By Oldskoolbob   |   As it appeared in the June 2007 issue of The Biking Life

The bike show that we had turned out to be a complete and huge success, although they were lessons learned for next time. It brought out over 100 killer bikes from all over the Midwest. Thank you all for a great time!

This bike caught my eye right from the moment I saw it.It was different in that it had its own look or feeling about it. Eric Cockrum owns the 2000 Fat Boy, which has the look of an old cruiser from the late 50’s early 60’s. He told me he wanted that bike for it’s comfort and good riding ability. What he didn’t like was at the time that he purchased it, every where he looked there was a Fat Boy. Eric decided to customize the bike to his own specs. The engine is stock with only an S&S carb upgrade, but Eric designed the jockey shift and sissy bar. Tim Cox did a fantastic job of fabricating them and installing them with Eric. You can’t beat the welds that Tim made on this application! They are very well done. The rear fender is strut less, another custom feature on this Fat Boy classic. Jan from Chariots of Fire got the Fat Daddie ‘50’ spoked rims out of California, That just set the bike off.

Getting the bike painted and the body work done took a lot of begging and pleading to get it done. You see Eric had to persuade Chuck Hermeyer out of his sweet retirement to finish the project with the body work and paint that made this bike. The concept was taken from the old Dual Glide series paint scheme.

Not only was this bike an eye catcher, it also placed third in the Soft Tail division, the owner is an American service man who has 17 years of service to our country in the Air National Guard. He was the real deal. We met at Jefferson Barracks where we work while on duty. This place is also the national cemetery for our fallen service men. It is incredibly spiritually overwhelming there. I had no Idea how huge the place really was. I received a tour of the facility, meet Eric, and shoot some pic’s. Life is good at The Biking Life.