Bullet for Da Blues

Editor’s Note: We shared this feature, minus the girl, with IronWorks Magazine. The issue featuring this very street-able Sportster custom is on the newsstands right now, that is, March of 2013. So if you need a print version of this feature, there you have it.

When brother Jim stumbled into the Spitfire Motorcycles machine shop and asked to talk to a longtime friend, Paul Cavallo, the master immediately recognized the anguish in his friend’s eyes. Jim faced the muzzle of a double-barreled divorce. Paul immediately knew a cure. In fact, Dave Rash, the boss of D&D Exhaust, calls motorcycles “Two-wheeled valiums.”

Paul put an arm around Jim’s less than 5-foot shoulders and steered him toward a stack of Sportster parts. “How about a café rigid Sportster?”

Jim’s eyes transformed from teared-up clouds to fiery bright blue. Like a drug immediately interacting with depressed brain cells, the mention of a custom motorcycle built by Paul, his dad, and the Spitfire crew, opened new and brightly polished brass mental doorways, and shifted his thinking from marriage blues to brilliant images of open roads and freedom.

Paul stepped back and sized up Jim’s stout 5’4” frame. He lit a cigarette and pulled on his graying goatee. “You need a gasser, boulevard cruiser.”

Suddenly Jim responded, his eyes glistening with the notions of the late night downtown freeways and neon. “Something tight, compact, low to the ground and narrow for lane-splitting at midnight on a Hollywood freeway.”

The notion, the concept, the inspiration, and the resources were cemented, and Paul suddenly had an excuse to build another custom motorcycle. Paul was born to build cool custom components. His father, a master machinist, tutored him, and Paul studied and was fascinated with mechanical art. Together, Paul and his dad have worked side by side for over 23 years. At one time, they both owned large successful companies, but our economy put and end to that. They downsized, worked closer together once more, and formed American Manufacturing and Spitfire Motorcycles.

With their CNC equipment and staff, they are capable of manufacturing almost anything, so they reached outside the motorcycle market for business. But Paul’s love and desire is to design and build cool shit for the chopper market, and build world-class customs to display his wares. A couple of years ago, he built a line of sleek custom girders, forward controls, grips, pegs, air cleaners, and just recently, springers. His team is capable of building any one-off configuration of frame, from stretched rigids to bobbed Sportsters and long-distance FXRs.

This particular project contained a limited budget, since his childhood friend, a cell-tower installation operator, faced forced divorce-induced financial restrictions. “It was a sleeper build with no frills and chrome,” Paul said, “but everything was rebuilt and top of the line from a performance and handling standpoint.” His first mission was to build the lowboy only 36 inches tall at the top of the bars. As with most of his engines, Paul hauled it to Bill Chambers, who rebuilt it from the bottom up, balanced it, modified the rods, and ported and flowed the classic Ironheads.

The frame, a basic Spitfire Sporty bobber, was hand-built on a Spitfire frame table. “Jim wanted an inverted Buell front end,” Paul said and cringed. He prefers his handmade girders or new springers, but he acquiesced. He used low-profile sun-spoked wheels for a café look, but with a 19-inch front and a 15-inch configuration in the rear to keep it low. Paul even raised the axle adjusters in the rear to drop the frame.

The inverted front end was rebuilt, anodized, and then Paul worked with Race Tech for spring rates and damping valves. The aftermarket 5-inch flip tail fender was pie-cut eight times on each side to modify the radius of the fender to match the Bridgestone sport bike tire. He used Harley hubs and stainless spokes with the wheels. The pipes are Spitfire production jobs.

Each time Jim returned to the shop, the gleam in his eyes returned, and Paul recognized the need for Jim to feel open air against his cheeks on a mountain pass far from home. Paul put the pedal to the metal for Jim’s Sporty bobber build. He machined special mid controls for sport bike handling. Paul ripped the tunnel out of a Sportster tank and dropped it 2 inches down over the frame. “I wanted to crush it over the motor,” Paul said.

The headlight was a high tech, albeit inexpensive Hella spotlight Auto Zone find. It’s super bright, and fit with the style of the bike. Paul built a key switch, coil, and breaker system unit attached to the seat post, and the oil bag. The completed components were delivered to Casey at Head Case for wild paint. Paul could feel the need in Jim’s eyes.

“We finished this puppy,” Paul said, “and Jim showed up dressed to ride. He straddled it, and fired it to life. His eyes sparkled like fireworks as he pulled out of the shop, and we haven’t seen him since.”

Regular Stuff

Owner: Jim Euper

Bike Name: Bullet

City/State: Upland, Ca

Builder: Spitfire Motorcycles

City/state: Rancho Cucamonga, Ca

Company Info:
Address: Rancho Cucamonga, Ca
Phone: 855 778 3473

Web site: www.spitfiremotorcycles.com
E-mail: paul@spitfiremotorcycles.com

Fabrication: Spitfire

Engine

Year: 1976

Make: Harley Davidson

Model: XLH

Displacement: 60.84 ci

Builder or Rebuilder: Spitfire/BCR

Cases: stock

Case finish: natural

Barrels: Stock

Bore: 3.26″ x 3.8″

Pistons: Drag specialties

Barrel finish: Black powder coat

Lower end: Balanced & Trued by BCR

Stroke:stock

Rods: stock

Heads: BCR

Head finish: black powder coat

Valves and springs: stock

Pushrods: stock

Cams: stock

Lifters: stock

Carburetion: S&S Super E

Air cleaner: Spitfire

Exhaust: Spitfire

Transmission

Year: 1976

Make: Harley Davidson

Gear configuration:

Primary: Stock

Final drive: Chain

Frame

Year: 2012

Builder: Spitfire

Style or Model: bobber

Stretch: +2

Rake: 30

Modifications:

Front End

Make: Showa

Sheet metal

Tanks: Modified Sportster

Fenders: V Twin flip tail trailer

Oil tank: Spitfire

Wheels

Front

Make: Ride Wright

Size: 19″ 40 spoke

Brake calipers: Buell

Brake rotor(s): Buell

Tire: Bridgestone Battle Wing

Rear

Make: Ride Wright

Size: 15″ 40 spoke

Brake calipers: TPI

Brake rotor: HD

Pulley: 48 tooth sprocket

Tire: Bridgestone Battle Wing

Controls

Foot controls: Spitfire

Finish: Black

Master cylinder: Spitfire

Brake lines: G&J Aircraft

Handlebar controls: Buell

Finish: Black

Clutch Cable: Barnet

Brake Lines G&J Aircraft

Shifting: Stock

Kickstand: Arlen Ness

Electrical

Ignition: Points

Ignition switch: Pollak

Coils: Compufire

Regulator: Cycle Electric, Inc.

Charging: Cycle Electric, Inc.

Starter: Stock

Headlight: Hella

Taillight: Drag Speialties

Battery: Drag Specialties

What’s Left

Seat: Yes

Mirror(s): Not yet

Gas caps: Drag, Aviator

Handlebars: Flanders

Grips: Spitfire

Pegs: Spitfire

Throttle: Drag, off road

Throttle cables: Motion Pro

Fasteners: AIR Fasteners

Specialty items: Forks setup & valved by Race Tech