Introducing Phoenix!

Finally, the long awaited day to unveil the Phoenix has arrived!

Several members from YFS Girls Inc. made their way up to Black Hills Harley Davidson to celebrate with the local media, sponsors, and community members who have all supported their participation in the Helping with Horsepower project.

The girls were so excited to see the bike all polished and on display!

Pictured above are the Girls Inc. members posing with some of the community members who have helped and supported them along the way. From left to right: (front row) Tiff, Hits 102.7, Jessica Broullire, YFS Girls Inc. Child Development Specialist; Girls Inc. members; (back row) Jan Kirch, Zonta Club of the Black Hills member; 

Terry Rymer, BHHD General Manager; Rachel Cole, Helping with Horsepower project facilitator; 

Amy Klock, Zonta Club of the Black Hills member; Mike Maloney, BHHD Social Media Marketer; 

Jeff Kreun, Kreun Kustoms; and Rob Burton.

The girls really portrayed the theme of the Phoenix in the custom design on the seat of the bike. Jeff Kreun took the girls' drawings and created this amazing seat that showcases the head and wings of a Phoenix.

Tim from Sand Scripts did an amazing job adding a special touch to the bike for the girls.Each girl that participated on in the project has her initials etched into the air cleaner cover on the bike along with the project's slogan, "Rebuilding a bike and a stereotype."

Time for a Little Showing Off

The month of May really flew by! As the school year was coming to an end and YFS Girls Inc. staff and members were preparing for summer programming, the girls got a special chance to show off their project to their friends and family. Although the bike was without sheet metal, the girls were very excited to show off the work they had done up to that point.

After taking time to explain their project to their friends and family that attended the gathering, the girls took made a photographic effort to show that they truly are strong, smart, and bold member of YFS Girls Inc.!

Jeff Kreun also had a big surprise for the girls at their party: He finished the upholstery on the seat of the bike! During the previous week, Jeff had the girls sketch out some designs for the seat using chalk. He was able to use some of their drawings to create an amazing design that really represents "Phoenix" and the girls' ideas!

Needless to say, the girls were all pretty elated about how the seat for "Phoenix" turned out.

Although we've entered the month of June, the assembly of the bike is still wrapping up. We are aiming to have the sheet metal back and on the bike within the next week or so, and then the fun of touring the bike around the Black Hills will begin!

Raffle tickets are currently on sale though! If you're interested, please call 342-4195!

Week 16: Down to the Details

What a busy week! Last week, the girls completed their 16th week of the project! Time has certainly passed by quickly.

During their class session last week, the girls worked on a few different things. Steve, from Black Hills Harley Davidson, stopped down to provide the girls with some assistance while they put on some of the new parts for their bike. The girls worked on getting the new handle grips on, some pieces of the headlights assembled, and several other details.

While the girls took turns working on the bike, the rest were working with Jeff Kreun to help design the details of the seat's upholstery.

 

Jeff prepared a really exciting project for the girls! He cut out pieces of fabric that would fit the seats on the bike and then let the girls use chalk to sketch designs on them. Eventually, the girls' designs will help Jeff when he produces the final covering for the seats.

There are certainly some very creative and amazing artists in this group of girls!

Week 15: Lighting Up the Bike

One thing the girls have been insistent upon since the beginning of the design process were LED lights for the bike. They wanted this bike to light up and stand out!

To help make the girls' vision become a reality, Swint LED, located in Sturgis S.D, donated a set of their "Fire" lights to really light up the bike. The red and amber lights play off the "Phoenix" theme impeccably well.

Jerry Petersen from Swint LED made the trek all the way from Sturgis S.D. to be at this week's session and help the girls install some of the lights. The LED lights looked fantastic and were incredibly easy for the girls to install! The girls were so happy to have their bike lit up and appreciated all the help from Jerry and Swint LED.

Week 13: Removing the Exhaust and Tires

Back at the Hot Rod Institute, Rob met with the girls again this week to help them remove the old exhaust pipes and the tires. The girls started by numbering off and taking turns removing all the pieces that were holding the exhaust in place.

As you can tell, finally getting the parts off was pretty exciting.

After the girls removed the exhaust from the bike, it was time to move on to the tires. The new tires were being shipped in so they wanted to make sure the bike was prepared for the new parts.

Week 12: Setting Up for the 25th Annual Black Hills Motorcycle Show

This week, the girls helped YFS staff set up a booth to show off their project at the 25th annual Black Hills Motorcycle Show. There are a few reasons why this was an exciting week for the girls: Their project and bike are on display in a public forum. The girls got to help set up the display for their project and and were also able to walk around and check out other bikes and designs. It was a pretty neat experience for them and big reminder that soon, their bike would be finished as well.

While the girls were helping set up the booth space, a professional photographer by the name of Kevin Eilbeck offered to take a snapshot of the girls and their bike.

If having their photo taken by a professional photographer wasn't fun enough, their project also received some media attention the following day. Two local TV stations came to the event to scope out the girls' progress.

Click here to see one of the TV reports on the project!

Week 10: Michael Prugh Makes a Visit

If you've ever dealt with the anticipation one feels when waiting for something exciting, then you probably know how the girls and staff members felt at today's Helping with Horsepower class meeting. Weeks ago, Michael Prugh, a very well-known and respected designer and the owner of Prugh Design, had agreed to help the girls with their project, and today he was making a special trip in to visit with them!

 

 Prior to this meeting, Michael had received a copy of the girls' original "Phoenix" design. In order to help the girls modify their design so it could be painted and reassembled in the time frame they've been allotted, they would need to reconsider a few of the design elements they had originally discussed. 

Michael talked with the girls about what they were looking for, what their inspiration was, and what their final vision looked like. After he felt that he understood where the girls were coming from, he took some notes to take with him so he could begin working with the painter to come up with the final design. The girls were very excited and semi-anxious to see what their collaborative design would look like. 

After Michael and the girls had finished talking about the design for the motorcycle, Jeff Kreun came in to surprise the girls with an idea he had been working on for their motorcycle's seat. 

The girls were pretty excited to see what Jeff had been cooking up. Although this feather to flame design was just a preliminary example of what the girls could choose to do, it sure did get some conversations going!