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CTM CUSTOMS
Easton, MD
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By Tracy Elzey
Photos by Sam Dixon
Building bikes is about the art of creating a skoot that others will remember for a lifetime. CTM Customs motto, "Old Skool Style, New Skool Flava" says it all. Matt Elzey, owner of CTM Customs is located in Easton, Maryland. The shop specializes in ground up fabrications which offer the original style, designs and flare that every customer prefers in a custom.
For Matt of CTM Customs, building bikes is about the art of creating something people will remember for a lifetime. However, "remaining your own man, keeping up with the times, and keeping your unique style are the keys to a successful build", Matt says. "Sometimes that can be hard to do with the commercialization that tends to be surrounding the bike building business these days."
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In this business you have to be your own man," CTM Customs owner Matt continues. "You can't expect for people to buy a skoot if it's like something someone else already has. At times it's challenging to come up with that new concept for a build, but in the end I always seem to find that which is different from the rest. Finding that original, one of a kind is most definitely important in this business."
When talking to Matt, you can feel his passion for what he does. As he states "Not many people in the world can say they are doing something they love to do, and in the end, being able to make a living doing it. What a great feeling." There are only a handful of people in the country that are capable of building a true original skoot, and luckily for Matt he is one of those few.
"You know that when you are passionate about something you need to put your heart and soul into it," Matt says, "You take that creative side within yourself, and build one bad ass bike that people will remember you by. It definitely is gratifying when you build that skoot from the ground up, and in the end people come up to you and offer their compliments. That makes the many hours of blood, sweat and tears totally worth it."
Over the last five years or so Matt Elzey of CTM Customs, has seen the business of bike customizations sky rocket through the roof. That is why CTM Customs believes in building the bike that has all the tricks of the trade that make it an original, an eye catcher in the crowd, but at the same time makes it a little more affordable than the competition. A CTM Customs' original ranges anywhere from $20,000 on up, depending on what the customer has in mind during a particular build. CTM Customs originals are frame ready, with all other parts fabricated by Matt himself.
While many styles of skoots are built at CTM Customs, the favorite seems to be the bobber. "The original bobber style skoot featured a no frills kind of bike, that was fun as hell to drive. They basically had no fenders, no rack and basically none of the bells and whistles of today's skoots." From Matt's builds, it is clear that the CTM Customs' original built bobbers are not the bare bones of the past. They are just as their motto states, "Old Skool Style, New Skool Flava."
CTM Customs, along with 50 other builders are featured in a new book titled, The Art of the Bobber, by Spencer Drate and Judith Salavetz. You can also check out the CTM Custom's original styles at www.ctmcustoms.com.
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THESE ARE THE PHOTOS THAT MADE IT INTO THE PRINT MAGAZINE...
THES PHOTOS AND OVER 100 MORE
HI-RESOLUTION PHOTOS FROM THIS SHOOT ARE IN THE MEMBERS AREA
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FOR MORE INFORMATION ON MATT ELZEY AND CTM CUSTOMS
VISIT CTMCUSTOMS.COM
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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 3 - JANUARY 2008
