GRAVESEND CYCLES is pure, handmade authenticity and performance. Master bike builder Copper Mike is the driving force behind this new high-end shop, drawing upon his years of bike building expertise and lifelong quest to create the perfect ride.

This new collection of one-of-a-kind, vintage and contemporary bikes fulfills a promise that Copper Mike made to himself many years ago: To design and build his own bikes just as he envisions them, piece by piece from the motors out, combining the best components and engineering with an undeniable look.

The first completely independent build by Copper Mike's Gravesend Cycles is a bobber with a signature design twist. Known as Precious Metal, this unique motorcycle was conceived and executed with all precious metal finishes: platinum leaf, 14-karat-gold accents, and his trademark copper. The building of Precious Metal was a true test of perseverance as well as imagination. Copper Mike worked like mad from spring through summer, straight through the 110-degree heat in the shop, to complete this bike in time to ride in Sturgis. The sweat, blood, and heat exhaustion were all worth it when the finished bike hit the road -- one of his most refined builds to date ? the start of a new era.

Motorcycles have always been a way of life for "Copper Mike" Cole. By age 14 he was riding in the dirt. He graduated to the street at age 18, and quickly gained experience in buying, rebuilding, and restoring bikes of all kinds, including some vintage classics. Soon he found a way to pursue his dream of creating handmade, custom motorcycles -- buying into an existing motorcycle shop. From there opening his own shop Gravesendcycles.

One of Mike's early bikes, a ’39 Knuckle with hand-beaten copper tins called the Coppa Choppa, gave him his industry name of "Copper Mike." The hand sculpted, hammered, and brased copper is perfectly proportioned on the rigid frame, with contrasting contemporary rims establishing him as a true craftsman with a vision all his own. Another of his signature bikes, Heavy Metal, is a cool and inexpensive example of a raw metal bobber stripped to its bare necessities to illustrate and highlight its mechanical perfection. This bike was built seemingly on sheer sweat and ingenuity -- no frills, no paint, no budget -- using found parts collected through swap meets and take-off parts.

Copper Mike delivered another strong punch with Gravesend, a 1972 Harley shovelhead modified to accept 1940s cylinders and cylinder heads. Named in honor of Copper Mike's hometown -- Gravesend, Brooklyn -- this bike was not only a statement in its own right, but it fiercely crystallized and defined his inimitable style of bike building: Vintage, Contemporary, Handmade. Matching the burnished tones of the copper-plated frame, signature paint work comes in matching metal flake with graphics on both sides of the oil tank depicting the Brooklyn Bridge and the "Gravesend" legend across the face of the fuel tank.

In addition to being a creative, perfectionist builder, Copper Mike has the innate ability and talent to see a client's vision and bring it to reality. The bike he calls Lucky 13 was born as a blend of another biker's dream combined with Mike's bobber style, talent and vision of red translucent metal flake and a Harley EVO motor.

Copper Mike has stayed true to his roots, but his work has also earned him a worldwide reputation. His bikes have been featured in exhibitions in France and Monte Carlo, and he is currently building custom bikes for several European and Russian clients. These clients commissioned the custom Gravesend bobbers in signature copper finish, with vintage Harley motors, after viewing the bikes on exhibition in St. Tropez and Monte Carlo in 2008.

In 2009, Gravesend Cycles will be included in the grand opening of a new motorcycle showroom in St. Tropez, France; and will be featured in additional summer exhibitions in Europe. Gravesend Cycles will also participate in the Daytona 2009 Limpnickie Lot. Copper Mike is honored to show his work with this young, talented group of bike builders, who showcase the most innovative choppers and bobbers.