Custom cycle creations: 4 high school teams to build mini-choppers from scratch

VALDERS — The motorcycle may not be street legal, but come next spring 10 students might take turns cruising the Valders High School parking lot astride their mini-chopper.

"I've been in the garage with my dad for a long time and do think I'm mechanically inclined," said Angelina Satori, 17, one of three girls and seven boys who will spend thousands of hours building a mini-chopper next school year. "I want to be a motorcycle mechanic."

The Chamber of Manitowoc County and the Economic Development Corporation of Manitowoc County are the principal sponsors of "Project Mini-Chopper."

Their mission is to improve the image of manufacturing and help students, parents, educators and the public understand that manufacturing provides excellent career opportunities.

"Thirty percent of our skilled work force is going to retire in the next five years," said EDCMC Executive Director Ken Stubbe, emphasizing the imperative to find and train the manufacturing employees of the future.

"This project will give students some real-life experiences with manufacturing, and show them the viability of careers out there that don't require a four-year degree," said Rick Conrad, youth apprentice liaison and work experience teacher with the Manitowoc Public School District.

Mini-choppers also will be built in the 2008-09 academic year by two Lincoln High School teams, with a fourth machine to be fabricated by students at Roncalli High School.

Corporate sponsors are investing $5,000 to underwrite the cost of parts associated with the engine, wheel assemblies, brakes, frame, fenders, seat, hand controls, forks and other components.

Spancrete officials will approve the proposed design on the Valders mini-chopper — probably in early October — before creation commences.

If Spancrete auctions off the motorcycle as part of a fundraiser, Vikings mini-chopper team member Brian Walt said he'll buy a raffle ticket.

"I plan on owning my own motorcycle someday and would like to go to Harley-Davidson School," said the budding mechanic.

He is one of the students whose work ethic and skills prompted Valders teacher Todd Kiel to say, "Yes and yes," when principal Ellen Bartling asked him if he was interested in the mini-chopper project and did he have the students capable to pull it off successfully.

"I've had them in classes throughout the year, and I felt their abilities were at a point they could handle this," Kiel said. "Some of them have shown a great deal of design ability. Others have good mechanical skills."

Indeed, when it comes to cars, the majority of the six juniors and four sophomores can do their oil and sparkplug changes and do their own brake work.

But motorcycles are different, and Kiel said it should be a challenging project, with the students working on the two-wheeler in class an hour each school day.

"Ultimately, when we get to the assembly stage, we have to make sure the motor puts out enough power to get the tires turning," Kiel said.

Before students take their mini-chopper for the parking lot spin, bending, painting, machining and welding will be skills strengthened, Stubbe said.

"They also will learn the soft skills they need for employment,"Bartling said. "Meeting deadlines, working as a team, presenting ideas in an organized fashion, critical thinking — all of those things will be involved."

Perhaps, next April, the students will offer the principal an opportunity to get on the bike for a jaunt through her parking lot.

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