Haute Wheels: Ivy Trosclair's Katrina Bike 
by Stephen Faure
Katrina blew in a lot of people from across the lake, and Mandeville was lucky enough to grab and keep one of the most talented—Ivy Trosclair Jr. Along with his son, Ivy III, he’s the creative genius behind the award-winning custom motorcycles of Metry Custom Cycles.
Ivy has long been considered one of the top custom automobile painters in the country. He started painting, showing and racing custom Corvettes and street rods in the 1970s. His first foray into the custom motorcycle world was a stretched-out Harley he built in 1996. On a whim, he entered it into the Boardwalk Custom Show at Daytona Bike Week that year and won the grand prize.
His son, Ivy III, worked to become a skilled metal artisan, perfecting the art of working steel into powerful and graceful lines. Together, his metalwork and Ivy’s custom paint form the signature look of a Metry Custom bike.
The duo built bikes for the likes of Saints players Kyle Turley and Chris Naole, and for many more local aficionados of the finest in motor sports. Along the way, Ivy’s bikes have picked up a series of awards at shows across the country, taking top honors at Daytona Bike Week, the Sturgis Rally, the Las Vegas BikeFest, the Louisiana Bike Expo and Steel Pony Express.
Besides building custom motorcycles for sale and for show, the Trosclairs operated a body shop—Metry Collision Center—that served as their steady “day job” until the storm hit. Both shops, located in namesake Metairie, took a pounding from the storm and flooded, as did Ivy’s Metairie home. Ivy evacuated to the northshore and has been a proud Mandeville “come-here” ever since.
Leaving his flooded shops and collision work (and dealing with nit-picky adjusters) behind, Ivy began a post-K northshore reincarnation—as a nit-picky adjuster appraising storm-damaged vehicles. Son Ivy also became involved in recovery work as a demolition contractor.
Their motorcycle business has been in a hiatus since the storm, but, shortly after Katrina, Ivy was invited to take part in the Discovery Channel’s Biker Build-Off series.
The reality show follows the progress of two builders as they each complete a custom motorcycle creation, then goes on the road as each builder rides his bike to a motorcycle show, where audience members choose the winner.
Ivy chose to build a bike that paid homage to all the victims and heroes of Katrina. The Discovery Channel crew filmed the Trosclairs scrambling to put together the bike in record time—show rules require the bike to be completed in 10 days, much less than the normal 3-6 months one of their creations normally takes.
The bike never would have been built without the help of some friends. Their shop gutted, equipment and tools ruined by flooding, the Trosclairs depended on parts and tools donated by some of the biggest names in the motorcycle world, including Biker Build-Off veterans Eddie Trotta (Thunder Cycle Design), Jerry Covington (Covington’s Cycle City) and Jesse Jurrens (Independent Cycle, Inc.). Local craftsmen, such as The Chrome Shop in Madisonville, also contributed to the cause.
The Katrina bike features a stormy paint scheme, a woman’s eye in the center and feeder bands unfurling along the bike’s fuel tank that form a stylized hurricane hovering over a special high-performance engine. The shifter is engraved with fleurs-de-lis. The bike’s special feature is the cushioning under the seat, made from foam Ivy recovered from Poydras Street after it blew off the roof of the Louisiana Superdome during the storm.
In the end, the Katrina bike lost the contest but lives on in Ivy’s collection. It’s featured here, along with “Gold Digger,” a show-stopping bike that’s won more nation-wide awards than any vehicle Ivy’s ever been involved with.
“Gold Digger” placed second in the world championship during 2004’s Daytona Bike Week. It took the Best in Show, Best in Class, Best Paint and People’s Choice awards at the Louisiana Bike Expo in New Orleans that year, and won the Grand Prize in the Legend Top 50 Custom Bike Show, an invitation-only show featuring the world’s best builders, during the Sturgis Rally in August 2004.
Ivy has become deeply involved with the community, displaying the bikes at charity events, festivals and Covington’s Columbia Street block party. He served as Grand Marshall of the Independence Italian Festival parade this year.
“The northshore provided me with a fresh start after Katrina,” Ivy says. He’s also been scouting locations around Covington for a possible new shop in the future. “I’m not leaving.”
