When 15 career and technical education high school students in Tennessee began dismantling a Harley-Davidson Nightster last September, the majority of them knew little about motorcycles. Their assignment, part of Northern Tool + Equipment’s Legends Build: Student Challenge, was to transform the Nightster into a flat-track racer bike. Despite assistance from mentors who are industry veterans, the students knew they were in a serious race against the early June deadline.
Dominic Smith, a senior at the time of the build and now a graduate of LaVergne High School, says the students entered the project without a clear understanding of how the original motorcycle worked, much less how to reconfigure it into a flat-track racer.
“Toward the end,” Smith says, “we started figuring it all out together – how it’s supposed to work and what makes it run. We have a lot more knowledge now about how a bike is built and how it runs.”
The students had help from mentors during the build, including professional flat-track legends Chris Carr and Scott Parker. Another big influence and mentor included Billy Lane, founder of the “Sons of Speed” motorcycle race and host of his own YouTube series about racing and building bikes. The project also featured visits by NASCAR royalty Kyle Petty.
As the clock ticked, students became more proficient in many of the skills crucial in metal fabrication: working with a bandsaw, operating manual and CNC plasma cutters, welding, grinding, fitting components and much more. They overcame hurdles, clawed their way out of setbacks, learned from their mistakes and, ultimately, finished the build in time for the reveal at Northern Tool + Equipment’s store in Murfreesboro, Tenn., on June 4.
Two days later, at Tennessee National Raceway’s Nashville Short Track, the bike was showcased in pre-race ceremonies. Students proudly posed for photographs with the finished product in front of a sold-out crowd.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Smith says. “I’m grateful that we got to do this project. It’s also a surreal feeling because we did what we thought was impossible.”
Lights, camera, action
The project’s reach will extend well beyond the racetrack. The flat-track racer bike will also be on display at the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) show in Las Vegas in November.
The exposure will continue as the bike’s transformation from Nightster to flat-track racer will also be accessible this fall (date to be determined). At various times during the build, a camera crew from Racer Network, a premier motorsports broadcast and digital platform, captured the students in action.
When the show airs, the exposure it generates can help influence the next generation of metal fabricators to consider a career in the trades. With the industry in dire need of new talent as experienced workers retire, manufacturers are constantly looking to fill critical skills gaps.
“Between the victory lap, the display at SEMA and the TV show, this thing has legs,” says Frank Crowson, chief commercial officer at Northern Tool. “And it’s because the students did such a great job on it.”
Coincidentally, Smith’s own career path illustrates the type of influence the Legends Build program is designed to encourage. Before taking a welding class, Smith was planning to pursue computer science as a career. Hands-on exposure to metal fabrication changed his mind and now he’s headed to welding school. For Northern Tool that kind of outcome speaks directly to the purpose of the program.
“We want to have as many efforts as possible pointed at teaching more kids about the value of careers in the trades,” Crowson says. “We’re trying to do our best to make a big deal of these projects to raise awareness and teach as many people as possible about the many great careers are out there and what it looks like to build the skills and have the talent necessary to be successful in the trades.”
Supplying support
Knowing Northern Tool’s passion for the trades, it’s no surprise to hear that the company’s role in the Legends Build: Student Challenge goes far beyond facilitating the program. The company also provides the classroom with machines and equipment. From saws and grinders to tube benders and plasma cutters, the investment provides the students with a significant advantage in honing their fabrication skills.
Wade Kotula, CEO of Northern Tool, says the program also gives potential mentors a path to share their years of learned skills. And this being the third such program the company has sponsored, he is confident future programs will be a success.
“There are a lot of folks out there that are so passionate about supporting this and providing a mentorship role,” he says. “They just don’t always know how to do it. They can’t just roll into their local high school and say, ‘hey, I can help.’ An opportunity like this build gives them a chance to get in there and get their hands dirty.”
But the goal isn’t to make students dependent on mentors, which is something Smith highlighted about Lane’s approach to working with students. He didn’t “tell” them what to do; he guided by example. That’s the point of the program, according to Kotula.
“These students are going to be the ones doing it,” he says. “In the future, they won’t have that mentor sitting by their side.”
Crowson says Northern Tool wants its student-centered programs to reach far beyond the individual classroom. With a goal to raise awareness of the many career opportunities in the trades, the company understands the value that comes from showing students what skilled work looks like.
“That’s something we feel like we’re doing in bigger and bigger ways with each of these builds,” he says.
Drawing attention to the skills gap and training the next generation of skilled workers is something we’ve followed for years. Read more here.
