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The bike was Enzo Ribaudo’s pride and joy, his first attempt at adjoining chrome parts into a metallic masterpiece. His Frankenstein had an equally scary name — "Hellraiser" (based on the 1987 horror movie). Ribaudo is a huge fan of the franchise and thought a themed motorcycle would be a great way to combine his ongoing passion with a fairly new one.
Entering the motorcycle-making scene in 2004, the resident created a 950-pound, 8-and-a-half-foot vehicle in a 12-by-10-foot area of his basement. This monster includes an open-belt drive and an elaborate paint job with the movie’s characters on the gas tank and long, silver chains against the backdrop of yellow paint. He began the venture in March ’05, completing the project nine months later.
Advertising the bike on eBay and in magazines, a couple and their son who owned a horror bar in Pittsburgh came across the hog. When they stopped through South Philly Easter weekend in ’06, Ribaudo asked if they wanted to take it for a test spin.
"We don’t ride no bike," Ribaudo recalled the couple saying to him in an Western Pennsylvania accent.
Without setting foot on the chopper, the family, who wanted the machine for their bar, watched as Ribaudo loaded it into a trailer — and paid him $20,000 in cash.
"Once you build something yourself, it’s hard to get rid of it," the resident of 18th and Forrestal streets admitted.
Ribaudo’s hobby has become the business Reck Room Choppers, a part-time venture where he’s custom-built two bikes, with a third on the way. But what is surprising is Ribaudo’s method for building his creations in his homestead.
"Did you ever hear of a motorcycle in the family room of a private home?" mother-in-law Mary Lombardi asked.
Don’t ever tell Ribaudo he’s incapable of completing a task. Bodybuilding is a prime example.
"Someone told me I couldn’t do it," the 48-year-old said. "I was 210 [pounds]. I went down to 160."
At age 35 he started competing and eventually went pro. He still goes to the gym four days a week.
Building motorcycles came about in the same manner. Already mechanically inclined, Ribaudo became more interested in these modes of transportation through chopper-themed TV programs and bike shows. He also attended the American Motorcycle Institute for a year.
Since he has no garage in his home, the only place to tinker was a portion of his basement, which now is his home-within-a-home. Photos of Ribaudo and his accomplishments align the walls. Countless motorcycle books rest next to awards the tatted-up chopper-lover has won in a short span.
Yet, he admits anyone can do what he does. "If you ever said, ‘I want to build [a motorcycle],’ I tell anyone, ‘You can.’
"In a car, there are a lot more parts, the wiring and all. Once a [motorcycle] frame comes, you can start putting everything together."
Beginning with the frame as a skeleton, he then works his way out and gradually adds the other parts. Once the pieces are constructed in a manner suitable to Ribaudo, he dissembles the bike, making sure to remember the placement of nuts and bolts holding everything together.
The next step is to reassemble the chopper in Ribaudo’s parking garage, a space behind Chickie’s & Pete’s. Some pieces are sent to friend Alfred Scioli of Killer Kreations, 17th and McKean streets, who airbrushes the vehicle. Another friend, Albert Weneler, does the wiring.
Currently, Ribaudo proudly stores two of his other creations in the garage: "Ghost Rider" and "The Rebel." The former, completed in eight months and inspired by the movie starring Nicolas Cage, weighs 900 pounds, is 9-and-a-half feet long and has 120 horsepower. As the resident turned on the engine last week near his garage, every car alarm in proximity went off.
Painted a fiery mix of oranges and reds, the gas tank includes a rendering of Ghost Rider holding a chain. The open-belt drive also bears his name, while metallic spikes Ribaudo drilled and tapped into the chrome jut out from the machine. Even the front fender was customized, since the hog lover cut it in such a way as to give it a "spiked look."
The resident admitted to putting $22,000 worth of chrome into the bike, now with a price tag of $30,000. And it’s no surprise it gets a response no matter where it goes. Ribaudo was even invited by management to attend the "Ghost Rider" premiere at a Moorestown, N.J., movie theater and his bike won first place in the Radical Competition of the ’06 Fast Lane Biker Bike Show Tour.
His other baby, "The Rebel," also is garnering attention. Selling at $17,500, the paint job includes renderings of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Peter Fonda and the Fonz.
Working in maintenance at Hahnemann University Hospital, Ribaudo tinkers on his toys during spare moments.
While proud of the creations he might not possess much longer, Ribaudo is glad to own one of his favorites — a ’93 Harley, which includes $10,000 worth of new chrome he constructed himself.
Wife Joan has only rode with her spouse once in the past 12 years. But Ribaudo’s sons — Adam, 17, and John, 10 — seemed to be developing chopper love in their own right, since they enjoy riding with their pops on occasion.
After finishing his next creation named "Devil’s Revenge," the resident would like to reconstruct a Harley from the early 1900s.
Of course, that work will literally be kept in-house.
"This is my getaway," he said. "Nighttime, I’ll go down to the basement. I’ll start working until 1 o’clock in the morning. This is my outlet. I would love doing this full time."
