It's obvious that things have run far and away from the behemoths of the TV chopper shows and big-number production lines.

In fact, it's not so much a custom "scene" as it is a bunch of guys (and gals) building and riding bikes — just as it's always been underneath the pop culture glamour that's been piled on top of custom motorcycle building the past few years.

Pick up a copy of The Horse, Cycle Source or a handful of other publications and see that bikes are back into the hands of those willing to get their hands dirty. Sure, the show bikes will always be there, but these days there are more people who want to chop, grind or weld their own way into a custom machine.

This is the world that Flyrite Choppers inhabits. The Austin, Texas-based company builds frames, rolling chassis and completed bikes specifically for those looking to buy basic and bare-bones. Much like some of its competition in this niche, Flyrite offers straightforward machines for the basic biker.

Its line of parts and accessories also reflect the kind of wrench-on-it-yourself mind-set that's been inherent to motorcycling since way back. To hear owner Jason Kidd, 37, tell the company's history, it's easy to see why this grass-roots aesthetic is such a big part of Flyrite's appeal.

And you've got to love a story about a business's chronology that Kidd sums up by saying, "It kind of spiraled out of control from there."

RAISED ON SPEED

In the beginning Kidd was just your average guy raised on a steady diet of hot rods and motorcycles, and who honed his skills working on vintage Lambrettas and Vespas. In fact, Harley-Davidsons never entered his scootercentric world until a time years ago in France when he rode one.

After a stint at a Texas scooter shop, he decided he was done with scoots but didn't know what to do next. His wife did: get a job or open the shop he always wanted to own.

So Kidd struck out with the idea of building a bike for under $10,000. When all was said and done, he had a rigid with a springer front end, a Rev Tech 88 motor and 5-in-4 kick-only transmission. Only thing is it cost $16,500 retail to build. "I thought if I was a dealer of this stuff, I knew I could get it cheaper," he says.

That's the bike Kidd took around as his calling card. One person bit and commissioned a build, but backed out at the last minute. This was after he'd already set up shop and maxed out his credit cards. So he started passing out fliers and going to bike nights to get the word out. He took some paint work to get by. He even took out a big, full-page ad in The Horse.

A day after the ad hit, a guy stopped by the shop, checked out the orphaned, commissioned bike and, at the last minute, decided to buy it, Kidd says. And then the phones started ringing. "It was like a light switch. We had 10 bikes on the [job] board, which was a lot. It was just me and a friend," Kidd recalls.