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Got your six: Insurrection Cycles to raffle off second bike to benefit veterans

By Mark Maroney 7 min read

MUNCY -- "It's not going to be for the faint of heart."

That's what Mike Gravelle said of a bike-build in process at Insurrection Cycles that, when finished, will be a reconditioned 2006 Softail Harley Davidson and will be raffled off later this summer.

This motorcycle will be what Gravelle and his team at the shop at 190 Angletown Road, Muncy, described as one rebuilt for

performance but powerful enough to shake the lucky rider's boots.

The Softail stock model arrived with a 60 horsepower engine that has one now pushing closer to 115 to 120 horsepower.

"This thing is going to be hateful," Gravelle said, using slang synonymous with exciting and fun. "It has exhaust pointing toward the ground … ground pounders … and the rider will know there is a monster underneath. We basically doubled the horsepower, with the one and only gauge a speedometer."

The Softail will be unveiled at Motorama at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg starting on Feb. 17 and raffled off at the Muncy American Legion on July 27 during the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 22-1 annual ride.

"This thing is a monster. It is going to be fun to ride," Gravelle said.

This is the second year of the bike project, with all proceeds raised from ticket sales going to the CVMA Chapter 22-1.

The shop transformation process

Inside the store, which offers full sales and service staff, an intricate shop for repair with skilled mechanics able to perform state inspections, the Softail is taking on an amazing look since it arrived three weeks ago.

The bike was purchased from another military veteran, a U.S. Marine, who used it when he was on active duty. The Insurrection Cycles team first got to work by stripping it down.

"We got everything cleaned up," Gravelle said, adding that many of the parts had to be polished.

Next, in the schedule, the engine came out and was cleaned.

The Harley motor was blonde and the team switched it to silver with a black wrinkle added. The team also put on a better air cleaner and added pushrods on it. The bike has its original oil tank.

Last year's bike only had 11,000 miles on it and the team did not mess with the engine.

"Whoever wants to know what we did to this engine, now we have got something for them," Gravelle said.

The bike will have a larger headlight, almost resembling that of a train.

Motorcycles in his blood

"I got my first bike when I was 2," he said, adding his father was a biker.

His grandfather fought in the Korean War. "It's honoring my grandfather by helping the veterans," he said.

Customizing the bike was once again a labor of love involving a full team effort.

The crew sought first to use the stock Fat Boy rear fender package, but it was too short.

Instead, the mechanics cut apart a Softail fender and grafting it in and will stretch it to make everything match.

"There is going to be some fabrication," Gravelle said, adding the team used some stock parts.

As an example of this, the mechanics took the original front end off and are using a Fat Boy on it.

"That's because it is just a hair narrower and you can do different things with it," Gravelle said, adding, "We are going to extend the rear fender."

Another feature on the bike are the "bootleg baggers."

The bike, as designed in stock, would have never had saddle bags on it.

"We are putting our bags on it and it is going to make it a more usable bike for whoever wins it," Gravelle said.

The bootleg baggers certainly will be handy for a rider who stops in a shop, wants to buy merchandise and needs to haul it home.

Gravelle said he owns the same kind of motorcycle and did the same customizing on it about seven years ago.

"The Softail is notorious for not having any place to put an item, and this will change that," he said. "Some guys have a swing arm bag, but you are lucky if you can haul a T-shirt in it" he said, laughing. "Having a set of bags is going to be a definite benefit for this bike and the lucky rider who wins it."

Wheels and other parts

The Softail arrived with an aluminum solid wheel in the rear and the crew got the rear and front wheels to match.

As for electronics, the bike is fuel-injected but runs with a ThunderMax computer adjusting fuel as it goes.

The bike's balance was critical to the mechanics, and this will lower with the center of gravity low to handle nicely as the driver goes into curves.

"It will be so well balanced you can stop at a stop sign and never put your feet down," Gravelle said. The rear tire is 200 millimeters wide. The bike has shock absorbers, is chain drive with the clutch hidden. The seat will be black leather and diamond-stitched.

It will be a comfortable seat, not too hard or soft, Gravelle said.

"You can ride a couple hundred miles without killing your back," he said.

Airbrushed to perfection

Next on the reconditioning schedule, will be wiring the handlebars and the headlight, and then it will be off to the painter, Eric Weikle of Prankster Paint in Muncy.

Weikle acknowledged he has the basic layout of the design on the computer and envisioned but he said he may decide to add a special touch by airbrushing the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima on the bootleg baggers, the saddle bag storage holders.

"I have ideas of where I am going," he said, adding the colors will match those of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 22-1. When completed, the bike will be painted predominately black with gold and red, and a gold sheen when light hits it, he said.

Overall, this labor will take 80 hours to rebuild the bike and it is being done on donated time with businesses contributing parts free of charge.

A mechanic on the project

For Brian Steppe, turning the wrenches on this job holds a special meaning.

"I was always raised to help others when I can," Steppe said.

Last year, when the first such bike was reconditioned, Steppe said he jumped at the chance, and this year was no different.

"I know people who are vets," he said. "I have family and I know that they struggle."

"Any little bit of help can go a long way for them," he said. "Just to be part of it, to be able to help … I can sleep well at night knowing that I had something to do with helping other people."

A few of those contributing in the project include:

• David "Whiskey" McCollin, of Montoursville, who remains on active duty in the U.S. Army Reserve.

• Chad "C.J." VanKuren, of Montoursville, who served in the Army for 20 years. He sells tickets and hustles for the cause.

• Nathan "Clutch" Brunsberg, of Muncy, who served eight years in the Marine Corps. with two tours of duty in Afghanistan, special operations and service in Japan and Guam. He serves as a bridge between businesses and combat veterans.

• William "Alamo" Travis, with service in the Air Force in Japan and with the 31st Cavalry, seven years. He handles marketing, public relations and sales promotion for the project.

• Steppe, a Loyalsock Township mechanic who grew up in South Williamsport.

• Adam Sober, a mechanic from Elimsport.

• Weikle, a painter and airbrush artist with Prankster Paint.

The Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 22-1 cares about veterans in the North Central Pa. region.

Whether that is helping out with their bills, groceries or whatever a veteran needs, the money raised from this project's ticket sales and raffle will go straight to the area's veterans.

The fundraising goes directly to the chapter of Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 22-1.

The group has chapters across the nation made up of veterans on a mission to help other veterans in need however they can.

The association chapter has no administrative fees.

"Every dollar raised goes where it needs to," with no paid staff.

"We do all of our own fundraising," McCollin said.

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