How It All Started: Jamie’s Journey Into Custom Bikes
Coming from a background in earth moving saw Jamie driving a truck and dog transporting a lot of concrete and sand, which was never a passion, just a way to make a living. His real passion had always been tinkering and building custom bikes on the side, even helping a few mates build their dream customs, which finally led him to the big decision of opening his own custom bike business, which was just over three years ago now.
But not everything went to plan from the outset, as after first opening in Packenham, due to unforeseen circumstances, Jamie found himself moving a couple of times, which wasn’t ideal, especially as he was in the process of building up a customer base.
As many would appreciate, running your own business is quite a challenge, let alone if you don’t have a permanent address, which is why he decided to invest everything he had to build an impressive workshop in Somerville, an outer suburb of Melbourne
The New Premises: Building a State-of-the-Art Workshop
It’s been a big process and a lot of hard work too, but now that Jamie has been at the new premises for a few months, everything seems to be falling into place. He’s been busy too, which is why we thought we’d drop in and check out one of his latest builds, a 2025 Breakout.
As his first custom bike was a 2014 Breakout years ago, Jamie has always been a fan, especially now that it’s without a doubt the most popular model they customise at Elite Bikes.
Breakout Build: Taking the 2025 Breakout to the Next Level
It used to be the V-Rods that were all over his work hoists back in Packenham, but now that they’ve been discontinued, Jamie says it’s the Breakouts that have taken up that mantle. And being a custom builder, Jamie always tries to stay ahead of the curve, which is why he wanted to be one of the first in Australia to do a custom build on a new 2025 Breakout. For this one, it was just cosmetic modifications as no engine work was available at the time, although Jamie was quick to admit it’ll be receiving a big bore kit down the line.
If anything, working on the latest Breakout was more a research and development project for Jamie by changing out a few things that weren’t available yet. That meant trying a few new parts to see what would fit and look cool, and it was never planned to be a full custom makeover either, Jamie just wanted to take it another step and see what could be done.
Turns out it was only finished the night before we turned up for the photoshoot too, with its first test-run to take place as soon as we completed the photos. But being a business owner, Jamie’s used to working late nights to get things sorted, especially when you’re as busy as he is now after the move to Somerville.
Behind the Build: Parts, Upgrades & Performance Enhancements
First up they swapped out the pipes with a set of Radical Radius from Freedom Performance, which on the latest Breakout are now a two into one system as opposed to the staggered dual exhaust previously, along with the addition of a Codlin Heavy Breather air cleaner, LED indicators and a Bullet headlight. They’ve also fitted up a new set of 2” Burleigh drag bars and some Performance Machine pegs while also cleaning up the rear with a tail tidy kit from Big Daddy Customs.
They then swapped out the stock seat with a custom trimmed item from Marcus at Trueline Trimming, and as Jamie’s not a big fan of the new dash, he changed that up by relocating the speedo and mounting it in a twin cam housing. To get it sitting low and looking cool is where the Platinum Air Ride suspension does its job, which has been fitted front and rear. And those HHI Ranger wheels look the goods too, with an 18” at the rear and a big 26” at the front, and changing it up even further, they slotted on a RWD wraparound rear fender.
As mentioned, at the time of the build there wasn’t any software available for engine upgrades, mainly due to the new ride modes and electronics, but it was only a few weeks later that the boys went to work on the motor.
Kicking it all up to an entirely new level was a Stage 2 kit from Alpha Performance along with a Cycle Rama 484 camshaft, S&S quickee pushrods, Fueling lifters, and 6.2inch injectors, all before being tuned by Callum at Eastern Big Twin. It all resulted in some serious performance and eye watering figures too, pumping out 142hp and 137ft pounds of torque.
The Team: Expert Craftsmanship and Hands – On Quality
And to stay ahead of the game, Jamie rarely posts anything on social media before the bikes are actually finished, which naturally eliminates the chance of other builders trying to replicate their ideas, especially if another builder completes the work before they do, making it appear as if Elite Bikes copied their idea, when in fact it’s vice-versa.
Jamie doesn’t have a huge team working with him either, instead it’s just himself and his head mechanic Dave, along with Wayne who comes in a couple of days a week to help out when things get busy. And by running it this way with two trusted and extremely talented builders, Jamie says it allows him to stay on top of quality control. He’s quite hands-on too when it comes to not only running the business, but also working on the bikes, especially when they’ve got a fair bit of work to get through.
What’s On Offer: Custom Bikes for Every Rider
They build bikes with quite a few options too, and by that I mean they not only build customs in the $35k-$40k price range, which is much more accessible to a lot of customers, they also build high-end top dollar customs for those that want to go all out.
And for this particular build, being a big fan of the Breakout, Jamie did have aspirations of hanging on to this one himself, but it wasn’t long after they completed the last stage by upgrading the motor and it was sold to yet another happy Elite Bikes’ customer…
Stay Updated with Live to Ride Magazine – Subscribe for the Latest Articles and Exclusive Content!
