Here’s a fine looking Knucklehead from an old school builder who dumped his ol’ lady and opened his own shop in Lake Elsinore, California two years ago.
“I got this motor in 1969,” Algie said of his roadworthy Knuck. “I haven’t run it all these years,” but he held onto it for the perfect chassis. “Front end is a one-off my brother, Sam Pirrello, built in ’69. It has no pinch bolts at all. Well, just two in the top of the legs to hold ‘em to the top tree. The rear legs are seamless hydraulic tubing. He ran it for 35 years on his bike, now mine.”
I started to ask him about his name, then he told me he did some time, so I left it alone. It nagged me, though. This bike had street class from the ‘70s and rare innovations. His shop resides in the mountains in the same town where the man who designed the Quick Silver Carb for Edlebrock Performance developed the Lake Injector Carb. Must be something in the water.
You need to look closely at this bike. The trans is a cow pie rotary top with a long main shaft. “I made the trans plate out of aluminum to offset it and make it work.” It’s hard to see but he made a jockey shift with a dirt bike master cylinder attached and brake lever. “A hydraulic braided brake line runs to one of the two calipers on the rear rotor to hold bike on hills and help drag it down at speed.” Take a look at his brother’s front end again. There ain’t no front brake. That was smart thinkin’.
That’s not all. He found a COC floor mounted sand rail control set, turned it upside down, made the pegs and made it fit the frame. “I also made the hydraulic clutch set-up with a pull slave cylinder,” said Algie, “so I could run the same foot pegs on both sides.” He made the foot pedals and ran bicycle pegs.
“The carb is a old Weber with a manifold my brother, Sam, made out of three pieces to adapt it to the Knucklehead intake,” said Algie. There was that name again. I had to pump up the nerve to ask him where the hell it came from, the bottom of a stagnate pond?
The rear brakes are Wilwood duals, but one caliper is linked to the right foot peg and the other to the Jockey shifter. He made the oil bag out of an oxygen cylinder tank, and the dual filter set-up came from a car. He also manufactured a billet dipstick from a car trans stick.
“The headlight is off a 1940 wrecker and came with a blue glass bulb,” Algie said. “I removed it and set a sealed beam in the bucket. The taillight was givin' to me by a friend in Illinois. Guy found it in a barn, and I have yet to find out what it came off of. It says do-ray 466, and has a glass lense.
“I built this bike in a cramped garage, after I got out of prison, with very little cash flow,” Algie said. “I used only a drill, saws-all and files. I handled all the polishing by hand. The cases were the hardest. Ya see, when I came home, all I had left was a frame, front end and my motor. I did work for some parts and was able to finish it for less than 4 grand.”
Most of what he did you can’t see. The work went into the motor. It’s a stock 74 with 10.5:1 compression pistons, .020 over, and he rebuilt it with the very best Andrews cams. He ported the heads himself and cc’d the top end with Kibblewhite valves, Amco guides, springs and retainers.
The rear sprocket is a 42-tooth job for tall freeway gearing. “It’s not much out of the hole,” Algie said, “but pulls like a locomotive on the top.” He put ten long studs in the clutch and welded the suckers in place. “The wheels were freebees, H-D 9-spoke mags. I mounted the tires in reverse, and to this day only one person has noticed.
He’s won several shows with it. “I won best in show at the Big Red Machine Motor Cycle Show, August 21, 2004 sponsored by Riverside County Choppers,” Algie told me. But he rides the shit out of her. “I rode to Port Costa in the Bay Area over Halloween. “I came back nonstop at night. Last night I rode to Riverside and Pomona, so I don’t think she’s a bar hopper. Hell, I rode it to Illinois in ’81. It was in Choppers mag, January ’81 but looking a lot diff.”
Bandit wasn’t around so I downed a couple of Coronas and loosened up. I had to know the background behind the name. “What gives with the name,” I sputtered?
“My old lady called our bikes Killing Machines, so we named the shop Killing Machines Choppers,” Algie said. “It’s a full service barn. We have a certified, factory-trained machinist who rebuilds engines. We fab, machine and paint bikes.”
“No, no,” I said, “what’s the story behind your goddamn name.”
“You know,” Algie explained. “Your mom called ‘em death traps. Oh, the seat was made from a sheet of aluminum off the side of a bus, then covered with leather from an old jacket and carpet from a car trunk. The rear foot pegs are handmade. I built ‘em for the girls to enjoy…”
I swallowed the last gulp from my third beer and my bravery expanded. “I’m not asking about death traps, or the name of your dog. I want the fuckin’ story behind Algie.”
“Okay,” Algie said with a snap. “I know you’ve been drinkin’ Snake. If I were a snitch I’d call Bandit. My dad’s name was Peter and my folks grappled over what to call me. They were determined not to come up with a name like Jim Shoe Pirrello. So my mom came up with Algernon Thackerberry. No one has ever been able to get his or her tongue around that one, so it ended up as Algie. Got that?”
I knew I was in trouble. So I decided to back off. “Sure, sure,” I said. “I’ve got to get back to work, now.”“You best, pal,” Algie said and hung up.
–Snake
18630 COLLIER AVE UNIT 0
LAKE ELSINORE, CA, 92530
1 888 900 KILL
OWNER: Algie Pirrello
CITY: Lake Elsinore
STATE; KILLAFORNIA
GENERAL:
FABRICATION: ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
YEAR/MAKE: 1945 KNUCK
ASSEMBLER: ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
TIME: 7 WEEKS
CHROME & POLISHING : ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
ENGINE:
YEAR: 1945
REBUILDER: LUNA
IGNITION: MORRIS MAG
DIPLACEMENT: 74 CUBIC INCHES
CAM: ANDREWS
CARB: WEBER
PIPES : SHOT GUN
TRANSMISSION:
YEAR: 1980
MAKE: H.D
MODEL: 4-SPEED W/ KICKER
PAINTING
MOLDING:ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
PAINTER:ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
COLOR: BLACK
TYPE:PPG
SPECIAL PAINT: GHOST FLAMES
FRAME:
TYPE: JAMMER
RAKE: 40 DEGREE
STRETCH: NONE
MODIFICATIONS: BACK BONE RAKE, CUSTOM
FOOT PEG & KICKSTAND MOUNT
ACCESSORIES:
HANDLE BARS: HAND CUFF SPECIALS
RISERS: H-D
HANDLE BAR CONTROLS: SNAFU
FENDER: FLAT CHROME
HEAD LIGHT: UNITY
TAILLIGHT: UN KNOWN
PEGS: BICYCLE
FOOT CONTROL: CUSTOM CNC ALGIE JIVE
ELECTRICS: GEN/REG NO BATTERY
GAS TANK: PEANUT
OIL TANK: FRONT MOUNT CUSTOM ALGIE JIVE KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
PRIMARY: BDL
SEAT: WHAT'S THAT
MIRRORS: BICYCLE
GRIPS: BICYCLE
FRONT END:
TYPE: SPRINGER ONE OFF
BUILDER: SAM PIRRELLO
WHEELS:
MAKE: H.D
SIZE: 16 STOCK REAR 19 STOCK FRONT
TIRES: DUNLOP
BRAKES: WILLWOOD
PHOTOS:PAUL CORBIN, KILLING MACHINE CHOPPERS
