A Manteca custom bike builder is offering a $5,000 no-questions-asked reward for the safe return of a one-of-a-kind custom motorcycle that was stolen Thursday afternoon from a RV Storage facility on Austin Road.
Paul Binford, the owner of Binford’s Custom Cycles, received a call from a friend shortly after 4 p.m. on Thursday that the hood on his pickup truck had been raised and the he believed somebody may have been trying to steal his battery. Binford, who was storing the bike in a trailer in anticipation of an upcoming custom motorcycle show, arrived shortly thereafter and discovered that the back of the trailer had been broken into and the 2013 Harley Davidson Streetglide that he had stripped down to the bare frame and rebuilt painstakingly was missing.
“I feel sick to my stomach right now. Sick,” Binford said. “We haven’t even had a chance to ride it yet. The owner hasn’t even had the chance to ride it yet – we brought it out to the show in Dixon and he got to sit on it. That’s it.”
And it’s no ordinary motorcycle.
As with most of the projects that Binford takes on, this one was special – an homage to the Oakland Raiders that was commissioned by a die-hard fan and Oakland resident that is supposed to be unveiled at the Coliseum in conjunction with the 2015 football season.
Every individual part was engraved with something having to do with the Raiders – an organization that is credited with helping shape the modern NFL as it is today thanks to its late owner – and the tradition that the team carried with it into the AFL-NFL.
Al Davis’ famous “Commitment to Excellence” slogan was engraved along the tailpipe. “Raider” and “Nation” adorn the top of each side of the V-Twin Harley motor, and it’s next to impossible to run your hand down nearly any other length of the bike without touching a piece of exposed metal that wasn’t hand-machined or airbrushed.
It’s valued at just under $100,000.
“We put over 500 hours in the engraving alone,” Binford said. “I’ve been doing this in this town for 20 years and I’ve never had a bike stolen. You think you build up a reputation and that nobody is going to take from you – that you’re fair with people. No questions asked – I just want it back.
Any information about the whereabouts of the motorcycle can be sent to binfordscustomcycles@yahoo.com or by calling 209.239.7828. Anybody returning the motorcycle will be eligible for the $5,000 reward without any questions asked. The bike can be returned to 418 N. Main Street.
“It’s already out there and people are on Facebook sharing pictures of it and some of the other stuff that I had in my truck and the trailer that was taken – some wheel designs that were custom and one-off,” Binford said. “Hopefully getting the word out there will make it pop back up because that bike and the parts on it are unmistakable. You aren’t going to be able to take them anywhere and know that they didn’t come from here.”
