Bandit uses only one type of risers on his bikes. At least that’s been his M.O. for the last 15 years. “I like the kick back to the bars without a pullback and the vibration isolation.” he said recently. Ya see, Custom Cycle Engineering has been building old-style dogbone risers for glides for some twenty years. Randy, the crazed designer, madman bike builder and long-distance rider knows how to build a product that stands the test of time. Unlike many products, these dogbone risers are built substantially, beefy and mechanically sound. No they’re not glitzy or high tech, except for the neoprene boot rubber they use. They’re just tough, long-lasting, and cool. This pile of misbegotten words describes another application for the famous CCE riser.
| Generally this riser affords the rider about a two-inch pull back to any bar and they are designed to be simply bolted onto any wide glide or narrow glide tree. They come in several lengths from 2-inch rise to 8 inches of nastiness. Generally, it’s a matter of taking off the old riser and bolting these puppies on for a more custom appearance, a better rise for position. If you go with the tall babies, you may need to extend wires and/or cables.
In this case, Bandit is taking a perfectly good and nearly bone stock 1948 Panhead and mounting dual 42mm Mikuni-adapted heads to the 61-inch barrels then changing the old push-type throttle to a quick throttle.
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At the same time he’s giving his lanky form a better position by powdercoating a set of 4-inch CCE risers for a sportier look with a set of narrower FXR type handlebars, which were also powdercoated. This was accomplished with a couple of 1/2-inch Allen bolts about 2.5 inches long with coarse threads. The hardened bolts were turned until they were a press fit into the legs of the springer. Then Bandit protected the threads with a couple of nuts jammed together and the bolts were driven into the rear legs with a brass hammer. Once in place 1/8-inch below the surface of the leg, Bandit brazed them into place. They could have been welded, but he’s a lousy TIG welder and a decent man with a torch. |
He felt that his studs were secure enough to call it quits, but for extra strength you could drill and tap a 1/8 hold in the side of the leg and run a small Allen set screw in for added safety. I mention that because Bandit and George were riding into the Valley one night in 1975 when Bandit looked over at George; one of George’s risers had come out of the springer on his flathead and he was hanging out there loose at 70 mph holding his bars while his bike rode along by itself. Oh, and when you drive the studs into place, make absolutely sure they are straight, and there’s no way to check except with the old eyeball routine. So check ’em, and check ’em again before you weld.
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That just about does it, and since it’s happy hour at Bikernet World Headquarters, we need to shut the garage and walk down to the corner bar. We’ll crawl back later sit in the garage and discuss our next move until the sun comes up and we find a breakfast burrito. Keep watching. Over the next couple of months you’ll see the ’48 come back together. Then we’ll report on just how two carbs on a 61-inch Panhead perform. Should be interesting.
–Wrench
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