Students at the Gilbreath Reed Career and Technical Center teamed up with Dallas Harley-Davidson for the Battle of the Kings 2019 Build and more than 200 dealers from around the world will compete. According to their website, the challenge is to turn a standard Harley-Davidson model into something unique using their imagination, skill and a budget that is no more than half the cost of the original model.
This year, Harley-Davidson required dealerships to team with trade schools on this project and Dallas Harley Davidson chose GRCTC. Working with the dealership has been a great experience for the students, who are the only high-schoolers in the contest. The remainder of the schools are post-secondary and trade schools.
The modified bike was unveiled April 2 at the GRCTC and everyone involved, including dealership staff members, Thomas Pablo, the motorcycle repair teacher, Dr. Erika Crump, principal as well as the students, were proud of the finished product.
Pablo, who has a bike of his own, along with many years’ industry-experience, said that partnering with the dealership was great and they all worked well together.
The teacher is thrilled with the finished product.
“The students worked extremely hard and worked a lot of hours after school and during spring break,” Pablo said. “The end product speaks for itself. It’s just unbelievable. How many students get a chance to cut the frame on a brand-new motorcycle? Very few people get that opportunity.”
The students were also proud of their accomplishment. Raymond Tovias, a student that worked long hours on the project, is happy with the outcome.
“I wasn’t sure we’d be able to do it, but we worked up until the last minute and got it done,” he said. “Once we ended up finishing it, I was really excited. It’s gorgeous.”
Lance Orso, the dealership’s general sales manager, said that when Harley-Davidson told them that they had to use a trade school, the GRCTC was the first place they thought of.
“We knew Pablo from coming to the shop and buying parts for his bike and we’ve done a few projects together so we knew exactly what we wanted to do,” Orso said. “I came up with the idea for the style, gave them the ideas and told them to run with it. We gave them free rein and let them have fun.”
They were almost too close for comfort on the photo submission deadline, but they finished the bike, took the photos and sent them to Harley-Davidson with an hour to spare.
Jesse Bunch, one of the head technicians from the dealership, worked closely with the students.
“It has been awesome to work with these guys,” he said. “There are quite a few of them that are very, very talented. They have a bright career in any mechanical field they might decide to go into. What they’ve accomplished here is awesome”
In the Skills USA competitions, Pablo’s students have won all the Best in Show contests for two consecutive years. They’ve also earned seven first places, one second place, and in hands-on skills, they took second and fourth last year.
“This year, I think we are going to take first place which would mean Raymond [Tovias] gets to go to nationals,” he said.
The students made various modifications to the bike including changing it from belt drive to chain drive, adding custom handlebars, modifying the headlight by adding a customized light plate, as well as modifying the exhaust and adding an SNS air breather. These are just a few of the modifications.
Also proud of the students, Dr. Crump wants everyone to know what they accomplished and would appreciate it if everyone would vote at www.H-d.com/battleofthekings.
“We’ve got to get everyone involved and voting,” she said “These kids have worked hard and I think it’s important that the community knows what is going on.”
Voting starts April 15. Users must register using their email.
The community is invited to a special Bike Reveal event April 20 at Harley-Davidson at 1334 West Centerville Road in Garland from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Photos with the Easter bunny will also be available!