'Let It Ride' takes on a tribute project

On Wednesday night's episode of "Let It Ride," Zach Ness took on a very special project. After Dave, a friend of the shop and bike machinist, passed away, the crew decided to build his last concept. The bike featured an "old-school springer" front axle and a handcrafted taildragger fender - aspects that were signature to Zach's grandfather, Arlen's, designs.

While Cameron Smith, Zach's right-hand man, was out prospecting bikes to flip, the crew got busy working on the custom project. Jim Jennings, the lead fabricator in the shop, was up first to customize the gas tank while Zach and company worked on the frame. While he was welding the tank together, Jim wore a welding helmet but, as per usual, left hand protection out of the equation. And once he was working to craft the intake and cap, he reverted to his bare-handed, regular eyeglasses approach. He may have years of experience and have avoided injury this time, but generally his work safety practices are ill-advised.

Many of the other custom components of the bike had already been created by Dave prior to his death, so the team's primary job was to ensure that his vision came to life and the bike was completed perfectly. Zach's father, Cory, and grandfather, Arlen, even got in on building the bike. Jim O'Gallagher contributed the detail work on the body of the bright, metallic purple body to bring the whole thing together.

When they finally revved it up, the bike roared, quite literally, to life. At the end of the day, the team delivered on the concept and wowed Dave's family and friends at the big reveal The crew even set up a college fund for Dave's daughter with donations from everyone for the "sale" of the bike. Everything from the wheels to the gas tank were right on the mark.