Fair Lawn Bike Builder Wins First Place in Prestigious NYC Show

For the past 10 years, Fair Lawn native Evan Favaro has worked from the ground up, learning everything he can about motorcycles from basic mechanical work to full custom sheet metal fabrication, machining, and welding.

His years of dedication paid off recently when his Paramus company, Speakeasy Motors, won first place in the Modified Street class at the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder custom bike show at the International Motorcycle Show in the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

Speakeasy Motors combined a 1978 Yamaha XS650 with a 2007 Suzuki GSX-R 750 for the competition and custom-built the neck and axle, modified hub, fully rebuilt motor, and hand fabricated the tail and tank from scratch for the award. The event, which was held from Jan. 18 to Jan. 20 is considered one of the biggest motorcycle shows in the country.

“All my hard work has finally paid off.” Favaro, 23, said. “This is the first major milestone of my career and I can’t wait to see what comes next! No Risk, no Gain.”

The primarily self-taught Favaro got his start at age 12 when he custom built a two-stroke race motorcycle to ride around town. From there, he went on to build a go-kart and two mini-choppers from scratch, all by the age of 15.

An apprenticeship with Tribal Iron Choppers during high school allowed for an expanded education under owner Eric Schroeder and the opportunity to travel up and down the east coast doing bike shows and events that showcased his growing talent. Along with learning under Schroeder, Favaro also studied with Fay Butler, who was featured on the Discovery Channel show "Biker Build-Off" teaching celebrity customizer Jesse James.

During his time with Tribal Iron Choppers, Favaro built his first custom street bike, a 1972 Honda CB350 he named the "Crap Weezel." The rat bike took second place in a bike show during Laconia Bike Week against dozens of high-end choppers.

Favaro opened Speakeasy Motors in April 2011, and since then, business has exploded. The company is located at 9 Forest Avenue in Paramus and can be reached at 201-835-6768.

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