Two of the nation’s top motorcycle builders are looking for Iowa communities to rumble through this summer. Production officials from California will be in the state in August, to film “Biker Build-off,” for cable television’s Discovery Channel.
World famous chopper builders Dave Perewitz of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, and Paul Yaffe, of Phoenix, Arizona, will haul cycles to Des Moines. Tom Wheeler, Manager of the Iowa Film Office, says from Des Moines the two builders will ride to Sioux City. Then it‘s on to Sturgis, South Dakota for the Harley Davidson motorcycle rally.
Wheeler says they were originally going to shoot the series in Kansas City, but the film office couldn’t help them out when it came time for helicopter coverage. Production on the fifth season of the program began in February, and features a series of contests in which 26 fabricators — including one woman — will square off in head-to-head competitions. Each builder is given two weeks to create a custom motorcycle from the ground up.
The contest requires the bikes to be fully functional, and they must be ridden as far as one-thousand miles to major bike events, where attendees will vote on their favorite. Wheeler says the producers of the show are looking for some specific things as they plan the route the bikers will take to get to Sturgis.
Wheeler says they want to have some sort of “manly” location.” If you think your community has something special to offer, contact Latrice Beal, Associate producer of Biker Build-off 2006, at lbeal@origprod.com.