Scout’s “Disaster Blaster”

Hailing from the frozen tundra of northern Michigan and armed with the bare necessities of a Leatherman all-purpose tool, bike builder-on-a-budget aka Scout bolted, carved, glued, taped and ground together what he calls his “Disaster Blaster.” We found Scout and his H-D rat-performance chopper drawing attention at the recent Ink-n-Iron festivities rocknrollin’ at the Queen Mary down Long Beach, CA way.

Says Scout, “I built it during the winter and had to dress up like an Eskimo when I’d work on the bike in my buddy’s unheated garage, my fingers sticking to my Leatherman.” He started from scratch as it was his first project bike and began surfing the Internet looking for advice eventually choosing a Craftech frame, the rolling chassis minus the wheels from Sucker Punch Sally. “I ordered just the frame and the 41mm front end so I knew I had the right geometry to start with. I ended up dropping the front end two inches. And because I wanted something as close as possible to old school Cragars, I found wheels I liked at Xtreme Machine.”

Wanting to go Old School powerplant, he selected a Shovelhead crate motor and then matched it up to a hand-shifting transmission. “I was working for Baker Drivetain at the time so I got a prototype 6-speed with kicker arm and kicker pedal assembly. It also has overdrive so I can hang in there with the baggers on the highway. I added the shocks under the solo seat to add some comfort. The seat’s from West Eagle and I got it because I wanted something small and metal flaky to go with bike’s hot roddy look. I was looking for something dependable but also showing some of my personal preferences so you get all the Punk Rock references, the decals and “Damn Vandal” graphics.”

To give the bike the gnarly treatment, Scout took his $20 Home Depot grinder and carved away on the rocker boxes. The velocity stack is something he got off eBay and then took a hotrod intake cap and had a friend machine out the spaces between the ribs to make it into a breathable air filter. The “Rollfast” decal seen on the stack is from a bicycle company. Another cool bicycle cross-over detail is the kicker petal made by a company called Crupie, Says Scout, “I got that part as a souvenir in Japan while I was working for Baker. My tattoos I got in some back alley in Korea.”

Back in Michigan they have potholes that can swallow VW’s so instead of more sylish forward controls Scout opted for mid-controls and also chose a set of BMX bicycle off-road knurled aluminum pegs. “When I go smashing into the potholes I can stand up on them and get off the seat. They’re only $15 a pair and threaded at the ends so you can add different kinds of end caps if you want’em. I also added the 200-rear Metzeler to help make it over the road obstacles.”

Technical features include a Morris Magneto, S&S carb, a Scorpion clutch and a Karata Belt Drive plus sport bike brake calipers from Tokio with rotors from Xtreme Machine. With the dual disc set-up the “Disaster Blaster” stops on a dime or at least a quarter. Scout chuckles and says, “As for my headlamp it’s a swap meet special while the wiring conduits are from Home Depot. I do have one factory Harley part, my front brake lever and master cylinder.

In the cosmetic department, the bike carries a Mustang style gas tank that was given to Scout from the Indian Larry guys. Some other guy in Michigan made the oil tank while Scout and his friend Allan Lee banged together the sissy bar. Dragster inspired fiberglass taping around the exhaust pipes wraps up the package.

“After I made it from Michigan, it’s been my daily ride in California,” says Scout who now works for an event planning company in Irvine called Beyond Marketing. “The bike’s got great handling and a blast to ride plus I meet cool people all the time thanks to my two-wheeled conversation piece.”

Seen here with Scout and his bike are two very lovely ladies, Elaina DeCarlo (redhead) and her friend Luna DeLucky, who happened to be appearing at the Iron-n-Ink show with the Crown DeLuxe company, purveyors of the new rage in kustom culture sunglasses, Elaina seen here wearing a pair. Look good and see better. Check out the wide range of shades at www.crowndeluxe.com.

Tech Sheet

Owner: Scout

City: Long Beach, CA

General

Designer: owner

Fabrication: owner

Year/make: 2006 Scout Chopper

Model: Hotrod Rigid

Assembly: owner

Time: 6 months

Chroming: what?

Engine

Year: 2006

Builder: S&S

Displacement: 93 cu. in

Cam: H-D

Ignition: Morris Magneto

Pistons: H-D

Heads: H-D

Carb(s): S&S Super E

Air cleaner: velocity stack

Pipes: two

Mufflers: none

Transmission

Make: Baker 6-speed

Year: 2006

Modifications: kick start

Shifting: 6-speed

Painting

Painter: owner

Color/Type: Shak-a-Can flat black

Special paint: stencils/decals

Frame

Year: 2005

Builder: Kraftech

Type: rigid

Rake: enough

Stretch: no

Shocks: shocking

Accessories

Bars: Nash Motorcycles

Handlebar controls: H-D

Fenders: invisible

Headlight: ebay cheapo

Taillight: L.A. County Choprods repro Vincent

Speedo: wind sock

Front pegs: BMX

Rear pegs: BMX

Electrics: some wires

Gas tank: Indian Larry Mustang

Oil tank: full

Oil system: gravity

Seat: West Eagle solo metal flake red

Sissybar: own and buddy

Mirrors: nope

Grips: rubber

Forks

Type: 41mm

Extension: minus two inches

Builder: Sucker Punch Sally

Wheels

Front

Size: 21 inches

Wheel: Xtreme Machine

Tire: Metzeler

Brake: disc/Tokio/Xtreme

Rear

Size: 200 series

Wheel: Xtreme machine

Tire: Metzeler

Brake: disc/Tokio/Extreme

Photographer: Paul Garson

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