Heaven on Wheels — OMAX Helps Amen Motorcycles Create “Extreme Mechanical Machines”

Mike Brown's passion for building motorcycles goes back a long way. “When I was seven or eight, I was making choppers out of wire coat hangers and needle nosed pliers,” he says.

These days his company, Amen Motorcycles, cuts solid aluminum, steel and rubber on his OMAX 2652 JetMachining® Center, crafting head-turning bikes for clients like Shaquille O'Neal, Keith Urban and The Academy of Country Music. His pieces have been featured on The Discovery Channel, VH1 and the Speed Channel. One of his pieces of motor art, the YHWH Motorcycle, has garnered attention and honors worldwide.

Amen's latest innovation is the Hubless Monster, an impossible-looking piece of technology and artistry that finds its roots in a Ferris wheel. The wheels of the Hubless use perimeter frame construction - there are no spokes, only empty space where you'd normally expect to find them.

And while the wheels' rims appear conventional, they really function as a frame and don't turn at all. “There are fifteen wheels that run the Hubless,” says Mike. “There are nine sets of circles in the rear, five in the front, and one under the seat that makes it go, just like a friction drive in a carnival Ferris wheel.”

While Mike had been sitting on the concept for the Hubless Monster for 8-1/2 years, turning his vision into product was hampered by the fact that it needed special tires that had never been produced.

So eventually, Mike says, “I made the tires on the OMAX,” beginning by cutting models out of plywood and steel, graduating to rubber. With those tires, which are now in commercial production, the Hubless broke new ground — it is the first bike fully engineered and built before its tires existed. The 360-millimeter tires are currently the largest motorcycle tire in the world.

“The Hubless Monster is completely cut on the OMAX,” says Mike. “The frame is handmade tubing that was cut in a flat piece and compound cut and tapered in different directions after the original cut. It was made one-half inch at a time — there's over 350 feet of welding in the Hubless Monster, where there's only six-and-a-half feet of welding in the average bike.”

Amen's creations are also developed on the OMAX. Mike draws the parts using Layout, and then “the OMAX allows me to make parts out of plywood, fiberglass or styrofoam to model,” he says, and the OMAX software makes refining his designs simple. “I'll recut a model four or five times until I get it right. Once it's refined, I make the actual part.”

The OMAX is essential to Mike's designs. “If I had to use torches or band saws, my bikes couldn't be built,” he says. “My motorcycles have so many components that it is very hard to make them look simple and clean.”

Do you have dreams of building a classic chopper on your OMAX? Amen Motorcycles offers a fast-paced, three-day class taught by motorcycle pioneer Mike Brown. During the class, held at Amen's shop in Rogersville, Tennessee, the group builds a bike from scratch, allowing plenty of hands-on experience for each participant. Sessions are offered at least monthly, and the $595 tuition includes morning and midday meals. For more information, see Amen's website at www.amenmotorcycles.com, or call (423) 272-6061.