[IMG]
[/IMG]
I am old fashioned, some would say old school, but I never liked school.
I enjoy bike art as much as the next guy, but I was trained to remember modifications should be improvements. Some modifications might be for appearance only, and when the the trade offs are considered, if that modification has made the machine less road worthy, or less safe.. the beauty of your rake or stretch, with a seat off a italian bicycle and handlebar grips above your head might not seem worth it to you in the long run.
I was slow to feel the need for an Evo, but when an almost new engine was offered to me at a price I couldn't refuse, I took the shovel out of my 1983 FLHT and built this bike around it. I wanted to recreate the strip downs that ruled the streets before the word chopper, which appied only to altered frames, came into vogue and misuse.
When my brothers became aware I was building again, they all asked what they could give. I am no mooch and paid for some of the larger components rebuilt tranny and forks, but it wasn't easy, most would not take anything and I have to force some to take something, guns or such in trade.. The spare parts were showered on me by the best men walking.
I put things together the way I wanted, the way I remembered the big guys strip downs looking when I was a 14 year old kid hanging around and keeping up the best I could on my 250 Ducati.
I wanted no battery and the look of the horse shoe style oil bag. One of my brothers welded that oil tank up from steel stock .Such craftsmanship and quality is not available from parts stores at any price. The magneto operates the ignition independently of all other electrical components
The lights are bright and steady as I have retained the stator- regulator- retifier system, it now feeds a capacitor, the size of a D cell under the tank instead of a storage battery.
I don't weld and had help with some brackets but other than that this little bike was made by me, piece by piece, from lacing the spokes, to the paint. The engine is stock except for a Andrews BH cam , Jims lifters and push rods, the S&S two throat, and the Morris M-5 magneto. If I do my drill, this bike will start cold on the first kick everytime.
The generousity of my brothers and the process of doing it all myself , exactly as I wanted it, makes this bike something very special and makes me feel I have the right to feel proud of it in a way someone with a purchased motorcycle can never have.
ps Had I gone totally insane, I would have gone with the the entire strip down formula, using only the left tank half, and no fenders what so ever.
Linear Mode
