From Scratch: Detroit Brothers

There are certain, often contradictory, mythologies that have come to personify Detroit: The notion of a metropolis built on steel, chrome and pure industrial will is one; where big engines, hard work and simple function rule the day. And a less tangible, perhaps more romantic idea is that of a stylized world defined by a gothic notion of faded splendor. Conjuring dreamy images of Road Warrior and Bladerunner, with a dash of Repo Man thrown in for good measure. Living up to their name, the Detroit Brothers, James and David Kaye, bring these worlds together in the form of their provocatively designed, beautifully engineered custom-made motorcycles.

Dave and James created Detroit Bros. Custom Cycles in 2002. Determined to build unique motorcycles that perform to exacting mechanical precision and express a distinctive design point of view, they delivered an individual, and some may argue subversive, statement about predictable, homogeneous, mass-produced choppers.

Inspired by the architecture and gritty, industrial culture that embody the Motor City, each bike Detroit Bros. builds is a work unto itself. These individual creations are one-of-a-kind, hand-made pieces that are primitive modern in their aesthetic and fiercely exact in their engineering. "When we build bikes, the design changes as we go along, sometimes emerging from the raw idea,” says James Kaye, eldest of the brothers.

Designing Desire in Metal and Steel

"Metalwork has always been a passion for me--really beautiful metal work," says James Kaye. “Even in art school, that’s where I wanted to be.”

After stints in custom shops and finance, respectively, James and Dave decided to follow their passion for design. Building bikes out of their parents’ garage, they were committed to doing their own thing, on their own terms. “Our whole bike assembly grew from that link-chain,” says James, referring to a stainless steel shifter linkage (a motorcycle part that connects the gear shifter to the transmission) he designed while still in school. "We started off thinking we’d just do the part built bikes for ourselves. The parts were too weird, a little too obscure. As different as bikers are, they all go for the same imagery—skulls, flames; lots of chrome, " says Kaye, "We don’t build Jesse James West Coast-style bikes. That’s not our thing."

Detroit Brothers bikes are stylized, undeniably beautiful, and far from the brash but banal bikes that dominate the press. Like a compelling companion, their beauty is more than skin deep. They have a definite point of view and their looks provoke a visceral reaction that eludes most of their peers. 

"(With typical choppers) there’s so much sheet metal chrome that they look dirty. The more you ride them the dustier and dirtier they get. Our bikes could be and should be ridden everyday. The more you ride them the better they look, " explains James.  Everything from design to assembly is produced in their Ferndale shop. Despite the ubiquitous pin-ups and hard-edged environs, the place seems more artist’s studio than garage. And in fact, it is. "We take a lot of ideas from the city, its architecture and its energy, " says James Kaye, "And Mad Max is a natural for us. The bikes are almost like giant sculptures. "

"I’m a freak about sketch books—I keep them all over the place, " James says, as he pulls a small black book plastered with stickers from its nook. Flipping it open, he shows me page after page of black-penned sketches. From art to jewelry to the human form, his muses are as surprising as they are varied.

Detroit Bros. also takes inspiration from custom motorcycle designers like Ron Finch of Auburn Hills (where James once worked), Von Dutch and Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. More than his contemporaries, Roth grasped the marketing potential of the custom car counterculture and understood how to promote it to teenagers. After having established his reputation as a custom paint artist, Roth pushed the envelope of car customization. He was also the creator of the popular Rat Fink character, generally regarded as the alter ego of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse.

Especially so in the linkages, there is a sense of understated ornamentation that lends itself to comparison to finely crafted jewelry. Not surprising, as the artist Albert Paley is another strong influence. "Albert Paley is an amazing sculptor who started by doing jewelry. It’s insane. No one else had ever done anything like it," says James. "It looked like Geiger come to full dimensional form. "

Paley was known not only for making a beautiful piece of jewelry, but also for thinking about who was going to wear that jewelry and how it could express thought and meaning. He attempted a visual fusion of the wearer and the piece itself, developing a relationship between them. James Kaye seeks to create the same harmony in his work.

Classically trained as a metal sculptor at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, James spent time working for Ron Finch as a welder and fabricator before heading west to work in custom motorcycle shops. His brother, Dave, graduated from the University of Michigan Business School with a degree in Finance where he worked before the brothers set up shop. Dave’s focus today is developing bikes that are both creatively and technologically advanced, while also managing the shop’s advertising and marketing. Word has spread fast, as The Detroit Brothers have been featured on the Discovery Channel and Spike TV.

Discovery: New Challenges, New Opportunities

The Brothers’ first custom motorcycle garnered more than just second looks; it also attracted industry attention which led to the duo's invitation to appear on the Biker Build-Off, the Discovery Channel’s extremely popular motorcycle building competition program. In documentary style, every episode chronicles a competition between two cycle shops, each given ten days to completely fabricate and build a motorcycle. The bikes then travel to a motorcycle rally where they are judged by popular vote. "Revenge" was the name of the Brothers’ first bike to appear in their 2005 Build-Off debut. It lived up to its name. It was a particularly sweet victory for the Brothers as they defeated Russell Mitchell, the Brit proprietor of Exile Cycles. Before returning to Michigan, James built custom bikes for Exile in California.

The show capitalized on Detroit’s street-tough image to promote the Brothers, although the reality is a little different. "I definitely think the name helps us. People from other cities think that we carry handguns. It’s crazy, " says James.

In reality, the brothers grew up in an artist’s household in Bloomfield Hills, spending their teenage years riding skateboards and BMX bikes. This spirit of individualism informs their work and is, perhaps, partly responsible for the bikes appeal to a younger crowd.

"There’s definitely an industrial edge to the design. I think that’s part of why we appeal to a younger group of people—skateboarders, Gen X. The older crowd still doesn’t get it," says James.

The “older crowd” might not fully appreciate the aesthetic, but that hasn’t stopped peers from acknowledging the mastery of the Detroit Brothers’ work. Their #10 bike, so named because it was their tenth custom vehicle built in ten days for their second Biker Build Off program, proved to be a turning point for the brothers. The #10 shovelhead was handmade from wheels to engine (except for shocks and transmission).  Although it ultimately lost the challenge, it was a design victory for the brothers. "For Dave and me… It was some sort of Zenith for us. Everything was clicking. There are times like that when we’re just rolling and all the design just comes together," James says.

The designs continue to come together. The Detroit Brothers currently have a bike in Easy Rider Challenge Tour, where a distinct number of Master Builders are chosen each year to participate in a one-of-a-kind program that exhibits the motorcycle creations of the “Best of the Best” Master Builders.  "It’s an honor to be included in the tour, " says James.

The Detroit Brothers are working on base production bikes as well as custom projects, the apex of which is the Easy Rider bike, which is priced at $100,000. "We hope to develop a production-style bike that’s totally functional and just stays cool, not dated in 10-15 years, " explains James Kaye. "Honestly, I’m just glad that I get to do something that I like to do. We’re the luckiest people in the world."