles lie lifeless throughout the shop, lined up and waiting for hands to bring them to life. Amidst the inert cycles, wood shavings dance in the air, permeating pine from their pores as they caress the handles of intricate tools strewn across the tool chest. While submerged in this distinctive workshop, I sat down with Cody Barger and caught a nostalgic glimpse from his early years of spending time in his dad's shop, which paved the road to the future of what he loves now - motorcycles.

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Cody is an artist, creator and owner of City Knife Cycles. He specializes in bringing his art to life, literally, by building vintage Harley Davidsons and custom painting motorcycle tanks. Cody did not live a traditional childhood, some may say. But his unique upbringing of being engulfed in his dad's workshop and surrounded by motorcycles and tools is what ultimately morphed him into who he is today.

 

I also had the pleasure of speaking with his dad, Jerry Barger. He reminisced about how it all began, and we got to discuss the transformation of his 1981 Harley Davidson shovelhead, which Cody eventually rebuilt. 

 

After talking with them both, it was clear that Cody was surrounded by tools and a life in his dad's shop from a very young age.

 

"The smell of cut wood is so nostalgic," Cody Barger said. "My dad's shop always smelled of fresh-cut wood, and there were always motorcycles around." 

 

From passing down a lifestyle of hands-on knowledge, Jerry Barger taught Cody the ins and outs of working with his hands and shared his love of motorcycles with his son. The first time he ever brought Cody into the shop, Jerry said he set him on a five-gallon bucket and gave him some tools while he had him turn some wood on the lathe. Jerry always encouraged Cody to work on stuff and learn how to do things himself. 

 

"I wanted him to be able to learn how to take things apart and put them back together, and he always would do that," Jerry Barger said.

 

In 1995 Jerry bought a 1981 Harley Davidson shovelhead. This bike was one of many he owned over the years and worked on in his shop. Little did he realize this motorcycle had a special future on the horizon.

 

Cody remembers his dad completely changing the '81 shovelhead after he bought it in the '90s and he recalls even watching him do a custom paint job on it one winter.

 

"I think maybe subconsciously this is where I found inspiration for what I do now," Cody Barger said.

 

After years of enjoying the '81 shovelhead, Jerry retired the bike and moved on to new endeavors. 

 

"I told him [Cody] any number of times that when I stop...riding that thing that he can have it…that he could do whatever he wanted with it, and for the longest time he didn't want to," Jerry Barger said.

 

Cody had motorcycles and dirt bikes on and off since elementary school, he said, and it wasn't until many years later that he became interested in customizing motorcycles. In his 20's, he and a friend rented a storage unit, bought a couple of old bikes and started learning how to customize motorcycles. Eventually, this sparked Cody's interest in restoring Harleys.

 

A few years later, Cody decided it was an excellent opportunity to take over his dad's Harley that had been sitting for 20 years and bring it into his own hands. He decided he would tear it all apart, cut it up and make it into what it is now - a fully custom chopper.

 

"I was so glad to see him take over that motorcycle," Jerry Barger said. "It makes me happy to know that he's got that."

 

Four years later, and that motorcycle is now one of Cody's prized possessions. Cody said it is one of those things that maybe is never quite finished. He said it's a living work of art that is constantly changing. 

 

I've learned a lot from talking with Cody and Jerry, and Cody told me that this is what's so special about choppers. You can customize and create them however you want, and the possibilities are endless. Ultimately every chopper is different in its own way, and when you build one, you are making a piece of art that you can ride almost anywhere.

 

I asked Jerry his opinion about how the shovelhead looks now compared to when he restored it, and he mentioned he preferred the way he had it.

 

"It's just two different opinions," Jerry Barger said. "He wanted to turn that into a chopper, and he did an exceptionally good job on it!"

 

From generation to generation, the 1981 shovelhead has morphed into two different walks of life and has inspired a future of creativity for Cody. 

 

Recently Cody started custom painting motorcycles, specifically motorcycle tanks. The first bike he learned to do this on was the '81 shovelhead his dad gave him. Rebuilding and painting his dad's Harley has inspired Cody's company, City Knife Cycles.

 

From years of spending time in the shop with his pops, Cody has developed his unique style of morphing Harleys into one-of-a-kind works of art. Jerry taught Cody the basics, and it is clear that Cody has a passion for projecting his ideas from his mind onto motorcycles. He is unsure what the future of his art and City Knife beholds, but having fun and creating is what ultimately fuels Cody's inspiration for life.