A long time self-confessed bike nut, Glenn remembers riding back in the day when dodging dinosaurs rather than Volvos was the biggest on road challenge. Well maybe I am stretching things a bit, but he’s been riding a long time.

Glenn told me, “I bought my first bike when I was thirteen and paid for it with money I earned from my three paper rounds. It was a Royal Enfield, cut down to a sort-of mini bike. It had no brakes and a hand shifter on the tank and went like sh*t – I don’t really know how I didn’t kill myself. Unfortunately the cops caught me on the main road and gave my parents an ultimatum to sell the bike or they’d charge me. Well, at thirteen, guess what?”

But when biking is in your blood it takes more than a gnarly snarly sergeant to hold you back and it wasn’t long before Glenn was back on two wheels and it’s been that way ever since. Of course once he had the bucks the bikes have been mainly Harley-Davidsons and Glenn has enjoyed a slew of models and generally keeps a couple of bikes in his shed.

I first met Glenn when he came on the Heavy Duty Sturgis tour in ’99 and while most people partied themselves until their livers fell out and then used them for pillows, Glenn rode the wheels off the bike he’d hired. Since then he’s been back to the USA many times and become good buddies with some of the leading American bike builders and also with Bandit, former Easyriders editor and now head honcho of Bikernet.com.

Being partial to old school bikes, it was only natural that Glenn spent more time with like minded blokes like Indian Larry (and now Paul Cox and Keino), Johnny Chop and others who favoured the in-ya-face mechanicals of the original chopper/bobber culture, rather than over-the-top billet-laden high-end customs.

Well both Johnny and Larry have left us to compete in that great biker build-off in the sky and Glenn thought he’d do a sort of tribute bike in the style of these masters, with homage to other legends such as Von Dutch who – until his name became a fashion statement thanks to walnut-brained air-heads like Britney (vomit) Spears – was ‘The Man’ when it came to Californian pin-striping.

Glenn also acknowledges Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the famous artist and cartoonist who created the hot-rod icon Rat Fink and was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture/Hot-rod movement of the 1960s.

I asked Glen how this bike came about. “Well Doc, it was a great deal and I’d been thinking about getting another Shovel anyway. It’s good to get back to basics and y’know, I don’t intend to part with this bike. There is definitely something about riding old iron. I think it takes me back to my youth or “something like that”.

Well I reckon Glenn’s nailed it with this bike, building a cool custom that’s pretty damn true to the era. The bike is loaded with visual cues that spell hardcore in capital letters, from the reach-for-the-sky bars to the rigid-looking rear end this bike is a cool as it gets and is light years away from the merest skerrick of bling and that Frisco-mounted gas tank is a literal and visual highpoint.

There are many little custom touches all over this cool ride, things like Johnny Chop’s motto “Stay Gold” Glen worked into the leather hand grips he made and Indian Larry’s “Question Mark” which represented his philosophy of life. Neat touches, all over.

I’ll turn the story over to Glenn once again. “It started out a King Sporty tank I got from my mate Rusty out at Bayside Customs and then Little Mick lengthened it about 3-in, cut the tunnel completely out of it, and moved the filler neck as far to the top as he could. The petrol cap I got from master leather man Paul Cox from New York City who worked side by side with Indian Larry for many years.

I then put a Pingel fuel tap right at the bottom of the tank to gain access to all the fuel as being on such an angle you’ve got to set it up like this. With this tank I can squeeze in thirteen and a half litres of fuel, which is great. The first tank we did we didn’t go to this extreme and I was lucky if I got half of that useable fuel. Which was a bit of a shame really because Little Mick did some great art work on that tank. Still, what I’ve done with that tank is to get little Mick to sign it along with Keith R. Ball (Bandit) from Bikernet and I will have it mounted to put in my Leather Studio.

The rear mudguard and sissy bar are mounted to the swing arm and there is a custom made chain guard along with custom taillight mounts. I had a pair of 7-in dog bone risers with a 2-in offset I was going to use for the Panhead I’m in the process of building, but I thought the offset dog bone style would suit the Shovel better so I got Wild Willy to cut 4-in off the risers and weld a big washer for the base of the riser. Then it was off to the chrome platers and I reckon they ended up perfect. Plus I think the other half of the risers will work on the Pan but we’ll see about that down the track.

I discovered a few years back that I have a bit of a talent for hand-tooled leather work and have been doing a few seats for customs so it was natural that I created the one on this bike which readers of a certain hard-core biker publication will recognise.

The rear guard is a chopped down one that was originally suitable for a 300 tyre. Wild Willy, the Mad Fabricator, did the honours on that one and I should have mentioned he did the seat base also. All told this project took me nearly three years but to me, no bike is ever really finished.

Having said that, I need to add that for the moment I’m really happy with this Shovel as it is doing everything just right and it’s a helluva lot of fun. Besides after about four years I’ve just got all my parts together for my 1963 Panhead custom. I’m really looking forward to finishing the Pan as it is my own personal tribute to Indian Larry and hopefully I will have it finished by Christmas.

But this bike is really special to me because I’ve built it with a lot of great artists in mind like Ed Roth, Von Dutch, Indian Larry, David Mann and Johnny Chop because, in a small way, I hope to keep their spirit alive here in Australia.

Like all projects there’s a heap of blokes to thank and all were most helpful. Thanks to Ollie from Ollie’s Engineering and Machining 07 32883400, Brett from Brett’s Custom Paint (0416 002425), Little Mick from Koolsville Studio (0407 637697) www.koolsville.com for another great artistic touch, Traditional Chromers (075 4280066) for the shiny stuff and, lastly but not least, Wild Willy the Mad Fabricator who you can’t ring ‘cos he doesn’t have a phone.

Powder coating thanks goes to Scott and Ensoll (075 4534955) and thank you Mike from Mike Warner Motor Cycle Specialist (075 4931966) for rebuilding my rims. I’d like to also thank Mike from Mike’s Custom Shop in Noosa (075 4499555) for his advice and help along the way. And a very special thanks to my beautiful wife Kerry who supports me in whatever I am doing.”

TRIBUTE SHOVEL GUTS&BOLTS

ENGINE
Model: Shovel
Capacity: 1200cc
Builder: Ollie’s Engineering & Machinery
Cases: Stock
Crank: Trued and balanced
Bore: 10 thou over
Stroke: Stock
Compression ratio: 8.5 to 1
Bearings: HD
Conrods: HD
Oil pump: Reconditioned original.
Oil cooler: Lockhart
Oil: Kendall
Cam: Andrews (mild)
Lifters: Velvet Touch
Pushrods: Velvet Touch
Barrels: Stock HD
Heads: Long reach spark plug conversion
Tungsten alloy valve seat conversion.
Ports: Ollie did his thing
Rockers: Stock
Valves/springs/retainers: Black Diamond valves
Andrews Valve Springs
Ignition: Crane single fire
Carburetion: Evo CV
Manifold: Stock
Fuel: High octane super.
Air cleaner: S.U.
Exhaust: Custom made ceramic coated duals
Mufflers: Original 1990 Sturgis mufflers
Power: More than enough for me
Maximum revs: No idea
Top speed: No idea (no speedo)
Other mods: Externally mounted oil filter

TRANSMISSION
Year: 1972
Type: Ratchet Lid 4-speed
Close ratio Andrews gears
Gearchange: Original FLH
Clutch: Barnett
Primary drive: Original chain
Rear Drive: Chain.

SUSPENSION
Front: Sonic Telescopic
Triple Trees: FXWG Wide Glide
Extension: 4-in over
Rear: Rebuilt originals by Rad Shocks in Brisbane

WHEELS
Front: 19-in. HD re-chromed
Tyre: 100 x 90 Bridgestone Spitfire
Hub: HD
Brake caliper: Banana Caliper
(It works well)
Brake rotors: Aftermarket
Brake lines: Braided.

Rear: 16-in HD re-chromed
Tyre: 300 x 16 Bridgestone Spitfire
Hub: HD
Brake: Juice Drum Brake
(Also works well)
Brake line: Stock

FRAME
Type: Genuine swingarm
Year: 1972
Model: FLH
Rake: Stock
Mods: None

CONTROLS
Handlebars: 16-in Apes
Grips/levers: Billet grips
Custom leather outers
Risers: 3-in Paughco offset dog bone risers
Master cylinder: HD
Switchgear: HD
Mirrors: One
Headlight: After market
Gear change: Stock
Footpegs: FLH running boards
Rear brake master cylinder: HD
Speedo/tacho: Nope

Other: Oil pressure gauge and oil warning lightTaillight: L.A. County Choprods

GUARDS/TINWORK
Tank: Little Mick
Oil tank: Paughco
Front guard: Cut down stock
Rear guard: Wild Willy
Seat: G.P.Leather
glenn@gpleather.com.au

OTHER
Paint: Satin black

My amigo, Tom “The German” Steinbacher, of Demon’s Cycle South wanted ta show the world what kinda eye candy ya can build without takin’ out a second mortgage, or drainin’ the crumb snatchers’ college fund, so he bought a used 2005 Sporty, an’ like Phoenix risin’ from the ashes, (Hell, I didn’t even know the place was on fire!) it rose again ta become the show stopper ya see here!

Other than the donor bike, everything ya see here can be ordered online through Demon’s Cycle’s web site. Bein’ a worldwide operation, they buy in bulk ta get the best prices, an’ pass ‘em on ta you an’ me. Even the crew at Demon’s is international, with V.P. Art Rodos, his brother George, an’ Biker Willy bein’ from Russia; G.M. Al Smith from “The Big Apple”; Big Sammy from Haiti; Jose Garcia from the L.A. “Hood”; Good Ol’ Robert from Hungary; an’ Mudflap from the wilds of Tennessee. They’re all good guys, an’ they’re ready ta help ya build the ride of yer dreams!

Now let’s say yer turtle-steppin’ down the beach, an’ there’s this really hot li’l honey playin’ beach volleyball, but she ain’t payin’ a damn bit of attention ta you. All of a sudden, it dawns on ya: I’ll bet if I had a chopper, she’d notice me! Now that’s the right answer ta yer problem, all right, but ya have a couple of different ways ta get where ya want ta go.

Can ya just go buy a scoot from one of the big name builders, an’ ride it home? Sure ya can, but where’s the fun in that, an’ aren’t ya gonna feel silly when some li’l hottie asks ya “who built it?” She probably wouldn’t know who the hell yer talkin’ about anyway, but if ya can tell her “I did,” she’ll damn well be impressed by THAT! Especially if ya built it for twelve grand, like Tom did, instead of spendin’ eighty grand at some fancy showroom. Hell, you’ll even have enough left over ta buy a car for when it rains!

Well, that’s enough daydreamin’ about the beach, the hotties, an’ the drinks with little umbrellas in ‘em. Let’s get back ta the Sporty project, an’ how it went together.Startin’ with a drop seat frame for a 250 rear tire, he dropped in the 1200cc Sporty mill an’ tranny. Next came the 12” over springer front end, an’ the Weld racin’ wheels with Avon skins. Stoppin’ power comes from chrome four piston calipers on 11” rotors. The forward controls, pipes, drag bars, chrome billet risers, air cleaner, headlight, taillight / license plate mount, an’ all the other goodies ya see are all “in stock” items from Demon’s. The seat was custom made by South Florida Choppers.

If ya want ta take this jewel home with ya, yer shit outa luck, ‘cause it’s already been sold to an accountant in Aruba, but buildin’ yer own’s more fun anyway. Like Tom said the other day, “It’s all about fun! It’s fun to build your own custom bike, and it’s fun to ride it around and watch the girls looking you over wherever you go! We sell our parts and rolling chassis all over the world; China, Korea, Russia, Australia, and even some places we can’t find on the map… But we know that as long as Fed-Ex will deliver to wherever it is, there’ll be another happy biker.”

Do I buy from Demon’s Cycle? Bet yer ass I do! I get great parts at great prices, like my Ultima 250 frame for an upcomin’ Evo project. I have Demon’s parts on my Softail, an’ my Shovelhead, too. If you’ve ever seen my ol’ Shovel, ya know, it’s no slouch in the looks department, an’ it has a bunch of Demon’s parts on it!

If yer not sure ya have the necessary tools, talent, or ambition ta build yer own scoot, Demon’s also has a video CD that’ll walk ya through the process. That is, if ya can keep yer mind off the little cuties that are doin’ the assembly, an’ on the bike they’re assemblin’!

Ya can contact Tom at:
Demon’s Cycle Inc.
378 S.W. 14th Ave.
Pompano Beach, Fla. 33069
Phone: 954-943-0000

Or on the net at: www.demonscycle.com.

Why a 1948 Panhead? Well, why a blonde, brunette or a redhead? Because when something catches your eye and you just can’t live without it, you don’t give up until it’s yours. We’ve all, “been there and done that.” It’s 1971, I’m sitting in a Winchell’s donut shop eating a dozen peanut-covered donut holes like they are popcorn, drinking my coffee and reading the motorcycle ads in the newspaper (there was no Cycle Trader then), when I spotted a 1956 Panhead basket case, complete with “clean” title, $350.

It’s 5:00pm and my partner and I make the call to the owner who agrees not to sell it until I get there, after I get off work. Forty-five minutes later, I am the proud owner of a half-dozen milk crates, a rigid frame, glide front end, two wheels and a lot of nuts and bolts.

Within nine months, it comes to life as a chopper. With a 10-inch over glide, ½-inc rake, 21-inch front wheel, pull-backs, king and queen high-back seat, tall sissy bar, suicide shift and covered in “1959 Cadillac Fire Mist” metallic blue paint.

What caught my eye in the old, “Sleazy Riders” and “Colors” magazines from the early ‘70s, was now parked in my garage, and it was mine. Over the next seven years, that old Panhead went through many changes, finally becoming a 20-inch over glide, 1 ½-inch rake, solo seat and pad, fish-tail upsweeps, short sissy bar, coffin tank, ebony black with flames, suicide-shiftin’ bad-ass scooter.

That ’56 Pan stayed by my side through seven years of Hell raisin’ outlaw club abuse…… from late night runs over Ortega Highway to doing burn-outs in a special little bar in Oildale, CA…. That bike made me who I am. But then, like all good things, it had to end.

On a cool morning in 1978, the police kick my front door in and find too many things that I had no explanation for. To avoid time in lock-up, the Pan was sold for $2,200; big money in 1978 for a chopper. But, I had nothing else worth anything. With the money the Pan brought, along with borrowing from some brothers, I hired the guy with the silver bullets and walked free. That taught me a lot about our justice system, but that’s a story for another day.

Well, fast forward to 1985, I'd been a good boy for several years, retired from the club, same job for several years but something was missing. I had an itch that needed scratched. Poof!! A 1982 Shovelhead, tobacco brown and black was in my life. I did everything to that bike that wasn’t immoral. But after eight years that love affair, like my first marriage, was starting to fade.

I got married again, and Poof!! A 1993 stone stock Evo Softail walks into my life. I did everything to that scooter that was morally acceptable also; 70,000 plus thousand hard miles, the Sturgis run in ’96, all the California runs and one bad wreck that crushed my left foot in ‘94. All that and she never left me stranded. But, like my second wife, the ’93 was lacking something. And I knew that there was something that would suit me better. I just had to make a decision.

Well, Poof!! A 2006 black and chrome (my two favorite colors) Street Glide came into my life. Mind you, I’m 56 years old, been ridin’ 37 years now and I can honestly say, that this is the sweetest ride I have ever owned. Of course, to the owner of any other brand of motorcycle, other than a Harley, it is not the surgeon’s scalpel. But, to those of us who know, it is the best damned sledge hammer ever invented.

So what does all this have to do with the 1948 Panhead you see in these pictures? Well, it just proves my point, that the bikes I have owned through the last 37 years, none really captured my heart, or my senses, like that ol’ Panhead. There was still and empty spot in my life.

The bagger was incredible…but, poof!!, it’s early 2006 I was reading Cycle Trader and there it was; a 1948 Panhead, original rigid frame, original springer front end, matching numbers and a clear H-D title. Just like I did back in 1971, I called and made an agreement with the owner. If he would hold it until 6:00pm and if it’s what he says it is, I’d be up to buy it. And if I wasn’t there by 6:01 p.m. then sell it to one of the other 50 guys who would call.

He said, “Okay.” (Telling him the story about my old ’56 rigid basket case didn’t hurt any either.)

Well, the rest is history. After two years, many late nights, and a lot of dreaming, what had caught my eye 37 years ago, and forever stole my heart, had come back into my life and was now a reality.

If I die tomorrow, I’d die happy and content. My search is over for my one true love. Not just in motorcycles, but also in women. Yes, I am on wife number three. But this one, for the past 8 years, rides her own scooter, that I built to her specifications. And she can tell you the differences between a ’37 Knuckle and a ’48 Pan. Why hell, she even knows what a Linkert is. I am truly a lucky guy. And by the way, she’s a blonde!

Bikernet.com Extreme Panhead Tech Chart

Regular Stuff

Owner:George Kohler
City/State:Yorba Linda, Ca.

Builder: Owner
City/state: Same
Fabrication:Owner
Welding: Owner
Machining: Phil’s Speed Shop — Orange, Ca. & Owner

Engine

Year: ‘48
Make: Harley-Davidson
Model: EL, Panhead, FIRST YEAR!!
Displacement: 74 cu. In.
Builder or( Rebuilder): Phil’s Speed Shop—Orange, Ca.
Cases: Stock
Case finish: Garnet bead blast
Barrels: Cast Iron, FLH
Bore: .010 over
Pistons: Weisco 9:1 compression
Barrel finish: Satin black heat paint
Lower end: Stock , Balanced
Stroke: Stock, Eccel 3 hole crank pin
Rods: Stock
Heads: ’65 Pan w/ outside oiler, custom roller rockers
Head finish: Garnet bead blast
Valves and springs: Rowe “black coated” valves, S&S valve springs, Rowe Teflon seals & Rowe cast iron valve guides
Pushrods: Andrews Aluminum
Cams: Leinweber “ L3S “
Lifters: + .005 Solids, S&S oil pump
Carburetion: S&S Super ‘E’
Air cleaner: S&S teardrop
Exhaust: Paugho up-sweeps, with 32” fish tail extensions
Mufflers: If it’s too loud, your too old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other: Hand made rubber mounts for up-sweeps

Transmission

Year: ‘48
Make: Stock
Gear configuration: Andrews close ratio set
Final drive: Chain
Primary: diamond cover W/ Primo belt & 5 stud clutch hub
Clutch: Barnett “Kevlar”

Frame

Year: ‘48
Make: Stock H.D.
Style or Model: Rigid, Wishbone
Stretch: Why ruin a good thing?
Rake: Wouldn’t dare cut her
Modifications: Lot’s of Prep before powder paint

Front End

Make: Stock H.D., w/ Original casting #’s
Model: Springer
Year: Last year for the springer, ’48
Length: Perfect
Mods: Lots of metal prep before chrome

Sheet metal

Tanks: 5 Gallon Fat Bob’s W/ Pingel high flow petcock
Fenders: Hinged “48, rear only
Oil tank: H.D. Horseshoe

Paint

Sheet metal: Powder paint, hand wet sanded then clear coated
Base coat: ‘Pepper Red’
Graphics: Not her style
Frame: ’48 Pan
Molding: Not her style either
Base coat: Gloss black
Type: Powder paint
Graphics or art:
Special effects:
Pinstriping:

Wheels

Front
Make: Wheel Work’s, Spoke
Size: 21”
Brake calipers: In ’48?
Brake rotor(s): Just wouldn’t look right
Tire: Dunlop 300×21 w/ Harley- Davidson Lettering

Rear
Make: Wheel Work’s, Spoke
Size: 16”
Brake calipers
Brake rotor: She’s got a chrome drum
Pulley: Nope, Sprocket & chain
Tire Dunlop 5.10×16 w/ Harley- Davidson Lettering

Controls

Foot controls: Stock Mech. Brake pedal. Clutch pedal is shifting pedal and bracket assembly from a late panhead modified.
Finish: Chrome
Master cylinder: No juice on this baby
Brake lines: Steel rod’s and clevises
Handlebar controls: Throttle
Finish: Chrome
Clutch Cable: Steel rod
Brake Lines solid steel rods, mechanical rear brake
Shifting: Suicide, W/ ratchet top trans lid
Kickstand: Sure

Electrical

Ignition: E-2000 Electronic, inside stock dist. And Rev-Tek wires
Ignition switch: Stock
Coils: Rev-tech high output
Charging: Generator W/ built in regulator
Wiring: Phil’s speed shop Orange, Ca.
Harness: Hidden
Headlight: 7” Round, halogen bulb
Taillight: Original Delco-Remy “Tombstone”
Electrical accessories: Horn
Switches: Head light and horn mini switches mounted in coil cover
Battery: 12-Volt Mini

What’s Left

Seat: K- model Sportster solo
Mirror(s): Round 3”
Gas caps: Stock, nothing fancy.
Handlebars: 24” apes
Grips: Stock H.D., Late Panhead
Pegs: H.D. floorboards
Oil filter: custom spin on, w/ Filter Magnet
Oil cooler: ’59 Cadillac power steering
Oil lines: Stock chrome steel
Fuel filter: Of course!
Fuel Lines: cloth covered rubber
Throttle cables: Long
Fasteners: Hex, Button head & socket head

Comments:I wanted to re-create the look, feel and attitude of a time in life gone by. A much simpler and un-cluttered time. Remember, LESS IS MORE !!!. No remote controlled air ride suspension, No billet wheels, No flush mount LED lighting and No Ostrich skin Gel seats. Hell, you didn’t even need a computer to re-adjust your fuel mixture when you changed pipes. You simply re-jetted. Suicide shift, Diamond primarys, Mechanical drum brakes, Rigid frames, Solo seats, Ape hangers and Springer front ends have all earned themselves a special place not only in the history of motorcycling, but also, in our hearts. Like Bi-planes, old Duesenberg’s and Ed “BIG DADDY” Roth…they’re just cool man !!!!!!!!!!

Credits:I want to thank the following wizards for the magic they performed to make my dream a reality!

Phil@ Phil’s Speed Shop-Orange, Ca.

Mike and Joe@ Nu-Tec Powder Coating-Anaheim, Ca.

Dave and Gary@ Wheel Works-Garden Grove, Ca.Dennis Webb@ Webb Designs- Anaheim, Ca.

Ken Thurm@ Kendon Industries- Anaheim, Ca.

Andy and Joe@ The Balance Shop- Santa Ana, Ca.

“Attach is the spec sheet and my ramblings on about the build,” said Mike Tomas, the boss of Kiwi Indian. “It's probably more like a diary, but if I pass this along to you it might help with your story and give you some insight or ideas.

I like to keep things professional in terms of the article and portrayal of Kiwi.It's a hard grind being a bit narrow minded and with a passion for Indian motorcycles, however I do love them and their classic timeless styling.”

“My whole philosophy behind my build is what Ford did with the Mustang, classic styling blended with modern engineering. For once in my life I believe that I have something that is somewhat mainstream (that people will get) and does justice to a past American classic. I have been mentioning it as the 1st retro American motorcycle.”

The following is an account of building the 1st true retro styled production American motorcycle. It is not meant to offend anyone but to show the challenges and rewards of building such a bike. I like to be honest about things and the only way I can convey this message is by being honest and not sugar coat things for everyone to enjoy.

Sturgis 2007 was a boomer week for the Kiwi crew, not only did we win quite a few awards with our motorcycles but we attended several industry events which is always exciting. One of the 1st industry functions we attended was S&S gathering on Monday evening where they announced they were selecting 10 bike builders to build a bike from the1st 10 X-Wedge engines off the production line to commemorate their 50th anniversary. Wow, I thought how exciting it would be being involved with such an icon company in which Kiwi Indian Motorcycle Co could show off our talents which would move it towards our next phase of motorcycling, designing and building complete productionable motorcycles.

My dream for quite some time has been to build modern Retro styled classic American motorcycles to complement our other Kiwi motorcycles. After making it known to S&S of my dream bike at Sturgis (early Aug 07), I got a surprise call Thurs Aug 16 from Brett Smith, President of S&S and Michael Scalleta saying I had been selected to be 1 of the 10. A short while later I received a follow up official letter written by Brett which stated, “Mike you wanted it, you got it.” Little does he know but that note meant a lot to me. My reply was thank you and I will not let you down.

S&S also announced they had five engine classes which would encompass a total of 50 builders with a grand prize of $50,000.00, however in my mind we were already a winner just to have selected to be one of the builders and the $50,000.00 did not mean a thing.

No words could explain how I felt at the time to have been recognized by such and Icon Company as it felt as though it was a whole new beginning for Kiwi Indian Motorcycle Co, and I appreciated being given the chance to participate. All too often I find this Harley aftermarket business very narrow minded and most in it cannot deviate from the usual style builds and builders, so being given an opportunity to inject something new, different and of past historical significance always excites me.

Needless to say the next day I already had a plan put together of the general layout and design of our motorcycle.S&S X-Wedge engine is a totally new platform engine and not related to anything existing on the market. I got word of the X-Wedge just before the Cincinnati V-Twin Expo (dealer trade show) in Feb '07 and my first thoughts were that it was just another ho hum (unexciting) Harley derivative engine. However upon following it up, I found out that it was far from that, a whole new fresh design, which I feel is what our industry so badly needs. I made it THE point to have at the top of my list of to do’s at Cincinnati and I attended every seminar put on about the X-Wedge, so I could fully understand the engine. In a nut shell it is a 56-1/4 degree air cooled V-Twin engine with an automotive style crank and rods utilizing plain bearings with a high performance Chevy 454 top end designed to meet future EPA emissions standards, absolutely marvelous. In all honesty S&S has taken the lead in the V-Twin engine design which in my mind now dates most of the Harley based V-Twin designs. When we look back in time some years down the road, this engine will be a defining engine in the world of American made V-Twins.

I also noticed an interesting phenomena taking place in the V-Twin market over many years which is Harley’s need quite a bit of money spent on them after they are bought from the dealer in order to get them to run half ways decent. We’re all told it's due to the new emissions standards, however I see it more as a cheap cop-out by the Motor Co. to avoid re-engineering their product better to make it better.

I understand tradition as that’s also where I come from, specializing in Indians most of my working life (30 years to this point) but one has to have an open mind to all motorcycles and ask why is it that you can buy a foreign made motorcycle, for example a “Star” (Yamaha Harley knock off) motorcycle and ride it without spending any extra dollars in performance up grades.

I believe many people will be asking the same questions as time goes on and Harley will see the results. On the other hand one would hope not too many look at other brands as Harley's antiquatedness fuels a big aftermarket industry which Harley despises. I feel a famous brand name, pushing American made and a trendy life style product can only work for so long and eventually the consumer gets to the point of being overdosed and checks out other manufactures and models of motorcycles which Harley needs to seriously keep in mind.

Kiwi Indian Motorcycle Company's mission is to make an American made, well engineered, reliable, easily serviceable, durable and classic retro styled motorcycles with true American tradition. This is now totally do-able with the S&S X-Wedge engine/Kiwi Indian m/c Co with S&S backing it, as this bike requires no aftermarket performance upgrades (and additional money). Kiwi is all about quality and durability while providing a uniquely different product. We aim to please and we don't come up short.

It was just a few years ago I was told that my motorcycles and products were not main stream by one of the top magazine editors in the US and that I would never be eligible for any industry recognition. That statement irked me so much, and even to this day I believe the reason many of us ride motorcycles (for me going back to my 1970s riding years) included not wanting to be mainstream. Now let's just take a short moment to look where all the mainstream chopper builders are, hmm, they're now chasing the trendy bagger market. Wow, original thinkers aren't they, building the SOS again. While there are some original thinkers in that market, most can't. Who gives a hoot about being mainstream. Someone in America must buck the bloody main stream trend. Main stream, FTH.

We received our mock up X-Wedge engine and one of the Kiwi Indian traits of our style is to have a compact power plant unit (engine, transmission, primary assembly). I have never cared for the Harley design with the transmission a ½ a mile behind the engine as my style is to keep the powerplant unit nice 'n' tight and compact in design. In one of the S&S sessions at Cincinnati I asked why they had not considered a combined unit (engine/tranny/primary in one case) like the Sportster, but the answer was that all the bike builders balked at it. To me most of the thinking here in America is keeping in the past and not pressing forwards and trying new things. I foresee great new designs if S&S would produce a unitized powerplant as it would allow a greater freedom for us designers.

One of the smartest engineers around is Alan Sputhe (Sputhe Engineering) and it didn’t take long for me to figure out that he was the man to have involved in our project. I visited Alan and we got along straight off the bat, and he took the time to show me some of his past designs and creations which assured me even further that he was a genius and a great guy to have involved. In my mind he's a man ahead of his time in many cases as some of the things that we see today in our market he did some 20 years ago. He's a man of not so many words but what he has designed and built within the V-Twin industry was truly amazing. He is one of the most overall smartest people within our industry that I have ever met.

Aug 22 the mail arrived and S&S formal confirmation, and I could not sign on the dotted line fast enough, even before reading all of the paperwork it got signed and faxed back. We’re gonna do it come hell or high water so why sweet the details.

The builder list showed 50 builders building bikes from across all of S&S engine platforms (Panhead, Shovelhead, Evo, etc) and only 10 selected to build a bike using their new X-wedge engine. Wow, I thought, this makes it even more coveted. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to create a masterpiece and I had my list of design requirements ready which was as follows:

Plunger rear suspension (classic style), seat post (comfort), traditional solo seat (comfort),18″ wheels (handling), PM Marquee wheels (style), Avon tires (the best), dual 10″ discs up front with dual 4 piston calipers (stopping power), compact powerplant (freedom of design), belt rear drive (smoothness and low maintenance), classic fenders and tanks (tradition), oil tank in front right gas tank (clean design), retro instrumentation (style), Kiwi frame and Kiwi Girder forks made in house (quality control).

Sept 07. James Clark of James Gaskets passed away suddenly of a heart attack. James was one of my closest personal friends and was the nicest guy in the American motorcycle industry. He owned a very successful manufacturing business manufacturing the highest quality gaskets for American motorcycles namely Harleys. His gaskets carried several patents and are the best gaskets money can buy, period.

Over the years of working with James we have been able to develop advanced sealing solutions for vintage Indian Motorcycles and both he and I grew to be close personal friends. He encouraged me to excel and think outside the box and when I told him of my new bike design utilizing S&S new X-wedge he got extremely excited and encouraged me to move forward with my dream. I discussed my design with him however my dream of him seeing it was cut short when he suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. This was quite an emotional set back for me as in my heart this bike had a lot of James in it. James was a class act, never took any lime light and was a visionary guy whom I could talk to about the industry and its inner workings. My back ground is vintage Indians and over the past 20 years I have designed and created around 2500 different part numbers for classic Indians so entering the modern American m/c industry posed some challenges; however most of the industry veterans already knew and respected me for what we did for Indian motorcycles. Our leaf spring forks were a major step for us in this market as they were instantly featured on all of the top builder’s bikes and new relationships were formed.

I believe in growing a company organically and for us that has been manufacturing all the individual parts to a motorcycle whether it be a brackets, speedometers, ignition switches, gauges, wheels, brakes, handlebar controls, tanks, fenders, engines, transmissions, forks, frames, etc, we’ve done it all organically one part at a time. I love the modern industry for its excitement and opportunities. RIP my good friend James Clark.

Nov 07. We finally got our mock up engine back from Alan Sputhe as he was grafting up his mock up compact tranny to it. This was step one which would now allow us to set it in our frame jig so we could start bending our straight tubing that has been hanging around for a while. We generally do everything ourselves, our own way and we don't mislead people in believing that we actually make stuff and actually build bikes from scratch. The thing that irks me the most in this industry is how people can lie about what they actually make.

Once the engine was set upon our frame table we noticed the X-Wedge front and rear engine mounts were at different heights and upon questioning the S&S folks we were unable to get the information that we needed. For some odd reason the difference was not a standard fractional size which concerned me more than anything; however we sat the engine mounts on machinist blocks and figured it out the old fashioned way. At least we knew we were right on and it was a starting point.

Dec 3, 2007 we shaped the front frame down tubes which were tack welded into place.

Dec 5, I had a change of gears as to the front end. Kiwi is known to be different and rather than build the usual front end (hydraulic or leaf spring), we wanted to go with something different and something with style that we could add to our product line of offerings. Mind you my good friend Brian Klock did have something to do with convincing me, so I had Christian Dotson draw up a quickie sketch of what our bike would look like with a Kiwi Girder on it.

Christian is an awesome designer and he whipped out a few drawings, one of which also had our Leaf Spring forks. It was so cool, too. There's a couple of cool dudes right there.

Early Dec I ran into a guy at the Long Beach Cycle show whom I have known of for years who is a master shock expert, Gil from Works Performance Shocks. I explained to him that I wanted to have a hydraulically dampened conventional plunger rear end, and he immediately got all pumped up and started drawing things out on a piece of scrap paper. Up to this point the frame was sort of bent up on our frame table but the tube ends at the rear plungers were open. Meeting up with Gil made me feel confident in that aspect of the project.

James Simonelli from S&S has always been a huge help with our projects, no matter what question I had. He either had the answer on hand or researched it for us in a very timely fashion even calling me back at 11pm his time with an answer. I can't speak highly enough about James as he is an awesome individual and a huge asset to S&S.

A while ago Chopper Dave built a bobber with an X-Wedge for S&S to introduce it to the Japanese market at the Mooneyes show in late Nov. I had a few questions and Dave went out of his way to assist going so far as saying that his bike will be back next week so come on down and do anything you want with it and take it for a ride. It was a very generous offer indeed and it's great to have great mates in low places.

To date (Dec 13) our finished motor had still not arrived. We found out that our special request of powder-coating the cylinders and parts of the heads black threw a spanner in the works at S&S, so James Simonelli took it upon himself to handle our special request. One of our aims with this engine was to simulate the vintage era like on our Kiwi flathead engines. From what I heard most of the other builders had their engine but we didn’t, which in all honesty was no big deal since we had a mock up to work with.

We drew sketches of how we wanted the cylinders and fins to look, and James carried out our wish. I can’t speak favorably enough about James.

Dec 18: The frame backbone was now fabricated and a 180 rear tire was our choice, up from a 150. Our rear fender had to be widened to accommodate our new tire. To me a 180 tire makes a bike have a little attitude but without sacrificing handling, since my aim was to balance looks and handling. I find so many bikes don't handle because builders and buyers just don’t know what a motorcycle or motorcycling is all about. I might be raving on, but the motorcycle industry is in a market correction and getting rid of the crap that has been built over the last few years which is a good thing and the cream is rising to the top.

Rule #1 for a motorcycle is it has to go around corners, so handling is important and I'd venture to say that was last on many of the custom bike builders lists. Never stray away from rule #1.

Mid Jan and our finished X-Wedge engine finally arrives. Fedex ground delivered it to our old shop address (12 miles away) which we had moved from five years ago and it took them five more working days to have it redirected just 12 miles away to our current address. It became a joke talking with Fedex each day so much so, that I jokingly asked how long does it take for a 215 lb package to get delivered 12 miles?

When the engine finally arrived it was outstanding to say the least. Our custom powder coated mat black cylinders/heads and polished combo made the engine classically outstanding. While it did take S&S/James quite a bit to get it the way we wanted it, it sure as hell was well worth the effort and wait.

I ordered up the blank rear fender pieces from a friend in the business that makes the fenders for the vintage bikes. The fender I ordered was much a blank stamping meaning the crown and skirts were straight out of the stamping dies with little trimming and the skirts were not welded to the crown nor was the chain guard cut out fabricated.

When the fender parts arrived we got the bill which was expected as we did not ask for anything free, however we were all stunned at the cost, 50 bucks less than a completely finished off one, that's a 15% discount, whippy bloody do, you just got to be kidding for just fender stampings!!!

He sells a completed rear fender meaning, stamped, trimmed, welded, drilled, chain guard cut out and mounting tabs fitted all finished and ready for final paint for $50.00 more. Upon discussing this on several occasions to give him every chance to rectify it, all I got was, “Well if I sell you an unfinished fender then I loose a sale on a completed one.” Give me a break and get real!!! I've helped this friend out many times over the years especially when he couldn’t find parts for his own personal bikes, so I’d loan him the parts out of my personal collection so he could keep on rolling with his projects. I also started his tank program using one of my venders, sacrificing my own tanks as guinea pigs and organizing the tooling to make it all happen along with countless hours on my part all to help a friend out. Since this is a pretty high profile and unique build, one would think it would be a perfect opportunity to have ones product featured on it but some people just can't see the forest because of the bushes, ah well, his loss.

I'm happy to have some other very cool companies involved in this project. I just like companies to work with us in a favorable way so that we can still remain friends and neither one gets hurt, it's that plain and simple. It needs to be Win-Win. Since this has been published the guy has taken offence to this however this is not intended to embarrass anyone, but is a chronicle of the build, its trials, tribulations and honest goings on.

It's no wonder I build more and more stuff myself, as I can do without the drama. I find life is all about relationships but some just don't get it. It's fun building them and if it had not been for building relationships over the years, our business or products would not have been as successful.

March 18, and we’re finished with a bike we built for David Letterman. The bike build was a major transformation of turning a 2002-2003 Gilroy era Indian Chief into looking like Steve McQueen's replica 1940 Indian Chief. It was a major undertaking as nobody had ever done it before, but it gave us a chance to transform a so-so Indian into something stunning.

To me the Gilroy era Indians had quite a few issues in design which gave me a good inside view of what not to build into our bike.

Late March we had hammered out the final design and dimensions for the Kiwi Girder front end. Tiny our master machinist must have been dreaming every night about how to machine up all the little bits and pieces that go into our front end, since once he got on the lathe and mill, he got cranking and out popped some beautiful pieces of art.

Girder front ends are nothing new but many just seem to miss the design and style aspect of them. I love tapered and oval tubing, as it reflects art and craftsmanship from a bygone era which is what I wanted to implant into this bike build. Girders are cool if they are built right and their design has to be done right, plus they have their place on certain models of motorcycles and I feel this one was appropriate for our bike, classic styling for a classic bike.

My hero in design is Mr Briggs Weaver, former Chief designer at Indian. I absolutely admire this guy as he was the man directly responsible for bringing style to American motorcycles in the mid 1930s and then again in 1940.

Mar.28, 08 felt like a big day as we made major progress in making all the front end parts so much so that we were able to begin to mock up the front end and see what it was going to look.

April 5, This whole week we worked late and most of Saturday fabricating the front end, so we could see if the bike would sit level and have the right overall look. The rear end also had a lot of engineering involved in it as it had been upgraded to modern hydraulic shocks within the existing spring/plunger rear end.

The rear wheel pulley had to run in alignment with the transmission output pulley (obviously) which is basic and a no brainer, however my requirement included using a classic styled chain guard. While this sounds easy it was far from that. So far it took a lot of engineering and fabricating, however it was taking shape and looking like it captured the looks of the classic American motorcycle I was after.

Fabricating things from scratch was no small feat and while some people design bikes on CAD, I prefer the simplicity of a rough drawing, some basic dimensions and good old fashioned hands-on fabrication. That's where Mader and Travis rock as they are both excellent at it. I will agree that CAD does have its advantages, but I still like the simplicity of doing some things the old fashioned way in life. What we’re capturing here and creating is a true part of the past of American motorcycle manufacturing by true hands of skilled craftsman.

4/22/08. Time was ticking by and I had my eye on a finish date which was making me nervous. When designing a bike from the ground up there is sure to be set backs, however they are all under control (I think at this stage). The rear shocks were true shocks and were hydraulically dampened. The design incorporating the hydraulics into an existing design was quite challenging, costly and time consuming. Fortunately, Gil at Works Shocks was an outstanding guy and accepted this challenge and made sure it succeeded all the way through. A true industry professional.

Late April: I’m still not out of hot water with the rear drive, as I was not used to working with a rubber band rear drive. I like chains and I just might end up using a chain for this masterpiece even though my goal was to run a belt. To me chains can be cut and made to any length right on the spot, but belts only come in certain lengths with limited variations at that (at least when it comes to narrow belts). Pulley sizes vary belt length and to me there just doesn’t seem to be much adjustability especially when I wanted to run a 20mm wide belt.

Ah well, we’ll just had to see how all of this works out. I have nothing against chain drive as they are reliable, offer good design flexibility and when good components are used, nice and smooth.

May, 08 the 20mm (3/4″) wide belt was dropped in favor of a 1-1/8 which was offered in many lengths and would still fit within our chain guard, well I guess it's officially called a belt guard now.

I wanted the tanks to have classic styling and Travis and Justin started beating on some sheet metal until the correct shape was created. Sheet metal working is a fine craft and we don’t get along, so I have no quibbles about leaving it to these 2 experts. Hell, even Tiny stepped up to the plate and helped in the sheet metal fabrication dept.

Electronic fuel injection is totally new for me but after seeing Bazza working with it on modern American bikes on his side of the business (modern Harley servicing), I am very comfortable with what it brings to the table in terms of being fully custom programmable and reliable. Designing a way to capture the fuel pump into the tank and making it easily removable for servicing made us all scratch our heads and after a few tries we hit on something that we felt would work. One of the things that needed to be addressed when welding sheet metal is warpage and welding some sort of a fuel pump base into the tank and having it seal up afterwards was a challenge, but we got the job accomplished and we can now offer builders a tidy unit for them to weld into their tanks.

Our oil tank was designed into the front right side of the right side tank. This has several advantages as it keeps the oil cool since air is moving over it and the gas in the back part of the tank transfers some of the oil heat. Design wise it frees up room from the rest of the bike and three caps on the tanks are just plain cool and traditional.

Fenders have been fitted to the bike but a few days ago we had the bike mocked up with the fenders just propped up sitting on blocks of wood. What a moment that was, as it actually took on character for the first time. We fitted the wheels to the bike and the PM Marquee wheels I envisioned set the bike off so well. I was envisioning the curvature of the wheel spokes matching the cut of the fender skirts, which they come so awfully close when viewing the bike from its side.

I opted for 10” discs since my design was to mimic a drum brake diameter. Ten-inch just looked cool and showed off more of the beautiful wheel artwork. Dual disc brakes up front was the only way to go right from the start since about 70% of stopping is with the front brakes. Dual 4-piston calipers coupled to the dual 10” rotors should do the trick I reckon. Rear brakes were also 10” dia and only one was necessary.

With our proportioned front and rear fender widths we were able to tuck the brake calipers up under the fenders out of sight with plenty of room to spare. Having brake calipers hidden I believe adds to the bike's simplicity and cleanliness.

May10, 08: We had experimented with a new front shock from Progressive Suspension. All of this week I left phone messages and e-mailed notes, and I finally got a call back four days later. These guys make it tough to do business with them when you are designing something and need a dimension so as to keep things moving along and burning up a week is not acceptable in my book.

Eventually I got the fully compressed and extended dimensions that I was after and I went ahead and ordered up the shock for our front end. After unpacking it I worked the shock in and out a few times to prime it however it seemed to feel a bit strange at the fully extended position. I measured the shock at its fully extended position which was 3/8 shorter than what Progressive’s specifications call out for. I’m currently back to leaving phone and e-mail messages of what’s up? That 3/8-inch for this design is quite a lot to lose. We were assured this was an oops shock, however after receiving the 2nd shock, it too came up 3/8″ short…

I was going to make up our own turn signal lights but I came across some cool red lens arrowhead ones that would work nicely with our bike. I figured red is cool for the rear but since it’s illegal facing forwards we'd run amber or clear ones. After contacting the manufacturer (3 emails, 3 phone calls over 4 days finally a call back) we were told that they do not make them in any other color other than red. I asked about them being illegal facing forwards, and he acknowledged that I had a good point. He suggested knocking out the red lens, which was actually easier said than done, as it's molded directly into the housing. Removing it would most likely damage the entire unit. Some of the things that bug me about the American custom bike parts scene is sometimes its lack of thought of the legality or proper designing of parts all the way through. Wouldn’t someone want a matching set of front and rear turn signals on their bike and be legal?

I ended up opting for some cool Kuryakyn retro styled lights which they were very kind and professional to work with. No drama, that's where it's at, just send me the cool lights that are legal. I believe we as motorcycle professionals, leaders, designers and manufacturers need to provide a motorcycle that is well engineered and designed with parts that meet legal requirements weather it be DOT or environmental. Whether we like it or not it those rules are upon us and we need to step up and be good citizens of our industry and we need some leadership. I feel like I have been preaching to the choir for over 10 years now but when the Feds step in, the stuff really hits the fan and everyone is gonna scramble and it is coming. Being proactive and being a bit of a visionary surely doesn’t hurt but that's generally two words that are out of place in our industry.

Some years ago I met Perry Sands (Performance Machine) as he had an Indian Chopper in his younger days and he was thinking about building another one. Perry took the time to show me his facility and I was impressed with his wheel and brake testing. He actually had a testing section that would punish the parts in an extremely harsh environment making them meet very strict European TUV requirements. That department within his company has never left my mind. I have yet to see any other company devote anything close to what Perry did. So when it came to the wheels and brakes, PM was my logical choice. Some time earlier I had worked on one of the bosses of MAG group (who owned PM) 1950 Indian Chief and it was a disaster bike that had been jacked up. I had to do a lot of work to the bike in order to straighten it out, and I felt the only way either of us could come out of it was to trade out when the time came. This was the time, and upon contacting Perry he was right there and came through, hence the quality PM components on this bike. Thank you so much Perry. I have to thank Rick also for walking me through the selection process and making sure all my wishes were mated up correctly with the appropriate mating parts.

May 24, '08, Saturday, Memorial weekend. During the week we had a nice surprise visit from Trevelen of Super Company who just happened to pop in. Trevelen is also building a bike for S&S 50th in the Panhead class and he was amazed at our build and how much work we had done to get it this far.

That week we had an Aussie show up to work for us. Shaun comes highly recommended by the Aussie Heavy Duty magazine guys so as soon as he and his wife got off the ship in Long Beach they headed to Riverside and he got stuck right in and went to work on the bike. Mader was supposed to work today but had girlfriend problems. Travis and Shaun picked up the pace and opted to work Sunday so at least items were still rolling forwards. All I can see is the finish line and we’ve got a long way to go yet and not much time.

The finished transmission and hydraulic clutch had still not arrived yet from Sputhe. All of this was a major set back as it should have been finished months ago. Trying to keep people to a timeline with a target date (which I initially moved up for safety sake) should have given us a margin, but here we were in limbo. This was the deal, S&S asked me to be in this build and I gave Brett Smith my promise, “That I will not let him down,” and being a Kiwi, I will not let him down no matter what.

If a man can’t stand by his word then he stands for nothing. By hook or by crook we would come thru but the tranny delay was just plain frustrating and holding up other fabrication around it. Our chain guard was a related fit up item so until the hydraulic clutch is fitted, the guard cannot be set in place as its fit is directly related to the rear fender. Even though at this point it was set in place, the hydraulic slave system had the final say in the guards final resting place. We’re using a Sputhe 5-speed tranny that has been rotated onto its side for compactness and the shifter comes out the bottom which is near the belt.

I could see we were going to face some fancy work. Without the tranny we’re unable to fit the gear shifter mechanism and pedal, foot boards, rear brake control and exhaust system, why because we don’t even have our retro classic styled inner primary cover to give us the spacing. We did receive our outer cover in the meantime and it just approximated the fit and it looks so swell, actually bitchin' cool as Alan did an awesome job on it.

I called our painter Josh to keep him abreast of our progress or more like the lack of it. The final bit of tank fabrication would be complete tomorrow (Sunday) so we can at least have it and the front fender in his hands. We needed the tanks done pronto as they had to go to Monte Moore (Maverick Custom Paint) in Colorado for him to do the custom Chieftain logo graphics which Ronnie Martinez designed up for us. Monte is a good friend and he does all of Lucas Films Star Wars promo stuff, so if you see any cool Star Wars posters, it’ll be one of his. Both guys rock in my book.

The tranny delay was frustrating as it just left so many things hanging that we needed to finish now. It was the one section of the bike that we were not in control of, which for us was odd. We’re used to building everything, engine, tranny, pri, clutch, forks, frames, wheels, handlebar controls, speedo, well, everything ourselves, and not having the finished tranny in our hands was a problem. Something told me that I'll be paying some hefty overnight UPS charges to get it here in time.

At least the tank was done. Paddy from P&A Lyons CNC'ed our fancy fuel injection pump plate for the bottom of the tank. Paddy is a Pommy guy (Englishman) and is funny as hell. He's short and just sort of shuffles his feet along the ground and he is an awesome machinist when it comes to busting out stuff quickly on a CNC, he's our man. Most parts that we made for this bike we have made ourselves on our own manually operated mill and lathes, but there is a time and place for CNC and Paddy is the go-to guy for us. The thing that frustrates me about some outside machinists is the drama involved with making some things we design. I'm very familiar with what CNC equipment is capable of; but some machinists are drama queens when it comes to thinking outside the box. I've designed and re-engineered over 2500 different part numbers for Indian motorcycles over the past 20 years, and I have had to understand the engineering and manufacturing process on every single part no matter what it is on a motorcycle. Having done this repeatedly has given me a great insight into understanding how the old time engineers, back at the Indian factory did it some 60 plus years ago. My favorite line is when someone tells me it can't be done is, “Now let's see, they did this back in 1935 and you're telling me that we can't do it today.” Or “Let's see, we put a man on the moon in the '60s but we can't do this today.” It renders them speechless and makes them think in reality terms.

For me I'm up to a challenge and I like results, “Give me results, not excuses.” For that reason I like short little Pommy Paddy. All he does is look out the corner of his eye and say,”bloody Kiwi's.”

Thank you, I'll take that as a compliment mate. The fuel injection plate which the pump must sit on is designed to be an independent removable platform that will allow the pump to be easily removed should it ever need servicing yet be properly sealed until such time. It was quite a challenge, since the outer portion that the panel recesses into the tank has to be made rigid when it is welded in place. There could be no distortion and the removable panel will seal without any problems. Between the welded in plate and the panel we designed in a groove for an O-ring to sit into it to handle sealing. The O-ring is made from Viton and is impervious to most chemicals including all the different formulations of gas across the country. Viton is expensive but the cheaper neoprene will come up short and we're after reliability and durability.

After everything was welded into place, the tank was pressure tested and another job was done and put to bed.We had a design change to the engine oiling side. I like hard copper lines about 3/8-inch diameter as they relate to my traditional classic era of building motorcycles, however with such a tall engine and a clean build, the oil lines were going to look long and out of place.

We were in contact with S&S over flow rates and oil capacities as they have stringent requirements to ensure we used the correct size oil lines. Once again it was important to consult with them. Generally a lot of new stuff uses 1/2″ diameter lines but 1/2″ copper lines and fittings are hideously large and ugly especially coming down from the front right side gas tank. What I like about the boys at S&S is that they are true professionals, know their stuff and deal with facts. With our brainstorming sessions they were able to give me some testing scenarios that they had experienced, and a green light was given, which I could rest assured that I had complete confidence in. I like to deal with facts and go straight to the source. so as I can have complete confidence in the answer. Gotta hand it to S&S and I really appreciate the time each engineer has taken with us over each technical aspect.

With these facts now in hand we decided to use the right frame rail as the feed transfer tube and the left frame rail for the return. How this works is the feed line comes out the bottom of the right side tank and connects to the nipple welded into the frame near the neck. The point the feed line exits the frame is under the transmission near the inlet for the engine. Not only will this be a clean set-up but it will also allow for added oil volume which is what S&S kept preaching to me, plus it will allow for added cooling even though our right side gas tank will control the bulk of it. The left frame rail oil inlet is near the outlet point of the engine and its exit point is just under the frame neck with a short tube taking it back to the tank.

The tank and engine breathing uses the frame back bone to do the transferring which avoids external tubes or hoses. A drain plug was installed at the lowest point of the back bone near the seat post should any oil accumulate and need draining.

Our frame was a tad over engineered but I like it to be structurally sound since it is the main platform everything is built off. The tubing we opted for was DOM with a 1-1/4 OD and a heavy wall thickness since this would not only be structurally sound but also soak up engine vibration even though we have been told by S&S that this is a very smooth engine. I'm also figuring in that the oil running through the frame will also act as a vibration dampener. At 74 pounds, it's not that bad at all. I remember picking up one of the newly manufactured Indian frames that came out of the Gilroy era of Indian and it darn near gave me a hernia, and that was without the swing arm attached, so all in all I was happy at 74 lbs.

Rear fender braces will be installed tomorrow and we figured they could be mounted to the inside of the rear portion of the fender rather than the outside which will make it a lot cleaner. The rear fender has to be triangulated braced for adequate bracing in order to prevent it from cracking due to vibration and road pounding. Everything we constructed from the get- go was designed around a serviceability stand point and secondly with a production view point. Serviceability is something that is quite often overlooked in bike builds. My background came from the automotive/big rig/heavy equipment industry plus my father had quarries and construction equipment which all needed servicing. no matter how well it was built. Anything mechanical wears and will need attention sooner or later, so I feel everything has to be easily accessible.

Something simple like removing the rocker covers, must be accomplished with ease hence the gap we have built in between the rocker boxes and frame rail. I just can’t believe any builder would expect someone to drop the engine just to yank rocker boxes. Likewise with the fuel injection pump, it too had to be accessible at any given time.

Here I am again cursing the bloody tranny guy, as it should have been here. I’m sure glad Travis and Shaun are coming in Memorial day weekend (Sat and Sun) to kick things into overdrive.

May 29, 08: The tranny was still not in the shop, but the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder arrived next day air today. It's a tight compact unit designed by Alan Sputhe which fitted behind our already prefitted chainguard. Now that the chainguard has been finalized we could go about finishing off the exhaust to give it its classic style, foot boards, brake and shifter controls. We opted for a more standard and heavy duty width belt of 1-1/8-inch. Another thing to consider is the ease of fitting replacement parts since this is a productionable bike and if something should go wrong at 100,000 miles, the customer must be able to get parts easily.

As a side note and something I’d like to point out, James Clark and Alan Sputhe were very instrumental in getting things started for me. I’m a vintage guy working with modern American V-Twins is something completely new to me. Ask me anything about a classic Indian carburetion, electrical, engine, tranny, drum brakes, generators, a clunking noise, etc and I’ll know it up one side and down the other. Being thrown in at the deep end and asked to swim with a modern V-Twin with fuel injection would not have been possible without these two gentlemen. James died but a few weeks later on Sept 11, which left a big hole in my heart as he was a dear friend, confidant, business adviser, long term visionary and industry insider.

Fortunately we covered what I felt was one of the most important parts which was the heart of this project, the transmission.

Saturday, May30, '08 and we were behind. We had a meeting Friday to discuss the weekends plans and everybody was on board. It was taking quite a bit to figure out the rear brake foot control since there are a lot of things in this area that have to be taken into account, plus different designs in master cylinders for proper placement. The footboards on this bike pivot so if the bike were leaned over into a corner too far they will pivot upwards which requires the brake pedal to be in such a position so when this should happen the footboards will not interfere with the brake operation. These are the things that have to be taken into consideration for safe operation.

Finally Saturday at midnight a rear brake control was finally mocked up. The trick will be on Sunday to see if the engine can be removed from the motorcycle with all the brackets on the bike, hopefully with help. Travis came in on Sunday which was a big help and he took my mock up, right side brake, master cylinder unit mock up assembly and footboard assembly and made it permanent. With the inner and outer primary covers now here and bolted on we can sort out the foot shifter assembly.

Monday, June 2, and we're working late which will be all of this week. Around 8:00 p.m. I get a call from my roadie girlfriend Marilyn Stemp. Marilyn was at Drag Specialties dealer showcase in MO having a Jeiger Meister with my good friend Brian Klock. They had time to chit chat while Mader and I were knee deep in sorting out some engineering challenges or more like fighting them. If that ain't enough, Bert Baker and Tom Motsko had to get on the line to chat too. Thanks guys, must be nice to kick back and rub some salt into our wounds.

Brian sent me a cool text message today of Bert's Bike, Bert Baker for president, Fab Kevin for VP, pretty cool indeed. Aussie Shaun turned up at around 3:00 pm which was a welcome sight. We originally made our handlebars from 1-inch OD tubing, however they looked a little small in relation to the rest of the front end. We bent up another set out of 1-1/8 which suited the bike fine, even though this is an odd size for motorcycles as everyone opts for 1-1/4 which I'm not a fan of. The controls we were using are very high end and come with all the wiring, switches assembled. They are not genuine Harley or typical aftermarket controls. While pricey, they were extremely high quality with switches and master cylinders that actually work straight out of the box, no farting around like some of the aftermarket crap. Cheap ass import crap usually infuriates me even though the majority seem to opt to use it. If a job is worth doing, then just do it once by doing the job properly the first timeby using good quality stuff. End of story.

I have to make special mention of my wife Carolyn and Son Ross. They realized the time gobbled into this bike and everyday Carolyn dropped off dinner for me. I ended up ordering fast food delivered for the guys, as they're into that stuff, but it sure is nice to have a regular meal every night. Carolyn and Ross have seen me burn the midnight oil before on a few occasions but the last time we burned this much was when we developed the World's first replica Indian m/c back in 2003.

June 5, '08. Everything was out for powder coat and chrome plating and will be done tomorrow at noon time. Ah, I love good professional suppliers that step right up. We all knocked off work at 5:00 which felt odd. I even had dinner at home with my family.

June 6, '08: Picked up the tanks from paint to ship off overnight to Monte. The frame and parts were done at the powder coater at noon and likewise with the chrome. I dropped one lot of chrome off Wed which was going to be done today (Fri) and another larger lot off Thursday figuring that would be done Mon or Tue. When I arrived, on the counter sat ALL of my parts, all done. WOW, this was a big deal and would help us out so much. I guess we had our weekend cut out for us.

June 7,'08 Sat: Since late Fri we have been stewing over the finish of the front fork assembly. Traditional it was going to be black on everything up front and now that everything was powder coated, I was picturing it in my mind and I've got some reservations about it and it would now seem to look better in chrome.

Just by chance late Sat afternoon my good mate and designer extraordinaire Brian Klock calls to see what's up. Good timing there mate, here's my dilemma which he replies, bling it out, chrome it. Brian in my book is one of the best custom bike builders in the industry who can apply himself to anything and make it kick ass, plus he is no doubt the nicest and most humble guy around. I would be on the chromer's door step first thing Monday begging for a quick turn around. I really like chromers Pacific Polishing as they get the job done without any drama and above all perfect the first time.

June10, '08 Tue: I set a goal and discussed with the guys that by Wed 18th the bike would be riding up and down the road. Probably quite ambitious since it's only 7 days away but everything is pretty much ready to rock and roll other than a few pieces at chrome and our darn transmission, primary and clutch. The drive train was supposed to be on UPS and we've agreed to meet our driver Martin anywhere first thing in the morning in order to get it sooner. We're chomping at the bit since everything starts with the engine and the tranny. We've had a few parts going to our chrome platter Pacific Polishing on a daily basis which I've been running the parts back and forth on my 1953 Chief including the forks strapped across the rear luggage rack and the other parts in the saddlebags.

Pacific Polishing is a 50-mile round trip and with gas at almost 4.50/gal for regular I run my bike as much as possible as it gets between 35-40 mpg. Usually I run parts around in my 1950 Chief sidecar rig which is real handy as I can throw a ton of stuff in it and I never have to worry about things having to be strapped on properly. Even it gets around 35 mpg. I really like the guys at Pacific Polishing and the father and son owners Jose and Joe are two of the nicest guys I have ever done business with. I was in a pickle tonight as I forgot to give them a critical part for the forks and I couldn't get it to them until tomorrow afternoon, so Joe offered to drive out and pick it up at 7:00 pm. That was an extremely cool offer.

June 11, '08, Wed. Carolyn met our UPS driver Marteen at one of his first stops of the day (again) to get a jump start on the build. The engine and tranny fit like a glove. but we encountered a clearance problem between the engine pulley and cover. The pulley ran into the primary cover by 1/16-inch so we needed to mill it out in order to get the desired clearance.

The convenient thing about having all the right machinery at our place is that we can do anything at any given time with no drama or downtime. We didn't burn a late night this evening, however tomorrow night will be long as our last lot of chrome and forks are due in. I think today was the first day my '53 Chief didn't make a trip to the chromer. I did a mile per gal check on the old girl with 1/2 around town riding and the other 1/2 freeway and it pulled in 40 mpg, not bad for an old bike with primitive carburetion.

June 12, '08, Thursday: If I don't write the day next to the dates progression begins to blur. We picked up our final load of chrome for the bike and some main pieces enabled us to put the front end together. All of the parts turned out fantastic especially the fork legs. When everybody saw the fork legs all they could say was, “WOW.” These turned out super sweet and considering we made them from scratch ourselves I think everyone could really appreciate them all the more. Changing from power coat to chrome was a great move as it has highlighted our forks but above all it will look that much better against the peril cream and metallic maroon. It really is going to make the bike pop now.

Carolyn brought us a super dinner, roast pork with mashed potato and green beans.

I wanted to test the compatibility of the clutch slave cylinder to the master cylinder that we have as it has been bugging me from day-one as our master cylinder is different than what everybody else uses. Shaun hooked it up and my worst fears came true as it did not move the slave cylinder enough to fully release the clutch plates. We were out of our league here. There is a bore/stroke relationship in order for everything to work right and feel right too (light clutch pull). I'm now expected to figure out hydraulic stuff, like volume/bore/stroke stuff so here we go. After some figuring we spun up a sleeve on the lathe that had a smaller bore plus made a smaller piston to match. We pressed the sleeve into the existing slave cylinder in order to reclaim it.

This was all new territory for us but the little I know about this stuff is that the finish on the bore is very important otherwise fluid will leak by the seals. We finish sized the bore on our Sunnen honing machine and to get the super fine finish I wrapped some 1500 grit wet and dry sandpaper over the arbor to get a super fine almost burnished finish which is within .0001 of an inch (1/10 thousands of an inch). Last night Mader, Travis and Shaun put in a late one on the bike and to make matters a bit challenging, our usual business has to keep on rolling along as well, so our regular customers bikes need to be worked on. We had one nice lady Grace's 1947 Chief which she is due to leave for a trip back east which also includes S&S 50th. Her bike had to be going in order for her to pick it up Fridau (tomorrow). This meant working on these bikes as well as the X-wedge but the guys have a pretty good handle on the X-wedge at this stage. I found myself working on Grace's 47 Chief till 11pm. It's one of those bikes that has had quite a few different hands in it over the years which most people have meant well but just didn't really know much about things. It posed quite a challenge and burnt up so much time during the past week. I was determined to get it running right and finished tonight. It was a mess and the carburetor, intake manifold, oil pump, distributor and wiring had to be completely overhauled.

With so many hands being at it over many years I found it best to go back to square one pull the carby apart so that I knew for sure that it was rebuilt correctly. It had a multitude of problems and it's just a matter of finding and eliminating them one at a time. She fired up at 11:00pm and it purred like a kitten, about darn time too. Off to home and to bed for another long day tomorrow.

I found myself wide awake until about 3:00am. One can of Mountain Dew in the afternoon and I'm wired till the wee hours of the morning, bloody hell, I needed the sleep. Gotta be up at sparrows fart (real early) as usual in the morning. Everyone was happy with the progress yesterday, just gotta get the clutch slave cylinder figured out to be fully comfortable with where we're at. Dinner was Carolyn's left over cooked dinner which always tastes good.

June13, '08, Fri: Clutch slave cylinder is now complete and upon testing, the reduced bore diameter gave us the stroke we needed spot on. What I like about creating, engineering and building motorcycles is learning about new things. I'm not so much into battling stuff and figuring it out at the 11th hour. but this was a cool project to learn about that I can then apply it to future build projects.

General assembly took place and rolling right along. All I see at the handlebars is a whole bunch of wires hanging out and Shaun knee deep in it. I'm just glad it's his thing.

Forks are on as well as the rear wheel and belt drive. Paddy dropped off the engraved primary cover with our Kiwi logo now in it along with our Chieftain logo footboards, dang are they so sweat, Vidal picks up the foot boards and primary cover for polishing. We're looking good.

June14, '08, Sat: Picked up the sheetmetal from Josh at Nostalgia. Restyling and the colors look absolutely stunning together. The Kiwi metallic maroon looks so deep and luxurious combined with the Kiwi cream pearl. They just look so rich together. The tanks came in Saturday delivery from Monte, in Colorado and his graphics really compliment our bike. The modified clutch slave cylinder now gives us the required travel for the clutch to operate properly yet not be so heavy.

The rear fender has been fitted along with the belt guard and while the tanks have not had their final clear coatings applied, the motorcycle just looks so clean and elegant. It's taking shape in its final form and looking sooo friggen sweet, life is good.

Vidal turns up with the primary cover and footboards all polished up and they look magnificent. Vidal is a quiet guy and man can he polish, his work speaks for itself. When he delivers it there is no clean up required, no rouge, no crude, just clean as can be, now that's a man proud of his work.Sunday is Fathers Day and the guys opted to kick back and enjoy the day with their families. We're all happy and comfortable with where we're at. Tanks are dropped off to Josh for the final procedures.

June18, '08, Thurs: There has been a significant amount of process and we're almost ready to fire the bike up, but it's all the small details that take the majority of time. Aussie Shaun has been on the wiring for 3 full-long days and a lot of that is due to us using non traditional handlebar controls/switches. While it would have been a lot easier to use traditional controls, this bike is high end all the way and Shaun's perseverance is key.

Shaun, Travis and Mader have stuck to it late at night committed to produce the most kick ass retro American motorcycle that has ever been created. Shirley from Bad Ass Seats made our cool saddlebag that houses our battery and electrical parts/circuit breakers. Most recognize it as just being a saddlebag however it is far more than that plus it looks so cool. We supplied Shirley with a metal box that we fabricated and she applied her wonderful talents to create this masterpiece which is nothing short of outstanding. It is so gorgeous and she busted her butt once again on one of our projects.

We made some changes in the paint work that Josh worked so hard to do. I had mentioned to put a gold strip on the tank which is traditional however the gold was totally out of place so we needed to change it to silver with a black stripe next to it so as to break the transition up. Josh put in another two long days into the tank plus he did the final clear coat and polish and the tanks turned out nothing less than stunning.

We made a few running changed on some small parts that needed to be chrome plated and Pacific Polishing turned them around in 24 hours (once again). The seat we have is what we call our long distance “Comfort Ride” seat which I don't think needs any explaining.

This was the same seat I used on my vintage builds and long distance rider bikes and you will never ever get a sore butt no matter how many hours you put in the saddle. The seat post operates so smoothly that it provides that high-end luxurious smooth ride even over the roughest of roads. The exhaust system took quite a bit of creativity to look right and once chromed and fitted to the bike it was nothing less than stunning and its lines look so darn nice complimenting the rest of the bike.

Ronnie designed a new speedo face to reflect our Chieftain feel of the bike. I like to include these little details in a bike build as it reflects our attention to even the smallest of details and it's something the customer can appreciate.

June19, Thursday: Everyone was chipping away at the final loose bits and pieces that had to be done before we fire it up. We did fire it up, but it would only run for about 20 seconds or so and quit. Fortunately for computers we were able to figure out it was auto shutting off due to it not having a bank angle sensor fitted. We thought we had done the right thing by calling S&S, in which we were told that it was not needed. Another phone conversation, and we advised that it must be fitted. No biggie but it would have been nice to have known this a week ago rather than at the last minute. The bank angle sensor is a genuine OEM Harley dealership item and I was surprised that the dealer actually had it in stock. We then learned that it required a special plug which they did not have. A quick trip to the local electronics store and a bag full of parts might allow us to fabricate something up which we were able to do so. We weren't going to let a silly little electrical connection hold us back now. If we can build this whole motorcycle and come this far then we sure as hell can make one stupid plug connection which we did.

That evening we fried a speed sensor which caused a lot of smoke to billow out of the tranny breather. We found out that Harley changed it to run on 5v rather than 12v in 2004, hmm. That accounted for the smoke (and nasty smell). With each issue we went thru I like to use it as a learning experience and gain knowledge. like anything I'm unfamiliar with, I like to deal with the facts and to get to the facts means dealing direct with a good source which in this case was S&S which once again helped to get to the bottom of it. Another company that went over and beyond to help us out was Mike from Stinger Starters. I've used their starters before and this time I had some special requests due to our set up. Mike went out of his way, drove up, observed our situation, engineered a cool starter and came back to install it and make sure it all worked ok. That goes a long way in my book.

June 20, Friday: A few major set- backs today including on-going starter problems, which was not Stingers problem but Mike worked through them professionally. Mike knows starters and related parts as good as anyone and he put in many hours plus making us up a special starter to handle the X-Wedge sufficiently. I can't thank Mike enough for his expertise and dedication. I don't need another day like this.

My good friend Brian Klock called today just to say hi and get us through some challenges. He thought our problems were funny. His bike wasn't even close to being done. He wasn't expecting his paint to come back until Wed morning. That was just one day before we're supposed to have our bikes in Wisconsin. In typical Klock fashion, they arrived just in the nick of time.

The last few days were just a whirly- bird of splintered time with little sleep and getting through some final obstacles. We lost track of time hence not much reporting. The bike was finally completed and loaded onto our Kiwi rig along with Trevelen (Super Company) and Chica's bike at 1:00am Sun morning. After getting a few hours of sleep we finally pulled out at 9:00am bound for our 2000 mile trip to S&S in Wisconsin. It was a tough drive since we had been thrashing so much on the bike, but we made a slight diversion to visit with Brian Klock in Mitchell, SD. It was a very welcomed break and it was great to catch up with the Klockwerks guys. Big Joe and his wife Michelle cooked us up a super nice home cooked steak dinner which was absolutely wonderful and most welcomed.

S&S did an absolutely marvelous job of putting on a super nice weekend and made every builder feel special and welcomed. Motorcycles came from all over the world, which certainly made the bike builds that much more exciting.

And to top all of this off I had to leave my wife, son and rig in Kansas City on the way back for a day, fly back to Calif to take my US Citizenship test and examination at 7am Wed July 2nd. I am now a US citizen which is a nice way to finish off such a memorable build.

Post S&S anniversary: I have had a chance to do some riding and enjoy this engine and put it through its paces. I believe in breaking in engines with care and I never ride off without a decent warm up.

Some of the most fulfilling things in life are the things that we once dreamed of that we once thought of were unobtainable become a reality. This bike does it for me.

Features and specifications

Engine: S&S X-Wedge 117 ci, EPA compliant engine, 56 degree V-Twin, air cooled.Special Kiwi edition with polish/chrome, powdercoat package

Bore/Stroke: 4-1/8 x 4-3/8

Fuel Injection: S&S closed loop

Ignition: Electronic S&S

Transmission: Sputhe/Kiwi compact long life 5 speed, right side drive

Primary: Kiwi/Sputhe belt drive

Clutch: Kiwi/Sputhe, hydraulic

Final drive: Belt

Starter: Stinger

Charging System: Cycle Electric

Headlight/tail light: Kiwi Vintage

Tanks: Kiwi

Tank features: Oil tank incorporated into front right side of gas tank for cooling and cleanliness.

Sheetmetal: Kiwi

Instrumentation: Stewart Warner/Kiwi

Dash: Kiwi

Frame: Kiwi, 27 degree rake,

Wheel base: 66″

Frame features: Right side frame tube transfers oil from the tank to the engine, left side transfers oil from the engine back to the tank, 1-1/4 DOM (USA) tubing.

Rear suspension: Kiwi hydraulically dampened plunger

Forks: Kiwi Girder, hydraulically dampened dual spring, (Kiwi hydraulic and leaf springs also available)

Handlebars: Kiwi 1-1/8″ diameter

Handlebar controls: Kiwi/Nissin w/optional chrome, PM (standard)

Wheels: PM Marquee (optional), 60 spoke (standard)

Tires: Avon, Front 130/70×16, Rear 180/55×18

Front brakes: PM 10″ full floating dual rotors (optional), 11.5″ non floating (standard)

Rear brakes: PM 10″ full floating (optional), 11.5″ non floating (standard)

Seat suspension: Seat post (for that Kiwi/Cadillac ride)

Seat: Long distance “Kiwi comfort ride”

Floorboards: Billet polished aluminum Chieftain (optional), rubber covered (standard)

Exhaust: Kiwi

Paint: Kiwi metallic maroon/Kiwi cream peril. Client has unlimited color choices.

This bike is a production model which can incorporate any special requests that you may want since it is made entirely by Kiwi MotorCycle Company at our Riverside California headquarters, a company with over 20 years of known engineering and quality manufacturing experience.

Kiwi Motorcycles are designed for durability, minimal maintenance and for long distance trouble free riding. Wiring is purposely run on the outside of the frame for easy access and the fuel injection pump sits upon a removable platform on the left tank for easy access should it ever need servicing.

Owners are invited to fly in at any time throughout the build process so we can custom fit the handlebars and seating to suit your riding style.

Options:
Hydraulic forks, see Kiwi replica for design), no extra charge
2 tone paint (shown), 1250.00. Unlimited color choices, price may vary depending on manufacturer
Kiwi/Nissin hand controls, chrome (shown) 1500.00
Polished billet chieftain footboards (shown) 499.00
Chrome forged wheels, matching pulley, (shown) 2999.00 pr
Dual full floating 10″ rotors (shown) 950.00
Dual Chum-me seat (2 person) with springs 1450.00
Chrome/polish package forks, rear shocks, starter, transmission, primary (shown) 2899.00
Windshield and mounts: 499.00Chrome luggage rack 399.00
Leather saddlebags with mounts (luggage rack is required for mounting) 1950.00
Larger displacement engine, POR

Sponsors
Pyro Graphix
Sputhe Engineering
Energy One (clutch)
Nostalia Restyling, paint
P&A Lyons (CNC machining)
Avon Tires
Performance Machine (wheels and brakes)
Pacific Polishing, Chrome
B&B Powder Coating
Vidal's Polishing (aluminum polishing)
Maverik Custom Paint (tank art)
Works Shocks
Stewart Warner (speedometer)
Irwin Tools
James Clark of James Gaskets
Stinger Starters

Special thanks to:
Travis Bonde, Mader, Tiny, Aussie Shaun.
Carolyn and Ross Tomas.
Aussie Shree (Shaun's better half)
Bazza at Kiwi Performance Cycle
S&S guys James, Scott, Jeff, Howard, Niven and Brett
Brian Klock of Klockwerks
Chopper Dave
Negotiable Parts
Ronnie Martinez Graphics
Rick at PM

So what the hell? No Stripper (mine left town) & Jack Daniels Hurricane Care Package? Shit man, I even had to buy a Honda! At least it's just a EU 2000 generator, I can use it with my photography.

Here are a few shots from Cut Throat Customs out in Humble (a little north). Daniel and his father have a good deal going in the bike & custom auto customization business in the Houston area. I came across them at ROT '06 in Austin, after some casual bullshit conversation, we discovered we were all from Houston more or less.

When I told them where I worked Daniel's buddy, Clinton (that's his blue bike) points at me and said, “DUDE you're the guy who told us to move out of the aisle!” They were in the club one night and got in the way(small world shit!). I did ask if I was polite about it. Seems it's still open for debate.

Daniel's cutie, the lovely Ms. Phoenix, even puts out a really cool slick called, “The Bikers Guide.” It tells locals about the happens between here and Florida where her partner Miss-T brings in the news from the right coast, from a ladies point of view.

Later
–RFR

Cut Throat Customs, Inc

8331 FM 1960 West Building J

Humble. Texas

281-446-2009

http://www.cutthroatcustomsfabrication.com/

The Biker Guide
http://www.thebikerguide.com/

Jason McCudden, the builder of this military Stinger Softail hails from Buffalo, the second largest city in New York. He stayed when most of his high school pals hit it to Charlotte, NC, where the jobs headed.

“I can run into more friends in the Charlotte Sports Bar than I can in a local pub,” Jason said.

Buffalo lost most of its steel industry as America turned on the blue collar world, shut down Republic and Bethlehem Steel and began to buy industrial supplies overseas. The city on eastern shores of Lake Erie and the mouth of the Niagara River, just 10 minutes from Niagara Falls and a stone’s throw from the Canadian border, started to dry up.

Here's another SSK Jason built for the Red Cross. That's his personal nurse.

“This place was the eighth largest city in the country in 1900,” Jason said, and he ain't giving up on it.

Here's Jason aboard the Red Cross Build.

He rode snowmobiles, jumped BMX bikes in the woods and peeled through the streets on three wheelers as a kid. Then he fell in love with a '59 Impala and almost killed himself on a Suzuki Katana sport bike,

“I'll never ride one of those bastards again,” Jason said, and he built a chopper from parts and pieces.

He took machinist training and grabbed a regular job, but when the industry dried up, he returned to welding school and worked in a hot rod shop, a couple of Hog shops, and finally he said, “Why work for someone else when I can do it myself.”

His shop, South Side Customs, kicked off three years ago, and although the economy hasn't backed his play, he's making it, sorta like Buffalo. He started building products and working on bikes, then building customs like this one for the Branson, Missouri, Military Biker Build-Off against the likes of Darwin Holdsworth of Brass Balls Bobbers. Now he's calling this his Stinger base model and selling choppers for $17,000. He plans to build an even dozen this year. By next year, he wants to develop new models and expand his shop to build hot rods.

Buffalo is also growing with new major companies moving in like Geico, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and the Red Cross headquarters.

“It was a rich town once,” Jason said. “They're trying to switch it from blue collar to white, but I'm fighting for the blue.”

He's working hard at it by developing his own Santee-styled Softail frames. His Stingers are available with this chopper tank, a Mustang tank or a Sportster tank. Bikes are available with any paint scheme you want, black and chrome driveline or chromed out.

“I'm the squirrel in this industry, looking for a nut,” Jason said.

His hot rod line will include custom wheels, accessories, air suspensions and complete ground-up builds. He's working hard, like his dad, who was a mechanical engineer and built buildings for Toys-R-Us, Six-Flags, FMC and Marriot. His wife, Charyn, stands right beside him with their two kids, the Lego building maniac son and the artistic daughter.

Blue collar life has a shot at growth in Buffalo. Buffalo has a shot at growth with Indian casinos, the insurance industry and life rolls on. It's all nuts, but the Code of the West dictates that we keep the chopper alive, forever.

Jason is keeping that faith.

Bikernet.com Extreme South Side Stinger Tech Chart

Regular Stuff

Owner: Could be Yours! One of Our Base models
Bike Name: STINGER
City/State: Buffalo, NY

Builder: South Side Kustoms
City/state: Buffalo, NY
Company Info:
Address: 146 Barnard St. Buffalo NY 14206
Phone: 1-800-675-3191
Web site: www.south-side-kustoms.com
E-mail: southsidekustoms@verizon.net
Fabrication: done by South Side Kustoms
Manufacturing: South Side Kustoms
Welding: South Side Kustoms
Machining: South Side Kustoms

Engine 80” Evolution

Year: 2008
Make: Harley
Model: evo
Displacement: 80-inches
Builder or Rebuilder: Harley Davidson
Cases: Stock
Case finish: black wrinkle
Barrels: factory
Barrel finish: black
Head finish: chrome
Valves and springs: stock
Pushrods:stock
Cams:stock
Lifters: hydraulic
Carburetion: S&S SUPER E
Air cleaner: S&S
Exhaust: Straight Headers with Trumpet Up Sweeps
Mufflers: Yeah, Right

Transmission

Year: 2008
Make: VTWIN Motorshop
Gear configuration: 5-speed
Final drive: 1 1/8” Pulley with 125 Tooth Belt
Primary: 3” Open Belt Primary by Tauer Machine
Clutch: Tauer Machine

Frame Built by South Side Kustoms copied from Santee Design

Year: 2008
Make: Stinger
Style or Model: Rigid
Stretch: Sock
Rake: stock
Modifications: Custom Struts for rear fender – brackets made to shoe horn it all in – 4 speed size frame with 5 speed and all electric start

Front End

Make: Paughco style
Model: Springer
Year: 2008
Length: Stock

Sheet metal

Tanks: Chopper Tank
Fenders: BSA Rear Ribbed Fender
Oil tank: Bomb Bag

Paint

Sheet metal: Camo Flying Tigers design ( to compete in Branson, MO Biker Build-Off) by Air-FX Paint and Air Brushing
Molding: Very Little just over welds
Base coat: Military Green
Graphics: Flying Tigers Paint Scheme
Type: Shark Face – Zero’s Kills – Bullet Holes
Frame: Buffalo Finishing Works – Flat Black Powdercoat
Graphics or art: Authentic Pins used by Flying Tigers on neck gusts
Special effects: S&S Air Cleaner Painted

Wheels Ride Wright Wheels

Front
Make: Ride Wright Wheels
Size: 19” x 2.15 80 Spoke
Brake calipers: Tekiko 4 Piston with Fabricator Kevin Springer Bracket
Brake rotor(s): DNA Mesh Rotors 11 ½”
Tire: Avon Gangster White Wall

Rear
Make: Ride Wright Wheels
Size: 16”x3” 80 Spoke
Brake calipers: Tekiko 4 Piston with Fabricator Kevin Bracket
Brake rotor: DNA Mesh Rotor 11 ½”
Pulley: DNA Mesh 1 1/8” 65 tooth
Tire: Avon Gangster White Wall

Controls

Foot controls: DNA Elite Controls
Finish: Chrome
Master cylinder: 5/8”
Brake lines: Russel Brake Lines Stainless Braid
Handlebar controls: Vtwin
Finish: Chrome
Clutch Cable: M&M Clutch Stainless Braid
Brake Lines Russle Brake Lines Stainless Braid
Shifting: round Shift linkage
Kickstand: Corona by DNA

Electrical

Ignition: DYNA 200I Single Fire
Ignition switch: Wires-Plus
Coils: DYNA Single Fire
Regulator: Vtwin
Charging: Stock with EVO
Wiring: South Side Kustoms
Harness: Wires-Plus
Headlight: DNA 4 ½ Tribar
Taillight: Vtwin Horizontal Diamond made to fit and work on adjuster screws Vertically
Electrical accessories: yeah none of those
Switches: yeah none of those
Battery: Mini by Big Boar

What’s Left

Seat: West Eagle seat pan—covered with genuine soldiers duffel bag from WWII
Mirror(s): yeah none of those
Gas caps: Standard Vented Chrome Cap
Handlebars: Builtwell’s Clubman bars – Turned upside down
Grips: Vintage white coke bottles
Pegs: DNA Elite’s
Oil filter: Black
Oil cooler: none
Oil lines: Stainless Steel Braid
Fuel filter: standard
Fuel Lines: black rubber
Throttle: VTWIN
Throttle cables: M&M Stainless Braid
Fasteners: Chrome Bolts –nylon nuts-lock washers and lock tight

Specialty items: Rear Struts made and produced by South Side Kustoms, .50 cal bullets mounted on frame

Comments:This is South Side Kustoms base model STINGER – starting at $17k – choice of paint, pipes seat and other minor details. This version was built to compete in Biker Build Off in Branson, MO against Brass Balls Bobbers, Scorpion Choppers , Coyote Customs

Credits:To our shop Rats TY and Shawn for all their help and AIR-FX for all his efforts.

Jason's buffed personal security.

Click Here For Todds Website

Todd Silicato is and interesting enigma in our industry. He carries on like a lot of builders would prefer–the backwoods artist hiding in a cave. He's the master behind lots of builders, but stays in the Shadows off Bolsa Road in Southern California where he can tinker and be left alone, sorta.

Over the last decade Todd developed products and helped build bikes with Roland Sands at Performance Machine. Then he set his own shop into motion and assisted Jesse Rooke with projects and continues to back Jesse's bike builds. He now has a 35-part number line of products including his wild strip bars, brass and knurled grips, billet risers, classic brass rubber mounted risers, ignition modules, crazy pipes, Battery boxes, mirrors, oil filters, air cleaners, gas caps, seat pans, seat hinges, springs and builder's components. Check his web site.

Even the kids like his bikes.

I always enjoy featuring his bikes, 'cause they have a mechanical edge and long-road toughness. This bike has a strange name.

“It started with a pile of parts customers ordered and never paid for,” Todd told me and kicked a tire. He started by building a roller for sale, then decided he liked it too much to send it down the road.

“I liked the Spartan forks and had some credit with Westminster H-D, so I went to work,” Todd said. The master behind Spartan front ends gave up on the custom bike industry and opened a copper mine. Todd offered to help him with his front-end business, but the man had to do what he had to do.

Ania brought her own muscle to the shoot. Never know about Bikernet photogs.

So how did he build a credit with a dealership? He took a wrecked Sportster and turned it into a jewel. The mysteries continue around the Brass Hole with the new owner from across some border. “Don't mention him,” Todd said.

Todd's brass grips with PM controls.Between building ground ups and developing products Todd is working on a roller system in rigid and Softail configurations, with his trees, V-rod wheel in front, 180 rear (rideable, right?) 30 degree rake, zero stretch and lotsa ground clearance.

The handmade Spartan front end, under Peter's twisted wide-angle lense.

He was preparing for Sturgis 2008 when we spoke and will hopefully have a roller on display next to Barnett's. Next, he's thinking about a production bike. Better keep building that credit with the dealership. Watch for more bikes and products from Todd's SoCal cave on Bikernet in the future.

Bikernet.com Extreme Brass Hole Tech Chart

The master Todd and his daughter Felicia.

Regular Stuff

Owner: TODD’S CYCLE
Bike Name: BRASSHOLE
City/State: Huntington Beach, CA

Builder: Todd’s Cycle – Todd Silicato
City/state: Huntington Beach, CA
Company Info: TODD’S CYCLE
Address: 15665 Commerce Lane Huntington Beach, CA 92649
Phone:714-901-4516
Web site:www.toddscycle.com
E-mail: todd@toddscycle.com

Engine

Year: 07’
Make: H-D
Model: Custom
Builder or Rebuilder: H-D
Cases: H-D
Case finish: H-D
Barrels: H-D
Rods: H-D
Heads: H-D
Valves and springs: H-D
Pushrods: H-D
Cams: Andrews
Carburetion: Mikuni
Air cleaner: K&N

Exhaust: TODD’S CYCLE

Transmission
Make: H-D
Gear configuration: 5 spd
Final drive: Chain
Primary: BDL
Clutch: BDL

Frame

Year: 07’
Make: T/C Special
Stretch: 0
Rake: 32 degree

Front End

Make: Spartan Frameworks
Model: The brass VL

Sheet metal

Tanks: TODD’S CYCLE – gas cap by Nash
Fenders: T/C
Oil tank: T/C

Paint

Sheet metal: Root Beer Brown

Wheels

Front
Make: PM
Size: 18 X 3.5
Brake calipers: PM
Brake rotor(s): PM
Tire: Metzler 130-70/18

Rear
Make: PM
Size: 18 X5.5
Brake calipers: Exile
Brake rotor: Exile
Tire: Metzler 180

Controls

Foot controls: PM
Master cylinder: PM

Handlebar controls: PM & T/C

That's Todd's all-in-one ignition module on the downtube. Click on the image for more info.

Electrical

Ignition: H-D
Ignition switch: T/C
Headlight: Alloy Art
Taillight: Bosslet

What’s Left

Seat: Azteca
Mirror(s): T/C
Gas caps: Nash
Handlebars: Flanders
Grips: Todd's
Pegs: Todd's

“Fuck old school. I’m a real old guy. What looks vintage is vintage. Really!“ Albert laughs. He's a 67 year old biker. This story will cover his saga first, then about his ride.

Al experienced the first years of his childhood in WWII-destroyed River-Rhein-Area in Germany in the early '40s. This industrial region was a main attack-target by the Nazi's opponents. Here stood the cradle of Third Reich’s weapon-production.

During the week before Easter in 1945 the heaviest bombing took place in Gelsenkirchen. All day long wave after wave of allied bombers dropped their steel onto the German cities around. The ground shook like an earthquake, the sound of explosions and detonations everywhere. The civilians hid in cellars and shelters. Many thousands found death without a place to hide from the bombs.

Albert was five years old as on Easter Saturday 1945 suddenly after a final heavy artillery-atttack the guns silenced. No more bombs. Unusual silence, quietness.As Albert and his people left the shelter they found dead people, and dead animals including horses, cats and dogs. They saw destroyed ruins of the houses they knew as their town before. And they saw US-soldiers inbetween, driving around with their tanks, jeeps, motorbikes. The allied forces had marched into their town, and marched into the heart of 5-years-old Albert. After being a child during the whole WWII-era, it now was quiet, the most peaceful Easter he ever celebrated. For this he experienced the allied US-soldiers more as liberators than invaders. He loved them for little gifts like chocolate and bubble-gum, and he liked their outfits, their strange language, and most of all, they were the reason the war ended.

Next contact to this way of living he received as a friend of his older Brother started building bikes for meadow-track-races (like dirt-track US-style). One of his biggest bikes was a 1200 ccm-Harley, probably a former US-Army-bike. This was the experience infecting Al with the Harley-virus.

As a teen he purchased an old Göricke, a small German motorbike and started bobbing it. He wanted the look from the dirt-track Harley he knew. It looked sportive and despite the fact that his little Göricke was not strong at all, he made it look racy and as low as this moped could get.

That was to be the template for Al's bike design through all the years to come. He rode almost every style and kind of bike, but the more sporty and Japanese ones were sold soon. His Harleys he always kept for years, and he bobbed them all.

The one that’s shown here is a former 1979 E-Glide. He bought it with all the crap that can be imagined on a full – or better, over-dressed bike, two bikes wide and three bikes heavy…He disassembled all the cases and fairings, the railings and covers right after he bought it. He stripped it down to the frame and started reassembling step by step.

After the teardown steps took place the bike became army-green, matching perfect with the genuine aviation-jackets Al used to wear for riding. “Another history-thing from my war-memories“, Al smiled.

After a while riding a really Army-lookalike bike he decided to rebuild each part. He got used to the look too much. The next stage of customizing had come.He cut off the rear frame, took a fender from a Triumph and cut this into halves. One half of it found its way to the rear of the Harley, the other half got lost. He found a tractor-seat at a swap-meet and in the beginning he even used it naked, no upholstery necessary. Right before our shoot the smooth genuine leather-seat had been finished. During the next step the bike became matte gray. He liked it exactly as long as he rode it alone. The first time on a meeting he saw three other bikes in a similar style and the same almost matte gray from Audi.

Back to the garage again! Now the time had come to do it right and radical.Lots of parts left the bike, the frontshield, lightings, many details. The bobber became bobbed. As an educated confectioner he thought a while about the color to come.

“Chocolate brown!“ he yelled one day, as he saw a UPS-van pass by.As steps for the final solution he built a jockey-shift and a foot-clutch. The handlebar received a top-bow, a style called Hollywood-bar.Finished again he saw his work and it was good. Al refuses to call the style Old Skool.

“In fact it IS old, just like me. So it’s nothing about style-dictatorship. It just belongs to me and together we are over 100 years old. Fuck that skool-thing! He sneered.Let’s hope they get much older together. Al and his chocolate-bomber.

Technische Daten

Owner/builder: Albert from Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Motor:79er HD 1200 ccm Shovel
Öil-Tank:Horseshoe
Carb : Mikuni HSR 42
Airfilter:KN
Exhaust:tubes by owner, mufflers Shorties 2007
Ignition: Dyna Singlefire

Frame:OEM cut by inches

Transmission: 4-gear, changed to jockey-shift
Primary:chain
Primary cover:OEM modified
Secondary:chain

Front end:progressive Springs, bellows (comment by Al: “starts everybody having ‘em…”…”)

Rearwheel:5×16 mit Avon MK II
Fronwheel:5×16 mit Avon MK II
Front brakes:Brembo disc and lever
Rear brake:disc FX

Tank: 3,5 Gal, two parts
Handlebar:Hollywood Style, self built, grips Coke-design, Riser Müller cut
Blinkers:Kellermann
Footrests:Plates Police Halfmoon, customparts levers, function custom
Rear:cut off!
Sissy-Bar:custom by owner
Elektricity:self built

Seat:GHInstruments:HDColour:by owner, Label painted by son Frank

This is the centerpiece of a chopper with a very interesting story.

I love to see the way a bike changes a man from the inside out. My buddy Mike started riding rockets such as Suzuki’s famed GSXR. He had ridden an Intruder, A GSXR, a TLR, a Hyabusa, and finally he graduated to a Harley. Yes, he went from a Hyabusa to a Harley. Oh, and not just any Harley, he bought an Electra Glide! I still chuckle thinking about it.

He called me as soon as he got home from the dealer calling the E-Glide a “dog”. I tried to encourage him, but it was useless. He gradually took the steps most new H-D riders take, and began to customize his new bike with as many skulls and “mean” looking doo-dads. Through it all, I kept encouraging him, hoping he would eventually see the light.

Here’s Mike astride his E-Glide in Sturgis 2006. We had a great time, but the chopper bug hadn’t hit him yet.

He then dumped several grand into the motor to make her scream, riding her to Sturgis two years in a row and loving life. He was truly happy with his bike…until I let him borrow mine. One week last summer, I asked to borrow the bagger for a week while trying to decide if I wanted to trade in the Softail. He obliged gladly, saying my bike would probably sit in his garage the entire time. A week later, I couldn’t give him his “couch” fast enough. While the E-Glide works for some, it was just too big and heavy for my style of riding. I didn’t like it at all. Mike, on the other hand, wasn’t so eager to give me my bike back. I think he put double the miles on my bike than I had ridden on his bike. With a smile I have seen before, he said, “I like that.”

Mike riding my Springer. This is the ride that caused the start of his metamorphisis into a full fledged chopper addict.

Over the next few months, as I was building the bike for my brother, Mike began researching kit bikes. While he found several companies he liked, he just couldn’t pull the trigger on the prices he was getting. He really wanted to get something at under 12 grand, and well, that’s just hard to find. Fortunately, Mike made the discovery of his life.

He calls me one Friday evening saying he found a bike on E-bay. I went to the site and checked out the pictures of the bike described as a ’75 Frisco bobber. What was really great about the whole thing was the bike’s bidding only 10 grand with hours left on the bid. So Mike bid $10,500 and we wrote it off, knowing the price would begin skyrocketing within the last hour of the auction. The next morning, Mike wakes up and immediately checks his computer. AT midnight the night before, he won the bike with a winning bid of $10,800. He made the calls to the owner, the only obstacles for him was taking the time off of work and traveling to San Francisco to get the bike. The owner was reluctant to let the bike go at the low cost, but a deal’s a deal. Turns out, he sets this up with all his bikes and then pulls the item at the last minute so he can use all the final bidders as prospects for his next bike build. Sadly for him, he had a minor emergency the final night of bidding and wasn’t able to pull the bike in time.

Nightime shot of the bike. This is after he rode it 200 miles.

My buddy Mike, buys a one way ticket from Houston to San Francisco, packs a back pack, and gets on a plane Tuesday morning to go and get his bike. He had the idea of taking a cab from the airport to the bike shop and then riding his new chopper home.

When he showed up at the shop, the guys asked about his trailer and how did he plan to haul the bike to Texas. When Mike responded with his plan to ride the bike, the shop strongly urged him to reconsider, claiming the bike had less than 50 miles of break-in miles.

There’s my boy, getting ready to start his adventure. First kick was a good one!

In classic Mike form, he smiled broadly and proudly stated, “What better way for me to get to know her?” With that, he kicked the motor over a few times till she fired up and mounted her for the first time. He told me he knew this bike was meant for him the second his ass touched the seat. He waved goodbye to the shop and with the wheel pointed due east, he pulled on the throttle and started on his journey home. Within 2 miles, the throttle stuck open and he ran into a chain link fence, thankfully keeping him from plummeting 30 foot off the overpass. I think he understood then how big the challenge would be.

Wheel pointed East, it’s time for the adventure of a lifetime. A backpack full of tools and underwear, a pistol in his holster, some cash, and a whole lotta hope, these are the essentials every guy needs.

Over the next 4 days, my poor buddy had to wrench on every possible part of the bike to keep her together. With every stall, rattle, clunk, and screech, he was falling more in love with her. Like he had said, he wanted to get to know her. By the time he reached Houston on Saturday, he was completely drained; financially, physically, and emotionally. Not to be deterred, he was ecstatic to brag to me about the entire trip, he had found his bike.

2000 miles, 4 days, and a lot of effort, Mike was finally home with his new chopper. We took this picture about an hour after he had come home and taken a shower. Needless to say, the beer was flowing, the guys were laughing, and the women were pissed. What else is new?

Over the next several months, he just rode the bike and wrenched on it everywhere he has gone. I can say Mike truly knows every nut and bolt on his machine. He has had to re-build every part of the bike at some point or another, just to keep her running. Not only does he wrench to up-keep her condition, he is also customizing it to his tastes.

Getting ready to take her for a spin

He removed the front brakes, as he felt they cluttered up the bars and wheel. He installed 20 inch mini gimps from Nash. He changed her to a jockey shift using a “rocker-clutch”, styled after 1950’s Panheads. He has rebuilt the tranny and changed the rear sprocket to make her more highway-worthy. He even welded the kicker gear back together when it cracked on him before a ride. Trust me when I tell you, Mike has put his heart and soul into this bike more than any twinkie rider I have ever met.

A few pics after his bar change. He cleaned it up further after this by removing the front brake.

During his last major ride to Austin for the recent ROT rally, he had to contend with a rear sparkplug that kept blowing right out of the head. Where most guys in Mike’s situation would have called a wrecker and limped back home, my buddy got a tube of JB Quick, and stuck it back together. While it was definitely not a permanent fix, he was able to ride all weekend in Austin and still rode the bike back to Houston 2 days later. He had to repeat the JB Quick fix only two more times!

Clean lines start with the front wheel, which Mike has stripped of all the clutter…and safety. This is a man’s bike for sure!

So here’s his bike, a 1975 genuine H-D that he is gradually making into a road worthy machine. Hopefully he will get the new S&S heads on her so he can take her to Sturgis this year. Yes he plans on riding it the entire way. Hopefully we will make it there, but even if we don’t, I bet we have a hell of an adventure along the way!

As for the E-Glide, well it’s for sale. He said he doesn’t even consider that to be a motorcycle anymore… it’s more like a convertible. What else can you say?

Bikernet.com Extreme Tech Chart

Regular Stuff

Owner: Michael Biscamp
Bike Name: None
City/State: Magnolia, Texas

Builder: Death by Asphalt Choppers
City/state: San Francisco, California
Phone: 650 333-4681
Web site: www.asphaltcustoms.com
E-mail: asphaltcustoms@asphaltcustoms.com

Engine

Year:1975
Make: H-D
Model: Shovelhead
Displacement: 74 cu
Builder or Rebuilder: Michael Biscamp
Cases: H-D
Case finish: Painted
Barrels: H-D
Bore: Stock
Pistons: Stock
Barrel finish: Stock
Lower end: Stock
Stroke: Stock

Rods: H-D
Heads: H-D
Head finish: Stock
Valves and springs: H-D
Pushrods: H-D
Cams: H-D
Lifters: H-D
Carburetion: S&S Super B

Air cleaner: Unknown
Exhaust: Handmade
Mufflers: Yeah Right

Transmission

Year: Unknown
Make: H-D
Gear configuration: 4 speed
Final drive: 51 tooth Sprocket
Primary: Belt
Clutch: Dry Rocker

Rocker style dry clutch like the one’s used on old Panheads in the 50’s.

Frame

Year: Unknown
Style or Model: Rigid
Stretch: none
Rake: 34 degrees
Modifications: Who knows?

Front End

Make: DNA
Model: Springer
Year: 2007
Length: Stock
Mods: IDK

Sheet metal

Tanks: Sportster
Fenders: Rear, flat
Panels: None
Oil tank: H-D

Paint

Sheet metal: Death by Asphalt
Molding: None
Base coat: Death by Asphalt
Graphics: Death by Asphalt
Type: Scallops
Frame: Black
Special effects: The whole bike
Pinstriping: DBA

Wheels

Front
Size: 21” spoke
Brake calipers:None
Brake rotor(s):None
Tire: Avon

Rear
Make: Avon
Size: 150
Brake calipers: GMA
Brake rotor: Unknown
Pulley: Sprocket 51 tooth
Tire: Avon

Controls
Handlebar controls: None
Finish:Black
Clutch Cable:Jockey shift

Shifting: Jockey
Kickstand: Unknown

Electrical

The electrical is a complete mystery.

What’s Left

Seat: Sprung Solo
Mirror(s): None
Gas caps:
Handlebars:20 inch Mini Gimps
Grips: Unknown
Pegs:

The quintessential shot of a man and his hand built machine. This is a story of a guy who built it exactly the way he wanted it, and he’s loving every second of it.

I had a plan in my early twenties to build a V-twin based motorcycle that wasn’t already seen scootin’ around town on a daily basis. I wanted something different, I wanted to build it and I didn’t want to go into debt doing it. I was first inspired by a bike Carey Hart rode in a Crusty Demons of Dirt video a dozen or so years ago. Shortly thereafter I cracked open my first catalog to check out frames, motors, wheels and such, just to quickly learn that all the components were priced to the moon (my opinion, of course). I was discouraged and pissed that my plan to own or build such a bike would fail before it started, due to the anemic state of my bank account.

Bikes like this emanate cool even when sitting still. Shit, just looking at this beast makes me want to kick back with a beer and dream of a simpler time, back in the day when a man wanted something, he didn’t just buy it, he made as much as he could. This bike’s obvious bicycle influences are in all the right areas.

Years went by entertaining ideas and ways to reach my goal within a reasonable budget. During that time of reading and educating myself with rags, websites and local shops, I saw the entire industry was going nuts because of TV shows. The rise in demand—and cost—for parts was frustrating. Finally, I hit my breaking point and started a new plan. I wanted to build and fab as many parts as possible. I decided to paint, prep, bend, grind, coat, wrench and weld everything possible within the limitation of my tools. I took a second job and hustled for a year and a half to make sure that when I started, I would finish.

Although this is not the original frame, it is a picture I shamelessly ripped off the web to show the readers what a bare bones CFL frame looks like.

West Coast Choppers had a pretty big sale 2-3 years ago. Having always been a fan of the clean, bare bones CFL frame, I ordered that sucker and a rear fender, and it was on! The project was officially underway and there was no turning back.

Having a traditional and digital (graphic) arts background, I mocked up on paper and on screen what I had swirling around in the ol’ head piece. After a month of sketching and thinking, I started focusing on the bigger components.

The initial plan was to use a shovel and a five speed. Half of that plan took a crap when I could not find a decent deal on my planned motor. Months went by with me looking, until I came across a new secondhand five speed tranny that had a couple broken studs in the case, and a modern big inch evo a fellow needed to dump due to hard times. I ended up getting a decent motor with a hundred miles on it, for about half the price of a new one.

Root beer and gold flake, how much cooler can you get?

At this time I had no garage to work in. Turns out, working at a bicycle shop for a decade has its advantages. In my case, it was a place to build my scoot and access to oddball parts. The boss man Bill helped out big time by allowing me to take over a small section of the shop to start the build.

I was good to go after knocking down a wall, building some work benches and a welding table, and setting up a powder coating oven (The oven was a score from the abandoned house next door).

The shop itself has a bit of history in it, too, from farm house, to small-town Harley dealership, to bicycle and skate shop I frequented as a kid. I was pretty stoked to build my first bike there.

Hurst styled shifter making the jockey shift come to life.

I’m a sucker for a nice tank. It’s the first thing I look at on a bike, and it’s the first thing I designed on my own. After hacking a sporty tank and coming out with a solid traditional look, I realized I need to do something different. The second try was built from a ricer cruiser tank that caught my eye on Ebay. I basically trashed everything on the original tank but the compound curves. The brass inlay strip was cut, bent and formed from 3/16″ x 2″ brass plate. I set up the dual shut-off cocks and topped it off with an oil tank bung and vented cap. The tank was finished with only a Hanjin container load of hours in it.

I’ve built bicycle and motorcycle wheels for years, for myself and for other shops in the area. The dying art of wheel building and truing is something I’ve always enjoyed. So I shucked down a wheel set and coated them to my liking. Sport bike brakes went on the front and rear, with a front brake solution supplied by Mr. Fab Kevin to tidy up some clearance issues. Forward controls are made from a European bicycle bottom bracket bearing joint and BMX crank set. I topped the controls off with BMX pegs and pedals.

BMX pegs to go along with the BMX pedals.

After picking up a used sporty front end and extending the tubes, I was ready to have a roller. But—you guessed it—nada. I was still mssing the first component I ordered…the WCC CFL frame. All these months goofing with drawings, tanks, motors, trannys, wheels, controls and front ends… you’d think that I’d have had a frame nearby. Nope. It seemed to me that every Ebay “flip” opportunist had placed the same frame order. After ten months, I finally could get things moving with a frame in hand. However, during that time I changed the direction of the build for the better, so in the end it turned out for the best.

The Sporty front end and brass risers give the bike a touch of class. Mixing the narrow front end with a big twin sets this bike apart from the wide glide crowd of today.

The exhaust was made from the flanges on back with straight and mandrel bent tubing. I finshed them off with some heat wrap, internal tip from, again, an old set of knurled BMX pegs and an external tip from a set of Honda 500 velocity stacks.

I bet these bad boys crack a few eardrums as he screams down the street. Pipes like this make a statement to all the tree hugging environmentalists,” Get the fuck out of my way, bitches!”

I proceeded to make a seat from 1/8″ plate and other raw materials. With a cow shoulder from Tandy Leather and with some good advice from other professionals, I formed up and dyed the leather and pinned it down with brass sex bolts.

Even the seat has small detailed brass tacks holding it together. There isn’t a single piece on this bike that wasn’t planned out with the overall picture in mind.

A host of other small, detailed components and parts were made and worked into functional, detailed pieces. Many hours were spent on my dad’s lathe, then fitting, moving, breaking or redoing this or that, the fun work!

Alas, it was time for paint, the beginning of the end to this project. I’d painted a handful of motocross helmets through the years, so coming off a recent painting hiatus, I was eager to get started. I’d always loved the 70’s vans and modern low-rider paint which inspired the paneled; three stage root-beer-candy-over-gold-flake. Painting was done inside a skateboard bowl inside a buddy’s garage; amazingly, it turned out perfect. All that was left: a name for the bike.

Do you see the intricate detail layered underneath the clear and metalflake?

I grew up riding and racing motorcycles in a middle class neighborhood called Kilby Shores. My childhood and teenage years were filled with riding and racing, building tracks, shoveling jumps, cutting trails, wrenching and basic carefree living. My love for two wheels was born there, so “Kilby Deuce” it is.

The practice leading up to the 23k gold leafed “Kilby Deuce” and pin striping was a long road to conquer, but I’m very satisfied with how they both turned out. A good friend of mine, Danny “doubleD” Dailey, laid the final clear and the bike is donezo… almost.

Beautiful tank with an awesome amount of skill and craftsmanship shown. I love the sight glass styled gas gauge, but it would have worked better on the side of the tank.

As the paint dried, I worked on more detailed and meticulous additions. Aside from the paint and stripping, the engraving / etching in the brass tank strip was a labor of love.

You can judge a man’s profession by looking at his hands; the hardened, praying carpenter hands of Christ is the centerpiece of this machine, of which I’m very proud. “Done.”

The hands of Christ signifying many things to many people. I personally think it’s the perfect touch to top off this wonderful piece of machinery. It almost proves this bike has a soul.

I would like to thank the following:The Almighty for keeping me safe from the crazy street walkers outside the shop at 1 – 2 AM, the shop owners, Brad of Gypsy Choppers, Fab Kevin, and Miller at Nansemond Supply Co., and all that answered my questions at clubchopper.com., supporters and friends Danny, Nick, Trey, Jeff, Josh, Bill, Matt, Will, Baron, Mom and Dad,

who is a great man with a “we’ll figure it out” perfectionist attitude, rather than a “let’s pay someone to fix our crap” one. That attitude and work ethic he handed down enabled me to become a craftsman I would never have become on my own. Thanks Dad!

Bikernet.com Extreme Tech Chart

Regular Stuff

Owner: Marcus Robertson
Bike Name: Kilby Deuce
City/State: Suffolk, VA

Builder: Marcus Robertson
City/state: Suffolk, VA
Company Info: Kilby Deuce (KD)
Address: 1103 N. Main St. Suffolk, VA
Phone: (757) 620-9538
Web site: http://www.kilbydeuce.com
E-mail: marc@kilbyceuce.com

Fabrication: KD
Manufacturing: KD
Welding: KD
Machining: KD

Engine

Year: 2005
Make: Ultima
Model: El Bruto
Displacement: 113ci
Builder or Rebuilder: Hammer
Cases: Ultima
Carburetion: S&S Super G
Air cleaner: Velocity Dude
Exhaust: KD

Transmission

Year: 2005
Make: Ultima
Gear configuration: 5spd

Final drive: 23/48
Primary: BDL
Clutch: Grandeur/BDL

Frame

Year: 2006
Make:West Coast Choppers
Style or Model: CFL
Stretch: 2up
Rake: 38

Front End

Make: HD
Model: Narrow Glide
Year: 2003

Sheet metal

Tanks: KD
Fenders: WCC
Oil tank: WCC

Paint

Sheet metal: House of Kolor
Base coat: Gold Flake (Danny Dailey)

Graphics: KD
Frame: Vanwin Powder Coat
Pinstriping: KD

Wheels

Front
Make: DNA 40 Spoke
Size: 21”
Brake calipers: Tokico
Brake rotor(s): 11.5”
Tire: Speedmaster

Rear
Make: DNA 40 Spoke
Size: 16”
Brake calipers: Nissin
Brake rotor: 10”
Tire: Metz 200

Controls

Foot controls: KD
Finish: P/C
Master cylinder: 03 HD
Brake lines: Russel
Handlebar controls: Top Secret
Clutch Cable: Motion Pro
Shifting: Tank Shift
Kickstand:

Electrical

Ignition: Dyna
Coils: Dyna
Headlight: Bates
Taillight: KD “Hot Plate”

What’s Left

Seat: KD
Site Guage: KD
Gas caps:
Handlebars: KD
Oil lines: KD
Fasteners: Nansemond Supply Co.