Jason Jeffcoat’s earliest memories are made of rubber tires and moving asphalt.
Strapped in by a bungee cord to the back of a motorcycle, the winding roads of Plant City soothed an infant Jeffcoat to sleep. On occasion his grandfather, Phil Brady, would reach back to touch Jeffcoat’s leg, waking him gently.
Around him, people laughed at the sleeping baby on the back of a motorcycle. Camera flashes popped.
Jeffcoat posed for pictures again on Saturday, Dec. 3. Now an adult, the motorcycle aficionado had brought his grandfather’s beloved 1947 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead to the Plant City Bike Fest.
It was the first time the bike had been featured in a show in over 16 years, and the first time Jeffcoat had debuted it since Brady’s death in 2015.
Jeffcoat wasn’t expecting much. Bikes with LED lights and endless chrome were entered in almost every category.
Suddenly, his name was called. More cameras, more flashes and words Jeffcoat had never expected:
Best of Show.
Grandpa's Glory
Brady loved antiques.
“Everything new was junk,” Jeffcoat, who works for Advantage Restoration and Contracting in Plant City, said. “If it was built in China, it was just garbage.”
One of his most prized antiques was the 1947 Knucklehead, nicknamed ‘Phil’s Baby’. In efforts to keep it safe, Brady stored the bike in his garage and, later, in a friend’s loft.
He always intended that the bike would one day be Jeffcoat’s. Though Brady planned on passing it down to Jeffcoat before his death, he ended up signing the title over to him when Jeffcoat turned 18. With the title came two rules:
“He always told me growing up, ‘Don’t take your eyes off of it,” Jeffcoat said. “And, ‘Don’t sell it.”
After Brady died, Jeffcoat considered putting the bike in a museum. While he was getting the bike appraised, the appraiser made an offer to buy the bike — and restore it.
Jeffcoat agreed. The bike payment was made in cash, with new, crisp $100 bills. All but one — an antique.
“When I first sold it, I had just turned 21 so it didn’t strike me as anything,” Jeffcoat said.
As the year progressed, Jeffcoat began to regret his decision to sell. He stayed in contact with the buyer over restoration efforts, which were taking place in Pennsylvania.
“I felt like I should have kept it,” Jeffcoat said. “My grandpa had it my whole life. Over the year, it really started getting to me.”
He wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Three months later, the buyer contacted Jeffcoat:
I want you to have it back, and your grandfather would want you to have it back.
The buyer offered it back to Jeffcoat at the same price he originally sold it for. Immediately, Jeffcoat left for Pennsylvania.
“He got it running, but that was it,” Jeffcoat said. “He said he didn’t feel right riding it. I felt that it was heaven sent for him to call me. I just knew that was grandpa’s baby and I needed to buy it back.”
Again, the purchase of the bike was made in cash.
Again, an older $100 bill was stashed in with newer ones.
“It was like my grandfather was there,” Jeffcoat said. “I always look for things like that in anything I do. Before I ride, I go to my grandpa’s grave just in case anything was ever going to happen to me. He pretty much raised me.”
With the bike back in his possession, Jeffcoat was determined to give it the life his grandfather always intended.
Amped Up
Originally, it wasn’t Jeffcoat’s idea to enter the Knucklehead in the Plant City Bike Fest. That was the suggestion of Jason Jones, owner of Advantage Restoration.
“If it wasn’t for Mr. Jones telling me to take it up there, it’d probably still be sitting in the backyard,” Jeffcoat said.
Jeffcoat and his friend, Cruz, got to work. For four days, they scrubbed the bike down to prepare it for the show.
“My buddy Cruz is one of my best friends,” he said. “We worked on it for four hours every night for four days.”
At the Plant City Bike Fest, Jeffcoat wasn’t focused on winning. He wanted to keep the bike safe, as Brady would have wanted.
“My friends at the show took turns keeping an eye on the bike,” Jeffcoat said. “I’ve got the best friends in the world. They really stick by my side in anything I do.”
When Brady got to the show, fellow bike enthusiasts took an immediate interest in the Knucklehead.
“There were 15 people around us immediately,” he said. “Then I’m like, ‘Wow, this bike may actually have a chance.”
But the thought didn’t last long. Bike Fest organizers placed the bike between a custom 2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide motorcycle and a 2016 Street Glide with LEDs. Once in his assigned place, Jeffcoat’s bike began leaking oil onto the concrete.
“Now I’m really in the dumps,” he said. “I messed up the Plant City sidewalk.”
Fifteen minutes later, Jeffcoat was feeling bad for the people around him. Within two hours of the start of the show, he’d lost his voice from talking to passerby about the bike.
“To me, I never would have thought that’s how it would turn out,” he said. “I don’t think one person from that show didn’t look at the bike twice. It was crazy how it affected people. I probably got 35 new contacts in my phone from bike guys that said they’ll do whatever I need to help me with the bike.”
As the award segment of the evening began, the Knucklehead was announced the winner of the People’s Choice Award.
“But when they got to the antique class, I didn’t win,” he said. “I really didn’t think I was going to win anything else.”
Then came the overall award – Best of Show.
And Jeffcoat had won.
“I couldn’t hold everything back,” he said. “I did as good as I could at holding tears back. I didn’t want to break down in front of everybody. All I could do was keep taking deep breaths and swallowing my tears.”
After accepting the award, Jeffcoat placed his trophies by the bike and walked over to a nearby fence, away from the crowd.
“And it just came over me,” he said. “It was like my grandfather was standing over my shoulder, telling me everything was alright. My grandpa was there with me spiritually. I had some of my family there. My mom has been my best friend my whole life and she was happy. My dad was crying, because he was with my grandpa when he bought the motorcycle 30 years ago. It was just crazy. All my family and friends know what my grandpa meant to me. He was there with all of us.”
The Plant City Bike Fest served as a debut for Phil’s Baby. When he’s not riding it, Jeffcoat plans on entering the bike in multiple shows.
“I just want to get it out there,” he said. “I want people to see it. I don’t want to keep it to myself. There’s no glass holding you back from anything on a bike. There’s nothing more I like than to be out in the wide open.”
Jeffcoat rides everywhere he can, from Key West and back to the roads of Zephyrhills and Ocala.
From a short distance, fellow travelers can see the turquoise lettering painted on the back of the bike, bright against the black exterior:
Phil’s Baby.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.