Fabricator Kevin Verkest is the well-known “Sultan of Steel”.At his shop in Clinton Township, Michigan, Kevin takes hunks of steel and turns them into fantastic parts and accessories for just about any type of bike. This year, Kevin was chosen to be one of the builders in the Horse Magazines “CHOP OFF 2006” at the Smoke Out Event in Salisbury N.C.
Kevin was up against some tough competition but he took the build in stride. Building a cool chopper for under the $10,00 limit is no easy task. Add to that going head to head against the likes of Chopper Dave, Roadside Marty, Ian Staudt and Maddog just made the task more intriguing for Kevin.
Kevin hates to use the word “THEME, when it comes to his bikes, so we won't. The “idea” for the bike’s look came from the American X-15, a rocket-powered research aircraft that bridged the gap between manned flight in the atmosphere and space flight. After its initial test flights in 1959, the X-15 became the first winged aircraft to attain hypersonic velocities of Mach 4, 5, and 6 (four to six times the speed of sound) and to operate at altitudes well above 100,000 feet. There were 199 flights beginning June 8, 1959 and ending October 24, 1968. The initial eight flights were made by test pilot Scott Crossfield. Neil Armstrong flew seven times. Kevin's first experience with the X-15 came at three years old when he piloted a 3 wheeled pedal car version and was hooked on speed ever since.
Kevin started off the project by scoring a beaten up 1975 FXE on the cheap. He stripped the bike down and tossed everything except for the frame, motor and tranny. After spending a ton of quarters at a coin-op car wash de-gunking the frame, he decided that he would chop off the rear section and hard-tail it on his new frame jig table. With the frame cut just behind the forgings at the seat post, Kevin fit a rear section from an old Panhead frame he picked up from Dragon in Northern Fla.
Jason from Paughco kicked in a killer new tapered leg stock length Springer front end for the project. That set the look off just right.
The front wheel is a 19-inch Dual Disc H-D fitted with custom Fab Kevin 7 ½-inch rotors and the rear is a 16-inch H-D mechanical Drum brake. The wheels were painted by Hot Gun Customs and then sent to Doug's Customs in Georgia to be laced and trued. The mechanical rear-brake set up fit well into the frame.
Kevin had to come up with a way to connect the motion of the brake pedal stroke on the right side of the frame, to mesh well with the drum brake unit on the frames left. Kevin opted for a series of “bell cranks” to transfer the action and it worked like a champ and looked good while doing it.
Once the rolling chassis was together it was time to get to work on the engine. Kevin called on his buddy Dan Roedel to help bring the 1975 74 cu. inch Shovelhead back to life. The motor was torn down, the cases de-greased and with the surface blasted and all the imperfections ground out it was put back together with new sprocket shaft Timken bearings. The right side case was drilled and plugged for the new S&S oil pump.
The cylinders were bored for new .050-inch over-sized cast pistons and moly rings. The bottom end got a new JIMS crank pin, had the rods lapped .0006 oversize to clean up the roller marks and new wrist pin bushings were installed and reamed to size. I was re-balanced to 58%. An Andrews Cam and 34mm Mikuni “Roundslide Carb” set off performance. The drive train gets its power via a Karata 1 ½-inch belt drive filled with Energy-One Clutch plates.
Kevin fab'ed up the sleek oil tank and dropped a mini battery inside it.He wanted the gas tanks to be really low slung on the frame. He started off with standard 5-gallon Fat Bob tanks and narrowed them, then lowered the mounts to accomplish the look. The rear fender is a cast off from a Britt bike of unknown origin. Eric Gorges of Voodoo Choppers donated some time to fuse in the ribbed center section.
The handlebars are Fab Kevin Clip-Ons. The headlight is a Unity Fire truck spotlight while the taillight and mid-controls are also from the hands of Fab Kevin. The bitchin paint job was handled by Bob Trunowski while the powder-coat work was baked by QC Coatings.
Kevin's pals Hector and Zoe accomplished all the detail work. As an added bonus, master Engraver CJ Allan lent his masters touch to some of the bikes killer engraving. George Paul of Soft Trim Specialties built the cool seat. Kevin wants to personally thank The Prick, Poolboy, Anbo, Jason, Dragon, Kutter, Johnson, Dale and especially his ever patient and long suffering bride, Carla, for putting up with him during the build.
To make a long story short, all the hard work paid off . Kevin walked away with the People's Choice First Place Trophy at this years Smoke Out for his rendition of the X-15. If the classic had wings, I believe it could fly.
If you want any parts made from stainless steel for your project, contact FabricatorKevin.com
Address: 44306 Macomb Industrial Drive
Clinton Twp, Mi 48036
Phone: 586-465-2600
Email: fabkevin@sbcglobal.net
Owner: Kevin Verkest
Fabrication: Fabricator Kevin
Year and Make: 1975 Harley FX
Assembly: owner & Dan Roedel
Engine year: 1975
Model: Shovelhead
Ignition: Dyna 2000i
Displacement: 74” + .050”
Lower end: HD
Balancing: Dan Roedel
Pistons: Cast HD
Cases: HD
Heads: HD
Cam: Andrews
Carbs: 34mm Mikuni Roundslides
Air Cleaners: Dan Roedel
Pipes: Hand made
Engraving: CJ Allan
Transmission: 1975 H-D 4-speed
Trans sprocket: 24T
Wheel sprocket: 51T
Shifting: Hand!
Primary: Karata
Clutch: Energy One
Paint: Hot Gun Customs
Color: Blood red and Cream
Powdercoating: QC Coatings
Pinstriping: Russ Plotzke
Frame: 1975HD Hardtailed with Panhead Axleplates
Rake: stock
Stretch: stock
Color: black powder-coat
Accessories:
Bars: Fab Kevin Clip-ons
Fender: Voodoo Choppers
Headlight: Unity Fire Truck spotlight
Taillight: Fab Kevin
Foot controls: Fab Kevin mid controls
Gas Tank: Fat Bobs – modified
Oil Tank: Fab Kevin
Seat: Soft Trim Specialties
Forks: Paughco Tapered leg Springer
Wheels
Front: 19-inch H-D Dual Disc
Brakes: Fab Kevin 7 ½” Rotors
Rear: 16-inch H-D
Brake:HD Mechanical Drum
Wheel Builder: Doug’s Customs
Address: 44306 Macomb Industrial Drive
Clinton Twp, Mi 48036
Phone: 586-465-2600
Email: fabkevin@sbcglobal.net
SPECIAL thanks to:
Dan Roedel for a beautiful, reliable motor and trans, hard lines, hand spun air cleaner, and more help and support than I deserveBob Trunowski for a bitchin’ paint job
QC Coatings for perfect powdercoating on everything that needed it, and no powder where I didn’t want it!
CJ Allan for the engraving, and “constructive” criticism…George Paul of Soft Trim Specialties for the exact seat I had in mind
Hectar and Zoe for the detail work
And to: The Prick, Poolboy, Anbo, Jason, Dragon, Kutter, Johnson, Dale, and especially Carla for putting up with me!
