Photo by Horst Roesler
years ago we ran a feature on California based wheel manufacturer Metalsport - the company that pretty much invented the " Big Wheel " craze with its 30 and 34-inchers . Based on a more recent interview with founder Ron Loynds , this , in effect , is a ' Prequal ' to that feature - the story of how Ron got his start in manufacturing , and how Metalsport came into being …
Best known for its big wheels ,
South Gate ( Los Angeles ), California based Metalsport Wheels was founded in 2007 by Ron Loynds - but the background to the Metalsport story goes back nearly five decades before that and is one of a family owned and operated precision machining business with considerable aerospace credentials . " The original business was called Bordo ," says Ron . " In 1958 my stepfather and his partner opened the doors of Bordo as a general machine shop , and their specialty quickly became the aerospace business . From around 1962 through to the 1980s , Bordo worked on all sorts of programs - from all three Minuteman missile projects and Sidewinder missiles ( the first heat seeking missiles ) to the Apollo and Shuttle space programs . The aerospace industry became a really good , steady foundation for the business . " By the time I went to work for them in 1965 , I was already a die-hard motorcyclist . I bought my first motorcycle at 15 and had started making custom parts for the bike almost straight away . " Although Bordo ' s manufacturing was all about aircraft and related aerospace projects and special design parts , I started accepting side jobs making custom parts for motorcycles - including extended front fork tubes and springer front ends . This was the 1960s after all , and you just weren ' t cool if your front end didn ' t arrive a week before you did ! " In the early 70s , Big Daddy Ed Roth walked into our shop with a problem front end on a VW trike kit that he had just come out with . There was so much rake that the standard motorcycle front end , which he was using , just wouldn ' t work . " Our solution was to make him a springer front end designed around his kit , an application-specific fit that did not care about the rake . He was so happy with the performance that from then on , he would not sell a kit without that front end . He had just sold Elvis Presley one of his trikes and immediately called Elvis and had him send the bike back for springer installation . " Up until the 80s , the motorcycle side of the
www . AMDchampionship . com businesses was kind of considered a hobby , a second string , but in the early 80s , Bordo hooked up with one of the largest aftermarket motorcycle companies in the US . As a result , aftermarket motorcycle parts became a big part of our business . We were making wheels , forward controls , hand controls , license plate frames and many other components by the thousands . Then , after several years , our customer decided to go to China for products and we were left with designs , tooling and loads of experience . " In 1989 , Bordo took over the management of Accurate Steel Treating , not because I was looking for another company , but the company was owned by a good friend of mine and he ' d found out he was dying from cancer . " The company was going through bankruptcy and he instructed me to close it and give what was left to his wife and young daughter . As I looked at the company , it was obvious that there would be nothing left , and they could possibly even lose the home that they were living in , so I decided to try to save the company . " I brought in some new people to manage the
Ron Loynds ( left ) with Chip and Lynne Foose
business , and fortunately turned it around . Once the company got back on its feet , I was asked to buy the company as my friend ' s wife and daughter had no interest in running it . " That gave me a new platform and direction to go in , and in 1992 , through Accurate Steel Treating , I started a new company called Accurate Ion Technologies . " The purpose of this company was to bring to the forefront a process called ion nitrating . It was a plasma based thermochemical case-hardening process that is used to increase wear resistance , surface hardness and reduce the effects of and potential for fatigue . It generates a hard , protective surface layer which includes reducing the compressive stresses that build up in metal . " It is a process that had been used in Germany and other European countries for several years at that stage , but not so much in the US . It is a much more precise process for nitrating steel with better results than the standard nitrating that industry , us included , had been using in the US for years . " At the time we started the company , there were
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