I asked the Bikernet readers if I should chop the 1928 Shovelhead. They said, “Yes, definitely.” So, I called the master of the chopper world forever, Paughco.
I spoke to Steve Massicotte about changing the bars, the gas tank and the oil tank. I was going to attempt to leave everything else in tack. Then, as usual, life jumped into the fray.
The original was a 1984 Shovelhead cop bike I bought from Arlen Ness. With a plan in mind I shipped the engine to JIMS machine and the transmission. Some of the other pieces, including a Paughco frame were shipped to Stroker’s Dallas. Marty Ruthman’s shop in Van Nuys suddenly went out of business and I bought a bunch of parts.
Then based on the plan to build a flatside JD gas tank Shovelhead, I bought a set of vintage repop tanks and a fender. All the elements were shipped to Rick Fairless. It was ultimately featured in American Iron, but it had a couple of issues and I started to address them.
Okay, so the bike was registered as a 1984 Harley in Texas. Dean Shawler, the editor of Biker magazine, ended up with the frame and sheet metal pieces, which he finally restored a few years later.
Once I took possession the Texas registration caused issues and of course California didn’t like the Harley title. It took six months, but I now have a California title and plate, and Sturgis is around the corner. Franky and I are headed out with a couple of my customs and never coming back.
So, suddenly I was on a deadline and started to replace the bars with the new, show-chromed Paughco Hollywood bars.
I was blown away by the care they take in packaging each set of bars. Nothing goes out uncovered or unprotected. Paughco had problems for a while with their chrome. They have their own chroming facility and I think they fought regulations that fucked with their quality, but they have it remedied now.
The chrome is beautiful. Steve wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with the riser mounting. These risers are solid brass and threaded for ½-inch fine studs. The springer is stock, so I started to ponder my options.
I machined the top of the riser stud to ½ inch or .500 and cut the threads. I was golden. I had to cut off the stud to the proper length, also. I hid the stock stud, which is smaller than the Paughco brass base, with a couple of O-rings from True Value Hardware. They aren’t perfect and I should check with McMaster Carr for more options.
I cut 1.5 inches off each end of the bars just to make it slightly narrower. Then I started to mess with the controls. I found an old throttle and dug through my pile of cables for the proper fit and length with the S&S Super E and my pull-only vintage throttle. It took a lot of fudging, but I made the throttle system work.
Then I moved the Performance Machine master cylinder into place and I need a 6-inch longer cable. I use a small shop on Signal Hill, Baker Performance, run by a couple of women who just supply race products and fittings to boat, drag, and dirty bikers, like me. I hope to run by later today, get a new line and be ready to rock.
Originally I was going to replace the oil tank battery area with a new chromed Paughco Softail oil tank. I tore out the battery, electrical box and discovered a lot of issues. I put it all back together and will leave that project for another day, or year. Let’s go to Sturgis and ride.
PAUGHGO
S&S
PERFORMANCE MACHINE
AEROMACH
www.aeromach.com
