Like cream separating from hot milk in a dirty bucket, good people always rise to the top, even at greasy chopper hoedowns in murky swamps. I met Nick Sicignano (SIZZ ig nano) and his boozy crew from Connecticut under an EZ-up at White Birch Campground in Laconia, NH. Nick was nursing a cocktail and cleaning the white sidewalls on this tidy hardtail Sportster.

Shooting the breeze with Nick and his Nutmeg State buddies reaffirmed what I've come to believe about motorcycle events and the people who attend them: the best ones are casual and uncomplicated. While I scurried around their camp site shooting these photos, Nick and his crew chatted me up about everything from the price of chopper parts—pretty fair, thanks to online retailers—to social media—buying and selling on ChopCult works.

When I asked Nick for the back story on his '02 Sporty, here's what he told me…

A while ago I built a sweet little 1980 ironhead chopper that I tried ridin’ the piss out of, but it didn’t like it. After wrenchin’ on that bike constantly I said ‘Fuck it’ and bought a bone stock ’02 Sportster. I rode that bike five times, then stripped it bare and sold all the old parts on ChopCult to fund the new build.

I got three-quarters finished with the project, then lost my job. My brother and friends came to the rescue to help me get it going—my brother did all the welding at J-Tech Fab in Seymour, CT, and my good friend Johnny wired everything up. I’ll never be finished with this bike, but I think it’s pretty sweet as she stands. Next on the list are some new pipes and a jockey shifter to make it more fun.

Owner: Nick Sicignano

Home: Seymour, CT

Donor bike: 2002 Sportster

Frame: Paughco rigid

Fork: Shaved and lowered Narrow Glide

Front wheel: Stock 21'' with cheapest tire I could find!

Rear wheel: H-D 16'' with another cheap tire and a Hawg Halters sprotor brake

Custom bits and other parts: I made the license plate bracket and coil mount; I found the really cool alumonum dogbone risers and gas tank in the ChopCult classifieds from Main Drive Cycle; the seat is a West Eagle from No School Choppers; Pat Kennedy internal throttle

Thanks: To my brother for doing all the welding and painting and helping with other shit; the the guys at J-Tech Fab for letting us use your equipment