Check Part 1: Click here.

When we last left off, I was finally able to get the bike to the shop for the “Final Phase” of the build. This is where Roger, Norio, and parts manager “Mel” came rolling in to save the day and take this project to a whole new level. From this point, the project started to suck in its “bling” factor with all the final precise details making it truly unique. Everyone has ideas or input as to what should go on any bike but when push-comes-to-shove the question remains…can you make it happen?

Luckily this team’s actions speak louder than words and make those dream elements and details a reality. The team at KFAB has an abundance of creative ideas and a fantastic work ethic to make sure these projects flow from paper to reality. No matter how “old school” or “primitive” the method may seem…it gets done with quality and care. Roger is truly the master craftsman and I am lucky to have the good fortune to be mentored by him. Here are a couple examples of his handy work.

Creating The Speedo/Light Housing

Darren is a humble builder. He built the oil tank and the finned vessel holding the battery in front of the bike. Roger detailed the battery terminals. Darren designed this café racer swingarm configuration.

Making The Electrical Box

Some More Shots of Hand-Created Details

A Riding Picture

Test Ride Complete…Check!

That’s right. You can enter by filling out the coupon, subscribing to Bandit’s Cantina on Bikernet, or to the Cycle Source Magazine. With a Crazy Horse 100-inch engine, and a frame from Texas Bike Works this build is already flying together.

From issue to issue you’ll see your motorcycle being built on the pages of Bikernet and Cycle Source. You’ll witness Gary Maurer from Kustoms Inc. and Ron Harris from Chop Docs bend sheet metal, create one-off components, and shoot one of the sickest old-school paint schemes that you have ever seen…

The team will carefully select components from the best in the industry, including wheels from Ride Wright, electronics from Accel, leatherwork by the master, Howard H. Knight, and controls from Tim at Grip Ace.

“Also, please look at Barnett clutches and let me know what you need,” Prince Najar said. He’s the manager of this process and partner at Biker Pros, who is working closely with our builders, editors, and suppliers.

“Also, Blacksmith Baggerville is interested in creating one-off pegs, brake pedal, grip, internal throttle and air cleaner,” the Prince said.

The parts list for XPress lid chopper build, including a Fab Kevin seat pan and hinge, expands daily.

Gary Maurer plans to split a set of stock fat bobs, modify them and mount them to the Texas Bike Works frame. He will take possession of the frame and Crazy Horse engine this week while the Prince searches high and low for forks cups, a springer front end, tires, rear fender, rear axle, final chain drive components, forward controls, a battery, a Mikuni carb from Rivera Primo, a primary drive system, an air cleaner, front and rear brakes, and the list goes on. Of course the Prince plans on using the D&D performance exhaust system.

“Let your wings fly for now,” Gary said to the Prince in his best motivational sounding voice, modulated by Jack Daniels and soaked in wisdom by some of the best Georgia moonshine.

“Wait,” Ron Harris said, “I have a special request. I need a Goldwing Windjammer fairing.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Prince Najar said. “I found one, if Maurer will let go of his, then we’re all set.”

Gary Maurer with Jason Ferguson of Texas Bike Works initially designed the hand-built custom frame. Gary sent to Jason a custom bent backbone down to Texas. It features a 1 ¾-inch formed DOM steel tubing arched backbone to be integrated the frame. Jason is an MMI graduate who cut his teeth in Southern California with Johnny Pag and the Biker’s Dream folks in 1993. After the Dream fell apart, but with a great deal of hard knocks experience, Jason peeled out to the Lone Star state, and drove in his stakes in 2006, on the outskirts of Dallas/Fort Worth, in Granbury, Texas.

He spent five years perfecting his first frame jig and has been hand fabricating specialty frames for two years. The fabrication bug inspiration came from the first Motorcycle Mania Discovery show by Hugh King. He watched fabricators work shrinkers/stretchers, English wheels, shapers, and benders, and was suddenly intrigued to try his hand with steel manipulation.

Gary bent the curvy rigid backbone and shipped it to Jason. Jason added 2 inches of stretch up and out, plus an additional 2 inches in the rear. He included 34 degrees of rake in the neck. The rest of the 1 ¼-inch tubing design was up to Jason to enhance lines of the frame and make her flow.

“I don’t have a roller to fabricate those soft bends,” Jason said. But I’m sure that tool rests heavily in the back of his mind. As a kid, his dad was a biker, and Jason was inspired by Arlen Ness digger styles. He hopes to build frames, rollers, and complete bikes around Panheads, Shovels, and Sportsters. His next bike project involves a generator 1966 Shovelhead and a bone stock, never touched Arlen Ness original chassis.

So there’s talented crew for the XPress lid Bikernet/Cycle Source Sweeps biker project, and I would be proud to own any bike built with a Jason Ferguson, Texas Bike Works frame, Fab Kevin components, Crazy Horse engine, and by the crazy team of Gary and Ron. But wait, who the hell is that title sponsor? We are very fortunate to have this coffee company sponsor our build. XPress is a custom French Press coffee cup lid technology, by Smart Cup. Have you heard of French pressed coffee? Well, Smart Cup designed a portable cup that makes a French pressed cup of strong Joe whenever you want it. Over the months ahead, we’ll show you how it works and delivers a superior cup of crushed beans on the go.

Hang on for the next report, and don’t forget to enter, goddammit.

–Bandit

Sources:

Xpress
http://mysmartcup.com/

Crazy Horse
http://www.crazyhorsemotorcycles.com/

Texas Frame Works
www.TexasBikeWorks.com

Kustoms Inc.
KustomsInc@hotmail.com

Chop Docs
www.Chopdocschoppers.com

Fab Kevin
http://www.fabkevin.com/home.htm

www.evil-engineering.com

D&D Exhaust
http://www.danddexhaust.com/

Wire Plus
http://www.wire-plus.com/

Barnett
Barnettclutches.com

Rocking K Custom Leathers
howard.knight@montana.com

Accel
http://www.accel-ignition.com/

THE AIM/NCOM MOTORCYCLE E-NEWS SERVICE is brought to you by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (A.I.M.) and the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM), and is sponsored by the Law Offices of Richard M. Lester. If you’ve been involved in any kind of accident, call us at 1-(800) ON-A-BIKE or visit www.ON-A-BIKE.com.

NCOM COAST TO COAST BIKER NEWS
Compiled & Edited by Bill Bish,
National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM)

ILLINOIS MOTORCYCLISTS CAN NOW LEGALLY RUN RED LIGHTS
Motorcyclists in Illinois will no longer be stuck indefinitely at stoplights, as effective January 1st the Land of Lincoln joined eleven other states that allow riders to proceed through malfunctioning red lights.

Sensors that trigger light changes often aren’t sensitive enough to detect motorcycles, which prompted the Illinois legislature to pass HB S860, supported by ABATE of Illinois, which allows motorcycles stopped at a red light to go through the light if it doesn’t turn green after a “reasonable” amount of time.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn vetoed the bill, claiming it “endangers our motorists” because it allows the motorcyclist to determine how long is “reasonable,” but both the House and Senate voted to override the veto and the original bill became law.

The new law, as now on the books, states: “After stopping, the driver of a motorcycle or bicycle facing a steady red signal which fails to change to a green signal within a reasonable period of time because of a signal malfunction or because the signal has failed to detect the arrival of the motorcycle or bicycle due to the vehicle’s size or weight, shall have the right to proceed subject to the rules applicable after making a stop at a stop sign as required by section 11-1204 of this code.”

The law applies only to municipalities with a population of less than two million, so the city of Chicago is exempted.

Similar so-called “dead red” laws have been enacted in Minnesota (2002), Tennessee (2003), Arkansas (2005), Idaho (2006), Wisconsin (2006), North Carolina (2007), South Carolina (2008), Missouri (2008), Oklahoma (2010), Kansas (2011) and Virginia (2011). In Texas and California, state law requires stoplights to be fitted with sensors that detect motorcycles.

LAS VEGAS CLUBS SUE OVER POLICE HARASSMENT
A group of Nevada motorcycle clubs is suing Metro Police, accusing the Las Vegas police department of violating the constitutional rights of bikers. The Confederation of Clubs and Scoundrels Pub filed the lawsuit Wednesday, January 11, claiming that “The police are interfering with private business and telling private businesses that they cannot allow certain motorcycle clubs inside their private businesses.”

Their attorney says Metro Police officers harassed bikers and threatened to pull liquor licenses at local biker bars, like Scoundrels, based solely on the businesses’ clientele.

The lawsuit includes a letter Metro PD sent to Scoundrels Pub last June that states an event involving the Vagos Motorcycle Club violated Clark County code and could put the pub’s liquor license at risk.

“We’ve not asked for a penny. We don’t want money. We just want to get recognition of the situation and get the Metro Police Department to give us our constitutional rights. That’s all we’re asking for,” said Bandido Motorcycle Club Las Vegas President Rich Novicelli in an interview with CBS-affiliate 8NewsNow. Metro declined to comment.

JUDGE BARS N.H. TOWNS FROM ENACTING STRICTER NOISE LAWS
New Hampshire cities and towns cannot impose limits on motorcycle noise that are stricter than what state law allows, a Rockingham County judge has ruled.

“If each town in New Hampshire had the authority to enact different noise emission ordinances, the state would be subject to a checkerboard pattern of laws,” ruled Superior Court Judge Kenneth McHugh on Dec. 9. “For example, a motorcyclist who complies with the state noise emission limit could be precluded from driving through a town because that town enacted a lower noise emission limit than the state.”

The judge’s decision comes in response to a lawsuit filed by the Seacoast Harley-Davidson dealership, which filed suit against the town of North Hampton, successfully arguing the town did not have legal authority to adopt its own motorcycle noise ordinance.

North Hampton adopted a noise ordinance at a May 2010 Town Meeting, requiring all motorcycles operated in the town to have exhaust noise limited to 80 decibels. State law permits motorcycles to reach 106 dB.

After the ordinance passed, the local police chief refused to enforce the ordinance, describing it as unconstitutional and explaining that law enforcement and the town could face legal action if they enforced a lower noise threshold than state law allows. Similarly, McHugh found the local ordinance to be “in direct conflict” with state law and ruled the town of North Hampton “is hereby prohibited from adopting or enforcing the ordinance.”

In granting the permanent injunction, the judge noted in his decision that the N.H. House of Representatives’ Transportation Committee rejected a bill to enact a law that was similar to the North Hampton ordinance.

McHugh also noted that the town administrator was notified by the federal Environmental Protection Agency that it does not grant cities and towns “any additional authority to control environmental noise beyond that available to them under state and local law.”

House Bill 1442 has since been introduced in an attempt to lower the state’s motorcycle noise limit to the federal standard of 80 dB and would require that any motorcycle brought in for servicing to have EPA-compliant mufflers installed at that time. Similar measures have failed to pass three times in the past four years due to what the bill’s sponsor calls “fierce” opposition from the powerful motorcycle lobby.

LIVE FREE AND RIDE
A New Hampshire legislator wants his state’s “Live Free or Die” slogan emblazoned across motorcycle license plates. While he hasn’t straddled a bike in some years, State Rep. Tim Copeland (R-Stratham) said “it’s a great saying” that shouldn’t be limited to license plates on cars and trucks.

He said the idea was hatched at a convention for lawmakers where candy trays were sold that were made by inmates out of defective license plates. While looking at those candy dishes, Copeland wondered why the quote — from a toast made in 1809 by General John Stark — isn’t celebrated on the backs of motorcycles.

Rep. Copeland said there would be no additional cost to the state and he’s been told there’s nothing logistical to prevent stamping the state slogan onto the smaller motorcycle plates.

Copeland’s bill is with the House Transportation Committee and proposes replacing the word “motorcycle” at the top of all motorcycle plates with the state motto.

SOUTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR PROMISES TO VETO A HELMET LAW
Less than two years after a State Supreme Court ruling barred the city of Myrtle Beach, S.C. from enforcing a mandatory helmet law stricter than the state’s requirement for riders under 21 to wear them, a helmet law for all motorcyclists statewide has been introduced in the South Carolina legislature.

Senate Bill 1046 was read in Senate for the first time Tuesday and has been referred to the transportation committee. South Carolina required all riders to wear helmets from 1967 until 1980 when the legal mandate was limited to young riders. The attempt to change back to a comprehensive helmet law is opposed by groups such ABATE of South Carolina which is challenging the bill saying that they have no problem with helmets, but don’t agree that it’s the government’s responsibility to police personal safety.

Governor Nikki Haley met with biker rights lobbyists recently on the steps of the State House, where she promised them she would veto the bill. Gov. Haley, a member of Lexington County’s ABATE, told bikers at the capitol that the senate has more important matters to focus on. She told them to tell their legislators, “Don’t waste your time,” because even if it does pass, she’ll veto it.

In 2007 the state formed a motorcycle safety task force to look at ways to lower fatalities. That group did not recommend a mandatory helmet law.

Currently, only 20 states require all motorcyclists to wear helmets, 27 only require them for younger or inexperienced riders, while three require no helmet use at all.

FRENCH TO REQUIRE REFLECTIVE RIDING APPAREL
“Ride to be seen, but ride like you’re invisible” is sound advice for all motorcyclists, and wearing bright colored reflective riding gear is one way to be more conspicuous in traffic and avoid getting ran over by distracted and inattentive drivers, but France will soon be enforcing legal measures to ensure that motorcyclists are seen.

French officials apparently take motorcycle visibility so seriously, they’re making it Illegal not to be noticed. According to a new rule in their highway code that takes effect January 1, 2013, riders and passengers aboard any bike bigger than 125cc will each be required to wear at least 150 square centimeters of reflective fabric on their upper bodies — and according to British motorcycle activists Riders Are Voters, France already requires reflective stickers on helmets.

FIRST MOTORCYCLE-ONLY GAS STATION OPENS ABROAD
More motorcycles are sold in Indonesia in a year than exist in the entire United States of America! According to the Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI), 7.4 million motorcycles were sold there in 2010, and by comparison there were 7.9 million motorcycles registered in the U.S.

There are significantly more motorcycles than cars operating in this densely-populated region, and of 70.71 million vehicles in Indonesia, 52.43 million are two-wheel machines, which has led to the opening of the world’s first motorcycle-only gas stations.

These “Shell Motor Express” stations are designed exclusively for motorcycles and it was the Indonesian government’s idea to provide “comfort, safety and time-efficiency” for the majority of the country’s commuters.

Shell Indonesia says: “This motorcycle gas station is a pilot project developed in response to the Government’s idea to provide a dedicated refueling service for motorcycles. Shell Motor Express is purposely built to serve motorcycles which are the largest and fastest growing segment in the domestic motor vehicle industry.”

WEIRD NEWS: DIRTY SECRET ABOUT GAS PUMPS
Gas pump handles top a recent study of filthy surfaces, so just when you thought filling up couldn’t hurt any more, medical researchers have announced another reason to avoid touching the gas pump: GERMS!

Gas pump handles turned out to be the filthiest surface that Americans encounter on the way to work, according to a study released on October 25, 2011 by Kimberly-Clark Professional, a unit of personal hygiene giant Kimberly-Clark Corp. A team of hygienists swabbed hundreds of surfaces around six U.S. cities to see what everyday objects are breeding grounds for the worst bacteria and viruses.

The top offenders, following gas pumps, were handles on public mailboxes, escalator rails and ATM buttons. Closely following on the filthiest list were parking meters and kiosks, crosswalk buttons and buttons on vending machines in shopping malls.

“It comes down to the fact that nobody cleans the things that you’re going to touch on a daily basis,” said Dr. Kelly Arehart, program leader of Kimberly-Clark’s Healthy Workplace Project.

MOTORCYCLISTS FINED FOR WEARING DOT-APPROVED HELMETS
In a strange twist, motorcycle riders in Mumbai, India are being hassled by law enforcement for wearing DOT-approved helmets because, in an effort to curb the use of cheap helmets, the police commissioner recently issued an order stating that all motorcyclists must wear helmets with an ISI marking to certify that they are approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards.

So, despite wearing some of the finest helmets in the world, with certifications from the U.S. Department of Transportation which subjects helmets to higher standards of testing, police are issuing tickets to safety-conscious riders for wearing “unapproved helmets”.

In typical bureaucratic fashion, authorities have reportedly forwarded an application for recognizing DOT-certified helmets to the transport department “which is the competent authority to make an appropriate decision.”

QUOTABLE QUOTE: “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.”
~ Groucho Marx (1890-1977) American comedian and film star

Let me start by introducing Ben Jordan, one of the very best bike builders you probably have never heard of! No exaggeration here, just take a look at the ’49 Panhead on these pages.

Ben Jordan of Jordan Designs has had a bike featured here before, the bright sunshine yellow Shovelhead. (Frisco’d Shovel). Ben is no stranger to having his work featured, with features on BIKERNET.com, Cycle Source and EASYRIDERS magazines. Ben is a master at what he does and I have followed him for a long time. The first bike he built was very mild compared to his creations today. I remember, it was a Sportster with Ape Hangers and a very sharp paint job. It was tight, cool, well detailed, but just a stepping stone to what he rolls out today.

Ben and his family run a powder coating business and Ben lays down some very slick powder. I have used his services a number of times and have always been pleased with the finished product. Ben is one of those self-taught guys when it comes to building bikes. His bikes always flow like silk from front wheel to rear wheel and they always feature some fine details like very small gas caps or a winged gas cap just to name a few.

Roll up on a bike Ben builds into a full parking lot of bikes on a Saturday night and watch people stop whatever they are doing to take a look. His bikes seem to attract the ladies like bees to honey! Ben is a versatile builder. He is also a very strong fabricator with sheet metal. Check out the exhaust on this bike. They are BITCHIN’! They are hand made by Ben himself! The pipes are one of my favorite aspects of this bike. He can build the long bikes and he can definitely knock out bitchin’ bobbers.

You are probably wondering about the name, Basura Blanca translated to White Trash. A friend of his, the late Click Baldwin owned a dealership, a good guy who was friends to a lot of people. Anyway, Ben tells me Click would describe himself as just “white trash lucky enough to have a little money.” So now you know the rest of the story.
Take a good close look at this 1949 Panhead and you will see there is nothing trashy about this bike.

Just imagine if this bike could talk, the stories it would tell. The old ’49 is older than some of us and I would dare to say in a lot better shape!
Ben put Basura Blanca together with a BIG pile of leftover parts lying around his shop for three years. The 1955 frame was re-worked. Ben says it was hacked up and he contacted Brew at Brew Cycles and he worked his magic and put it back to stock specs.

Ben Edwards at Ben’s V-Twins worked his magic on the engine and tranny. The work at Ben’s V –Twin is bullet proof!

When Ben does a bike, it is not finished until every part has been touched and detailed to fit the bike. Check out the paint job by Ryan Young at Indocial Art & Design. It is an amazing job! The silver, gold, charcoal, black, and coal colors flow like a cool stream, nice and smooth!

Basura Blanca just looks like a fun bike to ride and Ben tells me it is a blast to blister some black top with. Ben’s bikes are ridden, no trailer queens out of this garage!

I always look forward to talking to him. He is one of those guys, who I enjoy running into. He tells me he is finishing a 1947 Knucklehead for the Easyriders show in Charlotte this January. I can’t wait to see it! I guess you can tell from reading this, Ben likes the old iron.

May the old 49 Pan roll on forever!

Until next time, RIDE!
–STEALTH

BIKERNET EXTREME BASURA BLANCA SPECS

Owner:Ben Jordan
Bike Name: Basura Blanca
City/State: Waxhaw NC
Builder:Ben Jordan
City/state: Waxhaw NC
Company Info: Jordan Designs
Address: Waxhaw NC
Fabrication:Ben Jordan
Welding:Ben Jordan
Machining:Ben Jordan

Engine
Year:1949
Make:Harley-Davidson
Model:Panhead
Displacement:74-incher
Builder or Rebuilder:Ben’s V Twins
Cases:STD
Case finish:Silver Texture Powder Coat
Barrel finish:Silver Texture Powder Coat
Carburetion:S&S E
Air cleaner:cheap
Exhaust:owner

Transmission
Year:1949
Make:Harley-Davidson
Gear configuration: 1 down 3 up
Final drive:chain
Primary:3-inch Primo
Clutch:Barnett
Kicker: yes

Frame
Year:1955
Make:Harley-Davidson
Style or Model: Rigid
Stretch:none
Rake:stock
Modifications: Molded

Front End
Make:Harley-Davidson
Model:Knuckle
Year: Mid ’40s
Length:stock
Mods:Powder coated

Sheet metal
Tanks:Twisted Choppers & Owner
Fenders:Chica and owner
Oil tank:stock horseshoe

Paint
Molding:Owner
Base coat: Owner
Graphics: Indocial Art & Design Ryan Young
Type:base coat clear coat
Frame:Indocial Art & Design Ryan Young
Special effects:Indocial Art & Design Ryan Young
Pinstriping:Indocial Art & Design Ryan Young

Wheels

Front
Size: 21
Brake calipers:none
Brake rotor(s):none
Tire:Avon Speedmaster

Rear
Make:Harley-Davidson
Size:16
Brake calipers:cheap
Brake rotor:cheap
Tire:Shinko

Controls
Foot controls: Jay Brake
Finish:Black
Master cylinder: Jay Brake
Handlebar controls: Chrome
Finish:Chrome
Shifting: Foot
Kickstand: yes

Electrical
Wiring: yes
Headlight: 4-inch
Taillight: ’32 Ford

What’s Left
Seat: Emore Leather
Mirror(s): one
Gas caps: one
Handlebars: Drag
Pegs: owner
Oil filter: yes
Throttle: tested

Comments:
Thanks to Ben’s V Twins

We are building two Mudflap girl FXRs, but we took a ’96 Dyna and turned it into an FXR with the help of JIMS 6-speed transmission configuration. Since we were using a Rivera-Primo primary drive belt system inside a stock primary, we dug around for primaries and came up with a set from ’89.

The standard late model Evo starter jack-shaft wouldn’t work, so we went on a hunt with the help of Martin Tesh at Compu-Fire and Spyke. We finally dialed in the jack shaft from the starter, and then it didn’t line up with the later model ring gear on the Rivera-Primo clutch. Fortunately Ben Kudon knew the answer. So, here’s the info: Ring gears are made in the following sizes:

66, 84, 102, 106 (106 FOR THE LATE MODEL BIKES WITH THE HD Cruise drive
trans. Must be used with our basket)

66-tooth Fits 1990-93 Big Twin
66-tooth Fits 1994-2006 Big Twin with Rivera- Primo pinion gear
84-tooth Fits 1990-2006 (except 2006 Dyna models) with Rivera Primo
application specific pinion gear
102-tooth Fits 1994-2006 Big Twins
106-tooth Fits 2006 Dyna Models & all 2007 Later Big Twins with 6 Speed Cruise
Drive Trans. (Must be use with Rivera Primo basket, will not fit OE basket)

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My name is Bill May and I have always been a gearhead. When I was about seven years old, we lived on a farm in eastern Oklahoma. One day someone came down the long dirt road to our house on a red Indian Chief with skirted fenders. He was lost and just asked directions, but that lit my fire. I knew someday I would ride something like that.

Oh, by the way I am now 64 years old, so it must have been around 1954. About that same time, my dad overhauled his 1950 Ford pickup. I was right in the middle of that. That is when I first learned the four-stroke principle. My dad was a natural mechanic. I guess that is where I got it.

We sold the farm in 1957 and we moved to Phoenix, then on to central California. I started noticing hot rods and custom bikes on the California highways.

In 1959, we moved to Oklahoma City and in 1961, I lost my dad to cancer. There was just mom and I, and mom didn’t drive. It was legal for 14-year-olds to ride a scooter or motor bike under five-horsepower. We sold the car and I bought a 1960 Cushman Eagle scooter. It was sort of a miniature Harley with a foot clutch and a two-speed hand shift on the tank. A biker was born.

Of course, I was into cars too. I read every hot rod magazine on the stands. Back then they would always feature a custom bike in “Hot Rod,” usually a rigid Triumph or a Sportster. After building four different engines for the Cushman and never quite getting it right, someone stole the front wheel one night right out of my driveway. I sold the Cushman and bought a ’56 Ford Victoria for 500 dollars three months before my sixteenth birthday.

The Ford was a black two-door hardtop with power steering and an automatic trans. It was beautiful and I would kill to have it today. We had a small garage separate from the house with no windows and a padlock on the door. I would sneak it out during the day while my mother was working, and park it over at my friend’s house. I would keep stash it there, and we would drive it around all weekend while mom thought it was safely locked in the garage. I got away with that for three months until I turned sixteen and got a license. My mother never caught me and she went to her grave never knowing what a conniving bastard I was.

I got a license as soon as I turned 16-years- of-age, and I got a ticket for speeding in a school zone within the first week of legally driving. I turned 16 just before I finished my freshman year in high school. In the following fall I was in love with a knock-out blond ninth grader. I was cruising along by the junior high after school just got out, and she and a friend were walking in the same direction, so I stopped to talk. They jumped up on my front fenders and said, “Take us for a ride.”

I was smart enough to go real slow, but not smart enough not to do it at all. We were creeping along at a walking pace when the girl on the right front fender said, “Watch out for that car.” I had seen the car but my brain made me hit the brake anyway and they both tumbled to the street. The friend was only scratched up but my girl hit her head and had to be taken to the hospital. She had a concussion and a scar on her forehead. I felt terrible. They gave me a reckless driving ticket with an accident involved and took my license for 3 months.

Fortunately, I had State Farm insurance and they paid the entire medical. Her parents forbade me to ever see her again. To this day, I feel bad about how close I came to killing her. I gladly locked up the car for those three months.

I majored in auto mechanics in high school. In those days they would let us take long unsupervised road tests in the cars we we worked on. I can remember us taking a teachers car on a road test to a bar out in the woods where we could buy beer. We would buy a six-pack and drive around drinking it. Can you imagine a school like that today?

I guess stuff like that is the biggest reason high schools no longer offer a good vo-tech program of any kind. In my freshman year, I took woodshop and drafting. In my junior year, I had three hours of auto mechanics and one hour of welding and general metals. I learned stuff that benefited me all my life. On the downside, my mechanical interest and my gypsy nature probably prevented me from being financially successful in some other field.

In this life we do what we do and live with it. Some people, me included, can be happy in any situation, and some are rich and miserable. I am glad I am one of those happy types.

One of my friends in auto mechanics was Sid Pogue. He was always into bikes. When I had my Cushman, he had a hot Harley 165 hummer. He got a new Sportster for Christmas 1965. It didn’t hurt that his dad owned Pogue Machine, a large oil field oriented machine shop in Oklahoma City. He put me on the back of the new XLCH for a ride across the parking lot. He nailed it and I slid right off on my butt in the parking lot.

He stripped the shocks and mufflers off that old bike and turned in the 12s at the OKC dragway at the fairgrounds. He stayed involved in motorcycle drag racing for years and was pro stock champion in 1979. He developed a custom Kawasaki head for drag racing at that machine shop. Many big inch Kaws in the ’80s had Pogue heads. He inherited the business and is still there today. He got into Harleys for a short-while in the ’80s but gave it up shortly after. I guess he thinks he’s old or something. I visited with him a couple of years ago and he said his wife didn’t want him to ride anymore. I guess it is the sign of a good relationship to respect her wishes but it never worked for me.

After two years of auto mechanics in high school, I graduated and joined the Navy. This was 1965 and everyone was getting drafted to go to Vietnam. My friends were coming home in boxes. I thought the Navy would be better plus I knew the girls loved sailors.

Anyway, I ended up at NAS Fallon, Nevada. It was close to Reno. There were bikers everywhere. In the spring of ’67, the Navy sent Randy Hammer and myself to a school on a piece of aircraft navigation equipment at NAS North Island. We were there two weeks so on the weekend we went on liberty in downtown San Diego.

We were too young to drink and had no money for the whores so we went to the movies and saw “The Wild Angels.” We sat in the empty balcony and just before the movie started the whole San Diego chapter of the Hells Angels came in an asked us to move so they could all sit together. They made a party of it with booze and pot. I knew that was the life for me.

A few months later, I sold my ’55 Chevy for $500 and bought a ’51, 61-inch Panhead for $300. It had the original tank shift but the rocker clutch had been converted to a full suicide. I dumped it three times the first day.

That old bike was a full dresser with a windshield and original H-D saddlebags. It had the worse number job I ever saw but I didn’t learn about that until later. Anyway, I never got in any trouble with it. I was living in Reno in a duplex with my friend Roark who had just got out of the Navy and was working at the VA hospital and going to URN on the GI bill. Roark was from San Francisco and I had been down there with him and knew his parents. I did most of the work on that old bike in the living room of that little duplex.

I met a guy in Reno who had a beautiful burgundy Panhead chopper. It had a hummer tank and a wide glide with a nice chrome 18-inch front wheel. I traded him out of that wheel when he went to a 21-inch wheel. I gave him most of my old dresser stuff to help me chop the ’51. Soon it had a peanut tank, a chrome front fender turned around on the back and a jockey shift. During the summer of ’68 and the winter of 1968-69, I rode everywhere. There were sometimes during the winter of ’68 that Roark had to ride the bike to work while I took our only car to Fallon every day to make muster and do my job. I remember him riding that thing up the street in about four inches of snow.

I helped a friend named Billy Boot (that was his real name); build a chopper out of a ’62 Oakland police bike. Billy’s dad purchased that bike at a police auction; he was one of the original Boozefighters at Hollister in ’47. Billy got stationed at Fallon right out of boot camp. He showed up on that old police bike stripped down into a bobber. I immediately took a liking to him. He had been a factory moto-cross rider for Kawasaki till he got drafted into the Navy. By that time, I had made second class (E5). My rating was an aviation electronics technician, navigation, or ATN2. Billy was a lowly seaman assigned to base security.

Even though my rating was in electronics, I seemed to spend most of my time in the support equipment shop. I became friends with the Master Chief Machinist Mate, who ran the place, and since I would soon be getting out they let him transfer me there for the duration. We worked on all the aircraft tow tractors and mobile starting units. The chief helped me make some special 8-inch fork extension slugs for Billy’s wide glide. In those days, you couldn’t just buy a set of long fork tubes. Besides, we were broke sailors and had to make do.

One beautiful Saturday in April 1969, Billy and I set out from Reno to San Francisco to visit his parents and have some fun. We had rolled out of Fallon on Friday night and rode the 60 miles to Reno with no problems. We spent the night with friends and got an early start on Saturday. The snow had melted over Donner Summit and it looked like a good day for a ride. The bikes were running good and the weather was perfect.

Life couldn’t be much better. We sailed down the west side of the Sierras through Auburn and Sacramento with no problems. We were stopping every fifty miles or so for gas. I was checking the bikes every time we stopped. My bike had a three-brush generator that only worked every now and then. I had charged the battery all night in Reno, so I was good for about eight hours of daylight running with no generator. We had very little money, maybe twenty bucks or so and no credit cards, no cell phones either. If we broke down, we were on our own.

Billy’s folks lived in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. His dad was one of the original Boozfighters and a great guy. He couldn’t ride anymore because he fell off a roof and broke his back, he had a cherry ’64 Rivera though. By then my friend, Roark had moved back to San Francisco and I was living in a trailer in Fallon.

We were rolling down Interstate 80 between Sacramento and the bay area, when I saw another bike way up ahead. I twisted the wick on the old pan and proceeded to catch up with it. I got closer and saw a black Jawa with Illinois plates. There were bags and stuff strapped all over this bike. As I came up beside it, I saw the rider was a beautiful girl with long blond hair streaming out from under her helmet.

I looked at her and waved, she looked back and waved, I was starting to see the possibility of a short-term relationship when I looked in the mirror for Billy. Needless to say he was nowhere in sight. I was faced with a decision of monumental proportions. Billy had the fastest bike and he used to race for Kawasaki. The only way for him not to be right behind me was trouble. I waved goodbye to Miss Illinois and took the Vacaville exit. I turned around and headed back down I-80 for about five miles.

There was Billy parked on another exit ramp and walking down the side of the road looking for his front exhaust pipe. I turned around again and parked next to him. We found the pipe, and I was giving him a hard time about lost love when the CHP pulled up and started giving us a hard time about parking on an exit ramp. We were clean-cut sailors with military I.D. or things might have gone worse. He let us go with a warning and I fixed the pipe with hose clamps. Later on, they started calling me the Hose Clamp Kid.

We rolled on toward San Francisco this time with Billy in the lead. We were rolling across the Bay Bridge with Billy about a hundred yards ahead of me when the Panhead sputtered and died. I coasted to a stop by one of those little call boxes and pushed the button. About 15 minutes later, a tow truck showed up and sold me a gallon of gas for a dollar plus five for the service call.

I was down to seven dollars in my pocket. That left me one. On the road again, I headed for Roark’s house. My battery was low and it was getting dark. The bike would cut out when I hit the brake so I disconnected the brake light. I rode this thing right up Market Street after dark with no lights at all. I made it to Roark’s house with no more problems.

He opened the garage and I goosed it and popped that suicide clutch. I went up his steep driveway in an unexpected wheelie and crashed into the back of the garage, nearly breaking my wrist and tweaking the forks a little bit. All in all, it was a great ride. I hooked up with Billy the next day and found out he had made it home okay, but his generator had gone out also. We left the bikes at Billy’s and his dad drove us back to Fallon in that ’64 Rivera.

Two weeks later when we got paid, we hitchhiked back to Frisco and I put a new armature in Billy’s generator. I charged my battery and rode all the way back to Fallon alone. I took highway 50 out of Sacramento and rode over Echo summit and around Lake Tahoe and through Carson City. This time I had no problems at all. That was a great ride.

Billy had some leave so he came back a week or so later and did all right until he ran the transmission out of oil and broke the case just outside of Fallon. I sold my ’51 for $600 and bought Billy’s bike for $675 with a broken tranny. I bought a very used trans from some old outlaw in Sun Valley, just north of Reno, for $50, and I was on the road again with a much better bike and the generator even worked.

I got out of the Navy in June of ’69, and I rode east on the loneliest road in America, highway 50. I slept on the ground the first night in what is now the Great Basin National Park. It is on the Nevada-Utah border. The second day I rode up through Utah. I went through beautiful little towns like Spanish Fork and Provo. I went around the eastern side of Salt Lake City on a scenic drive through the mountains.

Finally, I came out on Interstate 80 and putted into Evanston Wyoming. I was tired and dirty, so I got a motel room. The next morning it was 30 degrees on the 30th of June. I had on long johns and a flight jacket and I was freezing.

I had breakfast in the motel restaurant and there were four Hells Angels there. We got to talk and they asked where I was headed. I told them Oklahoma City. They looked over my bike and wished me luck. They were driving a ’55 Ford station wagon. They said they were heading back to California from Buffalo, New York. The chapter president there had been killed and they had been to the funeral.

The further east I rode the warmer it got. I made it to North Platte, Nebraska that day and slept on a park bench until it started to rain. I got under the edge of a gas station the rest of the night. The next day I took back roads all the way across Kansas and rolled into OKC just about dark. The old Panhead made it halfway across the country with no real problems.

A lot of years have gone by since that ride. I’ve had three wives, two kids, and over one hundred Harleys. I have lost a few good friends, but I’m still in the game. I just traded a ’49 Panhead chopper for a slightly wrecked ’03 Dyna Wide Glide and two Sportsters and a ’67 Fender guitar. I rode the Dyna to Sturgis in 2010 and a month later, I helped a lady move to Banger, Maine. I put the Dyna in a U-haul truck and rode it from Banger all the way back to Oklahoma City in the first part of October 2010.

More later, Bill

“In creating the Seventy-Two, we were also inspired by thevibe of the early chopper era,” says Frank Savage, Harley-Davidson Manager ofIndustrial Design. “Those bikes were colorful and chromed, but also narrow andstripped down to the essentials. You look at period examples and they arealmost as simple as a bicycle. It’s a custom style that’s very particular toAmerica and that California scene.”

Metal flake, an iconic design element of the ‘70s, appearedin everything from dune buggy gel coat to vinyl diner upholstery, and on custommotorcycles. Harley-Davidson brings the sparkle back on the Seventy-Two withHard Candy Big Red Flake paint. This new finish is created by applying a blackbase coat, followed by a polyurethane system that carries hexagon-shaped flakesthat are more than seven times the diameter of metal flake used in typical productionpaint. Each flake is coated with a thin aluminum film and then tinted red. Fourapplications of clear coat, combined with hand sanding, create a smooth finishover the flakes.

A solo seat and side-mounted license plate bracket leavemuch of the chopped rear fender – and more of that paint – exposed on theSeventy-Two. The powertrain is finished in Gray powdercoat with chrome coversand a new round air cleaner with a dished cover. A classic Sportster 2.1-gallon“peanut” fuel tank adds a final period touch to the motorcycle.

Key features of the 2012 Harley-Davidson® Seventy-Twoinclude:

Air-cooled Evolution® 1200cc V-Twin engine with ElectronicSequential Port Fuel Injection (ESPFI), rated at 73 ft. lbs. peak torque at3500 rpm.

Powertrain is finished in Gray powdercoat with Chromecovers.

Paint color choices include Hard Candy Big Red Flake withperiod pinstripe details on fenders and fuel tank, Black Denim, and Big BluePearl.

Classic 2.1-gallon peanut fuel tank.

Dunlop® white side wall 21-inch (MH90-21) front and 16-inch(150/80B16) rear tires.

Chrome Laced wheels.

Ten-inch mini-ape handlebar mounted on a two-inch highriser.

Chrome, eight-inch round air cleaner cover with center screwmount.

Chopped rear fender exposes rear tire.

Side-mounted license plate bracket.

Chrome, staggered, shorty dual exhaust with slash-cutmufflers.

Solo seat with black textured vinyl cover.

Handlebar-mounted speedometer with chrome cup.

Chrome rear fender struts.

Chrome coil-over pre-load adjustable rear shocks.

Forward foot controls. 

Stripped-Down, Narrow Styling with Less Chrome and Retro Details

Pare down a Harley-Davidson Softail motorcycle to its essential elements and you have the Slim. From its trimmed front fender to its narrow rear end, Slim is a no-nonsense, back-to-basics motorcycle. Call it stripped. Call it old school. Call it lean and mean. What’s left is the elemental Softail profile and iconic Harley-Davidson style that recalls classic custom bobbers of the 1950s.

 

To keep the rear of the motorcycle simple and clean, the Slim has combination stop/turn/tail lights and a side-mounted license plate. The rear fender struts are left uncovered, exposing the forged steel and fasteners. A thin formed-leather strap covers the fuel tank seam. The powertrain is finished with polished covers instead of chrome, and the black cylinders are left unhighlighted. The FL front fender is trimmed to expose more of the tire.

“I’d personally like to strip the bike down even further,” says Ketterhagen, “but this is as far as we can go on a production model. The Slim is intended to be a direct interpretation of home-built customs of the 1940s and 50s, and we used a number of components that evoke that era, beginning with a Hollywood handlebar.”

The Hollywood bar, identified by its wide bend and cross brace, was originally an accessory for Harley-Davidson models with a Springer fork. The name may have been coined because owners of that era who used the cross-brace to mount lights and bags had “gone Hollywood” with excessive accessorization. For the Slim, the cross-braced bar and louvered headlight nacelle are finished in gloss black. Other period styling cues include a gloss black “cat’s eye” tank console with a retro speedometer face, half-moon rider footboards, a round air cleaner cover, and gloss black wheel rims and hubs. The cover of the solo seat is stitched in a tuck-and-roll pattern.

 

“The seat really gives you the feeling of sitting in the bike, rather than on it,” says Ketterhagen. “The bars are nice and low, too, so when you’re riding you have an unobstructed view forward, which reinforces the idea that this is a very elemental motorcycle, a real back-to-basics ride.”

Key features of the 2012 Harley-Davidson Softail Slim include:
•Rigid-mounted, air-cooled, 1690 cc Twin Cam 103B™ counter-balanced engine with Automatic Compression Release (ACR) rated at 98.7 ft. lbs. peak torque at 3000 rpm.

•Powertrain is finished in Black powdercoat with polished covers.

· 6-Speed Cruise Drive Transmission.
•Chrome, over/under shotgun exhaust with slash-cut mufflers.

· Gloss Black round air cleaner cover.
•Classic 5.0-gallon Fat Bob® fuel tank.

•Black “cat’s eye” console holds electronic speedometer with retro-style face.

•Dunlop® 16-inch (MT90B16) front and rear (MU85B16) tires.

•Black, Steel Laced wheels.

•Hollywood handlebar with cross-brace

•Gloss black headlamp with chrome trim ring.

•Gloss black nacelle with punched louvers.

•Half-moon footboards with retro-style foot control pads.

•Chopped rear fender exposes rear tire.

•Trimmed FL front fender.

•Side-mounted license plate bracket.

•Combination stop/tail/turn tail lights.

•Solo seat with black tuck-and-roll vinyl cover.

•Forged rear fender supports are finished in Gloss Black powdercoat.

•Gloss black “horseshoe” oil tank.

•Paint color choices include Vivid Black, Black Denim, and Ember Red Sunglo.