Artists
and
Artisans
Metal Maestro / Evan Wilcox
Artists and Artisans
by Rick Doughty
An artist focuses on personal expression and conceptual meaning, while an artisan focuses on physical craftsmanship. Rarely does a person possess both traits in balance. Evan Wilcox is one such individual, and lucky for us, he likes motorcycles and the people who ride them.
Introduced to the sport of off-road riding in the late 60s, Evan was indoctrinated like many in the sagebrush-covered Mojave Desert. During an era when a short drive out of LA would transport you to what felt like an endless, lunar landscape, where rules and restrictions were forgotten. The 60s and 70s in Southern California were a license to enjoy the desert and of course, dirt biking. It was a good time to be alive and an even better time to be a kid with willing parents. Evan Wilcox was lucky.
Riding in the desert with friends and family almost always led to impromptu races across the wide-open expanses. Honda Trail 90s and Yamaha Trail 80s gave way to more competition-oriented machinery as the ante and bragging rights increased. Evan and his brother were right in step with that progression as their interests turned from the desert to some of the many motocross tracks in the area. No place was a better breeding ground for racers, bikes, and aftermarket companies than the So Cal motocross scene.
Having an interest in motorcycles and a natural mechanical inclination, high school shop class was an obvious choice. Evan brought his interest in motocross into a setting where he could explore what made them work, what made them faster, and how to fabricate his own parts and pieces. It wasn’t long before he got noticed by Don Emler of FMF, who recruited him as a pipe builder along with Dave Miller (DMC Racing). His hobby had become a job, and as soon as he got done with school each day, he was off to build pipes for what would become one of the biggest performance companies on the planet. Yup, Evan was lucky.
Being “in the industry” gives you a perspective to see the sport from a different angle, and Evan did just that. He developed some of his own products along the way. Some were his ideas, and some were requests he had along the way. Instead of shying away from a project he had never attempted, he adopted enough belief in himself that his standard reply was “Sure, I can do that.” That belief became the trust that a great many builders of high-end custom motorcycles and cars have counted on for the last 40-plus years.
When pressed for a little name-dropping, the ever-humble Mr. Wilcox said, “Well there was Sam Moses/ Road and Track, Barry Weiss/ Storage Wars, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Graves/ Team Yamaha, Erion/ Team Honda, Larry Pegram/ Ducati, Barber Museum, MV Augusta, Kenny Dreer/ Norton, and others. Any one of these customers would be something to brag about, but Evan lets his work do the talking, and when you see some of his creations, you will understand.
When asked what his most satisfying project of all time was, he didn’t have to think about it for a second, which was surprising. The answer was even more so. He said that his daughter came to him one day and said that she wanted to make her own dress for a school dance. She didn’t know how or where to start and wondered if he could help. By this point in the interview I knew exactly what his answer was. It was what has made Evan Wilcox who he is. He said, “Sure, I can do that”, with the self-confidence he approaches all his projects. He had never made a dress, but he knew how to make patterns and take measurements. Putting his nose to the grindstone, adding a dash of trial and error and a whole lot of perseverance saw him through the dance dress dilemma. Still to this day, with all the incredible creations that have come to life in his workshop, helping his daughter with her dress is at the top of his proud moments. That says a lot about who Evan Wilcox is.
In a world of programmed CNC parts, stamped-out widgets, craftsman and one-off parts are simply rare. Rare, like on the edge of extinction. That is where we are lucky. Lucky to have this Michelangelo of Metal, this DaVinci of Vintage alloy. Evan Wilcox is still willing to ply his trade and talent even after moving to the land of retirees in St. Petersburg, Florida.
You can contact him at 707 380-9901 or on Website: evanwilcoxmetal.com
