Story originally printed in the Onalaska Life or online at www.onalaskalife.com

Published - Friday, July 04, 2008

Local builder wows bike fans at S&S event, wins People’s Choice

By RANDY ERICKSON | Editor

For Doug Wozney, winning the People’s Choice award last weekend in the S&S Cycle 50th anniversary bike build-off competition was sweet. But in a way, the second place award he won was sweeter.

The rural Onalaska man was competing against some giants in custom motorcycle building, and his custom $70,000 Harley-Davidson knocked off all but one, including the folks at Orange County Choppers, who have their own TV show.

“That’s a pretty good feeling,” Wozney said Tuesday in an interview at his business, Dougz Custom Paint and Fabrication in the La Crosse Industrial Park. “I’m pumped about this bike.”

Doug Wozney, right, stands with employee Terry Miller and his bike that won the People's Choice award during the S&S Cycle 50th anniversary celebration last week. Wozney's bike also took second in his division in the build-off competition. Photo by Randy Erickson

Coming within a whisker of taking first-place in his division at the build-off gave more meaning to winning the People’s Choice award. To Wozney, it signaled that it wasn’t just local people padding the ballot box for him.

Wozney was the only local builder among the 50 competitors, who came from all over the world. In fact, the overall grand prize winner, Keiji Kawakita, came from Tokyo.

Kawakita deserved the top honors in Wozney’s eyes. “I couldn’t believe the engineering on that thing,” he said.

For Wozney, just being among the 50 — picked from 200 applicants — was a big honor.

Wozney started doing custom painting on snowmobiles at 16 years old and started his own business 20 years ago, giving up his job as a machinist at Trane Co.

The paint job on Wozney’s newest award-winner is relatively subdued compared with some of his work — no flames or skulls at all — but what really sets it apart is the combination storage compartments he incorporated into a tilt-up fender. The four storage compartments hold more than the standard Harley “bagger” model but they do it in a sleek, voluptuous shape that is eight inches narrower than the standard storage units.

Although he got a lot of attention for this motorcycle — he’ll be included in a book about this build-off with pictures by famed motorcycle photographer Michael Lichter — Wozney doesn’t want to have people get the wrong idea and think his business only does high-buck custom-built projects.

“We were recognized at this event for a custom-built bike, but our core business is customizing stock bikes,” said Wozney, who also does some custom car work. “That’s my real bread and butter.”

Of course, Wozney enjoys getting custom motorcycle projects, like this most recent award-winning bike, built for Onalaska resident Mark Blatt, the CEO of West Salem-based Multistack. “When we get those jobs we try to knock people dead, and we pretty much did,” he said.

Although Blatt spent $70,000 for a unique and eye-popping ride, some day soon he might pass other bikes much like his on the road. Wozney plans to work on creating and marketing a kit that will allow owners of stock Harley-Davidson Sportsters to create similarly equipped custom bikes.

Wozney has only one part-time employee, Terry Miller, who looks much more like a biker with his arm-covering tattoos and deep tan than Wozney does.

Miller said Wozney always shares the credit for his custom creations, but he said the it’s really Wozney who deserves the kudos.

“For a small-town boy, he’s doing good,” Miller said. “Every one he does is better than the last, and every bike he does gets in a magazine.”