Brodie Medieros originally hails from Koloa but these days lives in Lihu‘e and is the owner of a one-of-a-kind chopper that brings new meaning to the term “Thunder Road.” When Medieros was a young man, his dad rode Harley Davidson
Brodie Medieros originally hails from Koloa but these days lives in Lihu‘e and is the owner of a one-of-a-kind chopper that brings new meaning to the term “Thunder Road.”
When Medieros was a young man, his dad rode Harley Davidson motorcycles and left a deep impression on his son to someday ride a serious chopper of his own.
After Medieros turned 17, he began riding his own Harleys on two-lane blacktops and even rode custom off-road dirt bikes. These days he enjoys building motorcycles with Bruce Shimada down in historical Waimea town.
Medieros’ latest pride and joy is a custom built S&S chopper that turns heads so fast, people run off to their chiropractor and ask for a quick neck adjustment.
“I bought this bike from a guy in Kansas at Big Dawg Motorcycles. It was originally made for Jesse James of West Coast Choppers but I somehow was able to purchase it ahead of him,” said Medieros. After his friend Tim at Kaua‘i Harley Davidson brokered the deal for him, Medieros had it custom painted by a professional artist in Kansas.
Medieros’ bike is one of the top bikes on Kaua‘i running an S&S 117-cubic-inch engine, with a 6-speed transmission, 400 lift roller cam and disk brakes. The S&S has a right-side drive with a reverse transmission for better balance. It features a belt-drive rather than a link-chain drive, giving the chopper a remarkably smooth ride. The S&S has a polished chrome Webber side draft carburetor designed to put cold fuel in the engine allowing the bike to run like a race car. Some motorcycle riders don’t want this type of carburetor because a highly accurate tune-up is mandatory for the S&S.
“I had another chopper made in Las Vegas by BMC Choppers, but I prefer this bike because the rear tire is so big,” said Medieros. “I think a lot of guys are turning to the big tires on their choppers both for the looks and the comfortable ride.”
The important thing, he notes, is to get it balanced because the tire is so wide it will go all over the road.
Another interesting feature of this bike is the compression release system that you can set to either automatic or manual. The S&S 117 engine has such a high rate of compression that occasionally the battery won’t start the engine so the compression must be released to allow the battery to turn over the engine.
Medieros said he owns a couple of other bikes that are smaller Harleys but proclaims “This is the best” because of its comfortable ride. The only other person allowed to enjoy this custom chopper is Medieros’ wife, when he “packs” her on the back for a luxury cruise around the island.
“I generally ride around Kaua‘i with Bruce Shimada, Steven Duarte and the Kaluahine brothers who are all Westside guys. We ride every Sunday but of course you won’t see us when it rains,” Medieros said with a smoky laugh.
The reason for this rainy day exception is the hours and hours of intense cleaning, polishing and detailing using toothbrushes and even q-tips to restore the bike to its beautiful condition. The restoration process might take up to eight hours, proving once again that whether you are a man or a woman, the passion for great beauty requires devotion and attention to meticulous detail. However, if you’re a purveyor of such beauty, it’s probably worth it just to see heads snap around and hear the wolf whistles.
Medieros sums up his philosophy for buying an S&S bike by saying that it is more cost effective to pay $30,000 up front for a custom S&S bike than to buy another brand and pay more just buying parts to reach that high S&S standard of quality. Watch video footage online of this classic S&S chopper in action as part of The Garden Island’s recurring series on Kaua‘i’s Classic Car Club and check back each week for a new classic.
