The Nervous Breakdown

I had the opportunity to check this bike out at the El Diablo Run Meet and Greet. I think the tank stood out to me as I was feeling like I was going to have a nervous breakdown at any moment. You see, I needed to find someone heading down to Mexico that could help me secure footage and shoot a few bikes. As fate would have it, I finally met photographer Elvis Castillo face to face. Elvis stepped up to the challenge and my anxiety diminished. We proceeded to walk the parking lot and picked out a few bikes that caught our eye. Here is one of many heading your way. 

Photos by Elvis Castillo

Written by Jay Turner

I built this bike in my garage over the winter of 2011 with the help of some fellow Oklahomies. It took about 4 months to finish, and I took it on it's maiden voyage to Just Kickers. I had a blast on it and had no breakdowns on it's 300 miles round trip! So I then decided to take it Tennessee to the Big Mountain Run not a single breakdown! I was stoked because that's exactly what I had in mind when I built this bike. I wanted something reliable that I could just hop on and ride the fuck out of it without any problems and would get me where I wanted to go without breaking down every 60 miles. On Fourth of July weekend 2012 I was hit from behind by another guy on a bike. Totaled the bike out, broke my foot, tore all the ligaments in my foot and gave me a serious case of road rash. It took me another 6 months to get it back on the road again. I built a new exhaust and got the white mags slapped on, straightened the sissy bar and fender the best I could. There’s nothing quite like chopping on a bike while on crutches and in a cast! All in all this bike is exactly what I had  in my mind short, narrow and light, no frills, nothing crazy, just a bar hopper right? A bar hopper to go cross country on. 

My EDR trip was awesome! We started off in Temecula at Biltwell HQ from there we carved up some twisties until we reached Mexicali and filled up on gas, filled my spare fuel sling, bought 2 Gatorades, slammed them, and filled them up with gas. I headed out for San Felipe 130 miles South. At the half way point we pulled over, and I dumped every drop in the tank and took off again and cruised into San Felipe cutting out on fumes but I made it. We partied our asses off there for 2 days drinking as many beers and rum filled coconuts as I could stand. We left for San Felipe around 10 am the next day 150 miles across the most pothole filled road I have ever seen (and that's saying something because I'm from Oklahoma the land of the shittiest roads in the nation). That was the toughest 150 miles I have ever road. Made it to Ensenada unharmed with nothing broke on the bike and proceeded to drink 5 too many Margaritas, needless to say I blacked out around 10 that night. We sat around Saturday just being hung over and generally worn the fuck out and getting mentally prepared for the journey home the following morning. We took off from Ensenada and hauled ass up the coast. It was the most beautiful leg of the ride by far. We hit Tijuana at around 10 and proceeded to get lost trying to find the border crossing after coming to the same intersection 5 times and getting chased by Mexican policia. We finally moved a road barrier and rode to the crossing , split some lanes and scooted across the border. EDR is the ultimate chopper trip I had a blast with my fellow Oklahomies and met some great dudes and made a couple good friends, can't wait to do it again. OKLAHOMIES FOREVER, FOREVER OKLAHOMIES = O.F.F.O.

Owner name, location: Jay Turner, Ponca City, OK

Bike name:  “Nervous Breakdown”

Engine, year and make, model, modifications: 1994 XL 883

Frame: Stock with Road 6 weld on hardtail 

Fork: Narrow glide  

Chassis mods: 2” stretch 4” drop

Tire/wheel size and style: White mags

Favorite thing about this bike:  Custom 2 into 1 exhaust

Next modification will be:  Build a different seat. The seat that’s on it is fucking hideous!

Other mods, accessories, cool parts, etc: Hand made narrow bars, spare tire cover fender, hand made sissy bar, flipped up headlight eyebrow, titmouse taillight, stash tube oil tank and custom Teflon bolted to the bottom of my oil tank because my chain was rubbing a hole through it!

Any building or riding story or info you'd like to include:  The bike's name is “Nervous Breakdown” because I had a nervous breakdown on the I40 on the way to Born Free 3. 

Thanks to all the Oaklahomies for painting the tank, and to my wife Brandi for putting up with me always being in the garage and sometimes having sex with me!

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El Diablo Run 2013