Yellowknife (Sep 13/06) - It took him five months, but motorcycle enthusiast Darryl Klochko said "the blood, sweat, and tears," were well worth the effort.

Especially after the compliments he got on his 1999 V-Star 1100 custom bike at the Canadian Championships of Bike Building in Wembley, Alta. over the September long weekend.

"They really liked the paint, its style, and that it's still rideable," he said.

Klochko took home the first place trophy in the metric freestyle class competition for all non-Harley motorcycle entries.

He said he was disappointed that out of 24 bikes, his was the only one entered in his class.

Klochko said he's looking forward to entering his bike in more competitions so he can improve on his design.

Each bike was judged by the other contestants and was scored out of 100.

Klochko said it took a great deal of effort on his part and the help of some friends in town to finish his bike.

"It was pretty tough to get it to that point," he said. This is the first bike he's ever built.

Klochko said it's been a dream of his for a long while, and with the encouragement of family and friends, he decided to go for it.

And so, after building the bike and getting it painted by a Yellowknife custom paint company called Bear Bonez, he and a group of 10 to 12 people from the city and Hay River made their way to Alberta.

Klochko said thousands visited the town just west of Grande Prairie with a population of just over 1,500.

He said some of the biggest names in motorcycle building were there like Cycle Boyz Customs out of Manitoba.

Klochko has been riding motorcycles for five years. He said there are quite a few people in town interested in motorcycle culture.