At LaVergne High School, roughly 30 min. southeast of Nashville, 15 shop students are turning a Harley-Davidson Nightster into a flat track race bike. Among the first fabrication steps will likely be the use of saws to cut components to fit the flat track geometry, which will be housed in a frame built from scratch.
But the students aren’t working alone. They’re teamed with flat track champions; hall-of-fame motorcycle fabricators; a member of a storied NASCAR family; and Billy Lane, founder of the “Sons of Speed” motorcycle race, owner of Choppers Inc. and host of his own YouTube series with tens of millions of views.
The project is part of Northern Tool + Equipment’s Legends Build: Student Challenge, the third in a series of student-led builds from Northern. Northern creates the builds to inspire high schoolers to explore careers in the trades and also donates professional-grade tools and equipment to schools across the United States.
Class leadership
Jason Bowers, now in his third year of teaching career and technical education (CTE) at LaVergne, leads the shop class. Bowers is a skilled fabricator with experience in multiple shops where he focused on mobile welding and heavy equipment repair. Motorcycles, therefore, are new territory. That doesn’t bother him, though, because his students are in good hands, including those of Lane. NASCAR’s Kyle Petty is also involved along with veteran flat track racer and famed custom builder Dave Perewitz.
Bowers’s fabrication background means he’s comfortable with teaching core metal fabrication fundamentals – from proper blade selection on the bandsaw to safe cutting techniques that help students prep materials accurately before welding.
“This is way out of left field from what I thought we were going to build,” he says, adding that he thought they’d be working on a four-wheel vehicle, like a sprint kart or something similar. “I’m super excited even though I know nothing about motorcycles. We’ve got the best here to help.”
Bowers’s path to teaching was atypical. His friendship with a school board member, to whom he’d often vent about the lack of trade programs and how those programs had for years been disappearing from schools, was the catalyst for a career change.
“She showed me the [teaching] job listing and said, ‘put up or shut up,’” he says. “So, I went through a teaching program, got CTE certified and here I am.”
Even though he’s only three years in, Bowers is already seeing promising results.
“This past previous year, I think we had 160 students sign up for 30 slots across the year,” he says. “It’s one of the most sought-after classes in school, and currently, we’re the only welding program in Rutherford County.”
The visibility of the student build challenge has amplified that interest. Being selected brings tools, equipment, parts and safety gear into the shop.
Frank Crowson, chief marketing officer at Northern, said in a news release that his company believes in “putting tools in hands and confidence in hearts.” The Legend Build, he said, “is more than a motorcycle – it’s a demonstration of how much the trades matter, that they’re rewarding and that the next generation can carry this torch forward.”
Student focused
One of the LaVergne students involved in the build is Ronan Garrison, a junior who signed up for a CTE class as a freshman and knew very quickly that he’d pursue a career in the trades, most likely as a welder. He says the frame of the motorcycle is going to be the biggest challenge, mostly due to the motor they have to fit into it.
“I’m definitely stoked,” Garrison says. “It’s a new opportunity and it’s a challenge – not knowing anything about motorcycles – but that’s kind of the fun of the trade. It isn’t like a boring desk job where you’re doing the same repetitive stuff; it’s something new every day. I find enjoyment in that.”
Son of speed
Lane’s involvement with Northern goes back years to when he was a customer through racing sponsorships, making his role in the build challenge a natural fit. His first participation was at a high school in Minnesota where he mentored students building a miniature rat rod kart. LaVergne is closer to home, only one county over from Lane’s headquarters.
Students can learn a lot from Lane. On a practical level, he has strong welding and design skills as well as analytical thinking abilities, but he says the biggest thing he can teach them is perseverance and taking the right path toward success. Lane started down this road at age 17 teaching himself along the way. He’s been at it for nearly 40 years.
“There are a lot of people who can show them how to weld or cut or fit something together,” Lane says, “and I can assist there, for sure. But I think the real strength in bringing me on board is showing them how to succeed. I told them today ‘it’s my job – along with Jason’s – to make sure there is success in this. Don’t question yourself. Tell yourself you’re going to succeed.’”
There are plenty of challenges with a build like this, which will include using a bandsaw on various parts, welding, grinding and much more. Lane says they’re not building a tribute bike, but a proper flat track race bike.
“We have to design it,” he says, “repurpose it with what we have and work through the problems with a limited budget. That’s where the real fabrication happens – welding, machining and thinking through every step. Any welder or fabricator knows, you can paint yourself into a corner really quick if you don’t work it through from beginning to end.”
As for the big reveal, the students will unveil their finished bike June 6 at Tennessee National Raceway during an American Flat Track Legends exhibition race. Afterward, the bike will be auctioned with proceeds going to the Northern Tool Foundation, Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction nonprofit and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
