By Lulu

This month’s Bull’s Eye is Derek Tipton. Born in Elkhart, Indiana and raised outside of Detroit, he landed in Ft. Lauderdale in 1988. Like most men who end up loving motorcycles he started early, his first bike was a Honda CVR 500 at 15. Then he had a Kawasaki 454 LTD at 16. While living in south Florida, Derek would spend the weekends riding with friends and during one of these excursions he lost a dear friend from a motorcycle accident. He took 17 years off and vowed to never ride again.

His livelihood has been from auto restoration and consignment vehicles. His specialty is ground up restorations. He loves muscle cars, Detroit, motor heads and the Classics. Hence the name Detroit City Customs which is based in Ocala. The sister company is City Collision in Gainesville and Ocala. Under the same roof in Ocala is Auto Doctors who take care of all mechanical upgrades during restoration. Their facility takes up a city block and the cool cars and trucks on property were just amazing. I think there was nearly 100 vehicles in various stages of being rebirthed! He loves doing specialty custom work and that has evolved into his love of motorcycles.

Derek developed a friendship with a biker named Chooch who was living in Ocala. When Chooch was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008 he decided to get back on two wheels and rode twice with Chooch before he passed, and Chooch was right, once he was back on the pavement…it was back in his blood.

In memory of Chooch he created the “Mobsta” whose theme evolved from his love of mobster movies. The bike is a rolling chassis with an 80 inch EVO punched out over 10. The custom look include swoop fenders giving it the 30’s-40’s Mob look. The transmission is a 6 speed knock off of a Baker and the pipes are “skirt lifters”. A definite “Good Fellas” theme throughout, including a sweet paint job. This bike has taken “Best in Show” and the reason is obvious.

Derek’s Detroit City Customs is a thriving business in central Florida and if you need your hot rod, truck or bike restored or customized check him out. He and wife Antoinette are friendly and love to share their staff’s talent on the next project through the doors.