Ford is working with MAKE to profile owners of the Transit Connect, a vehicle that offers creative types a small, modifiable vehicle to suit their passions and personal pursuits. In this series, we’ll be profiling Transit Connect owners and looking at how they’ve customized their rides.
Charles “Chuck” Stottlemyer is a former machinist with a passion for airplanes and motorcycles, specifically 1930’s-era propeller-based aircraft and Moto Guzzi cycles, respectively. Both mean Chuck is on the road a lot with plenty of camping at destinations along the way.
Since traveling long distances on a classy sports bike for the purpose of camping would be impractical, Chuck looked for a way to transport his motorcycle around the country. To keep the Italian machine out of the elements, he wanted to transport it inside of another vehicle, but also have that vehicle serve practical, everyday needs, too. After crunching the numbers, Chuck modified his Transit Connect with a commercially available wheel chock, in order to hold the bike’s front wheel between the two fronts seats while remaining unobtrusive to the driver and passenger. After the vehicle is filled with camping gear, the rear of the bike is strapped down, and the rear doors close with only fractions of an inch to spare. This way Chuck can transport his motorcyles for both touring and exhibition inside of a vehicle that doubles as his everyday family 5-seater.
Having made an investment at a young age in a CNC machine, Chuck still fabricates projects on this Supermax CNC, powered by three 8088s and a tape drive.
An assortment of bits for fabricating any project.
Chuck’s appreciation for airplanes and motorcycles can be found everywhere in his shop.
This classic Moto Guzzi is currently being dismantled, cleaned, and restored.
Chuck modified the wheel chock to fit the readymade mounting points on the floor. This allows him to swap out the rear passenger seats for the chock and bike when needed, while keeping all of the native hardware intact.
This modified Colt was a ground-up restoration and could provide seating for four, but has been converted to accommodate two with a large baggage compartment.
Taking the flying camper for a flight.
