METRO DETROIT — David Royce was a kid in 1969 when the movie “Easy Rider” was released.

His favorite part of the film was the custom-built Harley-Davidson Panhead chopper motorcycle, “Captain America,” that Peter Fonda’s character, Wyatt, rode across the country.

David owned a Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle at the time. But whenever he gazed at promotional posters of “Easy Rider,” he wished for his own motorcycle with similar features.

Now he’s “racing with the wind” because David finally has his own replica of Fonda’s “Easy Rider” motorcycle. He and his son, Grant, custom built their own “Captain America” electric bicycle.

“It was a boyhood dream,” David said. “It’s a tribute to the chopper movement.”

It took the Rochester Hills duo about 2 1/2 years to make the electric vehicle from scratch. A lot of planning went into it. During the process and with various materials, the guys created a few prototypes before completing the final version of the electric bicycle.

The e-bike is equipped with many modern-day safety features, including front and rear hydraulic disc brakes. David and Grant installed an electric motor in the rear hub to assist with the pedaling.

Each part of the bike serves a purpose. Two batteries help make the e-bike run. A larger battery is for propulsion, which David said is the pedal assist. A smaller battery operates the LED lighting system, which includes glow lights of different colors. The e-bike features fishtail exhaust pipes, and David even purchased a stars-and-stripes helmet like Fonda’s “Easy Rider” character. The license plate reads “Grant’s Garage.”

Grant, 17, is an avid bicyclist. He was a member of the Rochester United Mountain Bike Racing Team while in school. The Rochester High School senior graduated last month and will now be a coach for the team. David knows quite a bit about working with machinery. His first career was as an aircraft mechanic. He eventually went back to school and earned a mechanical engineering design degree.

Building their own “Captain America” e-bike chopper required the pair to enroll in several classes at Maker Works in Ann Arbor, where they became skilled in woodworking, welding and more.

“We both did a little bit of everything. We had to cut and weld and design each piece,” Grant said. “I think it was a really good interpretation of the concept my dad had. I think it turned out really well.”

While building the bike, the father and son frequented salvage yards to look for motorcycle and car parts, which Grant described as “very interesting.” The handlebars, for instance, are from an old Harley-Davidson they found.

“We had to make adapters to go inside the handlebars to accept these,” David said. “A really fun part of the project was adapting motorcycle stuff to a bicycle application and adapting old stuff to new technology. We traipsed over a lot of old motorcycles that were scrapped out.”

The e-bicycle can go as fast as 25 mph. The bike will travel about 20 miles after it is charged. It’s a single-seater, but aesthetically it’s made to look like a two-seater.

“The seat on the back is more just for looks,” Grant said.

The bike did have some professional work done.

“The paint job was done at a professional place,” David said. “There’s some purchased parts — the tires, the fenders. The batteries are purchased.”

David and Grant also have another e-bicycle, so they often go riding together on both vehicles in good weather. David loves to cruise to downtown Rochester and one stop is always O’Connor’s Public House. He also rides “Captain America” to work, a 4-mile commute from home. The unique bike always starts a conversation. Many people initially think it’s a motorcycle.

“Everywhere we go, we get all kinds of compliments from people. It’s so much fun. Every day people yell, ‘What a cool bike,’” David said. “The prime one had to be I was riding to the gym and I had the glow lights on for the evening. The high school boys working at the burger place stuck their heads out of the drive-thru and yelled, ‘Dude, that thing is awesome.’”

David remembers his first cruise on the bike.

“It was wonderful. It was a great feeling,” he said. “First I rode it on pedals, and then I rode it with electric-motor assist. It was very smooth.”

David, an Air Force veteran, said “it was very special” to tackle the project with his son.

“He was very attentive. He was very patient in taking these classes while we meticulously went through every safety precaution. I do believe he learned a lot,” David said. “There are some skills you just can’t learn online, like when you’re operating the mill to cut away metal. You have to feel that with your hands. You can’t teach that on YouTube or LinkedIn or anything else.”