From Shop Class to Flat Track: CTE Students Build Race-Ready Harley

NASHVILLE, TN — Northern Tool + Equipment has kicked off the Legends Construct: Scholar Problem, a nine-month venture the place highschool profession and technical schooling (CTE) college students will remodel a inventory 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster right into a race-ready, XR750-inspired flat observe motorbike—guided by a number of the most revered names in American racing and fabrication.

CTE College students Stunned With a Excessive-Stakes Construct

When the scholars first gathered, they solely knew that they had been chosen for a venture. Their shock got here when legendary racer Scott Parker rode in on a Harley-Davidson XR750, asserting they might have simply 174 days to create a competition-ready model of their very own. The problem immerses college students in American Flat Observe racing—an iconic custom outlined by pace, grit, and uncooked mechanical talent.

Legends Present Arms-On Mentorship

The category gained’t be working alone. Trade greats—together with Parker, Chris Carr, Kenny Coolbeth Jr., and Billy Lane—will mentor the scholars by way of the whole construct.

“The scholars had their theories—a few of them fairly wild—they usually have been all unsuitable,” stated Jason Bowers, the CTE instructor main the venture. “After we noticed Scott Parker journey up on a flat observe race motorbike, we stood there with our jaws open. Now, we’re realizing simply how robust this sport is—and the way a lot the motorbike we’re constructing issues to a racer’s success.”

Trade Help Builds the Store

Northern Instrument + Gear and companions—together with American Flat Observe, Boswell’s Harley-Davidson, DEWALT, Harley-Davidson Motor Firm and Milwaukee—have stocked the varsity’s store with tens of 1000’s of {dollars} in donated instruments, elements, and security tools to jump-start the venture.

“At Northern Instrument, we imagine in placing instruments in fingers and confidence in hearts,” stated Frank Crowson, Chief Advertising Officer, Northern Instrument + Gear. “The Legends Construct is greater than a motorbike—it’s an illustration of how a lot the trades matter, that they’re rewarding, and that the following technology can carry this torch ahead. I like that this 12 months, the torch shall be carried by our first feminine construct captain.”

Constructing on a Legacy of Commerce-Centered Tasks

This 12 months’s problem continues Northern Instrument’s rising custom of pairing college students with icons of racing and fabrication. In 2023, the corporate teamed up with NASCAR Legend Richard Petty and Billy Lane’s Sons of Speed program to introduce college students to the artwork of constructing and racing. This 12 months, NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty joins the trouble, serving as host of a YouTube collection documenting the scholars’ progress.

“Racing builds character, however constructing the bike builds a future,” stated Kyle Petty.

Scholar Storytellers Take the Lead

For the primary time, college students will seize their very own progress on digital camera—sharing the highs, lows, errors, and breakthroughs from contained in the store. Month-to-month video updates will seem on Northern Instrument’s YouTube channel, alongside student-created social media content material.

The completed motorbike will debut June 6 at Tennessee Nationwide Raceway throughout an American Flat Observe Legends exhibition race. Following the occasion, will probably be auctioned to profit the Instruments for the Trades™ program, Kyle Petty’s Victory Junction nonprofit, and the AMA Motorbike Corridor of Fame.