I’m a Panhead aficionado. I’ve owned at least a half dozen, so when Markus Cuff shot this stellar 1960 restored Super Sport Solo for American Iron I was intrigued but patient. I had to wait out the magazine publishing deadlines and schedules. It finally hit the bricks in the June 2013 issue, and Jim Babchak aptly handled the story. I asked Bikernet historian Wilburn Roach to dig up any 1960 Pan info he could find, and Bob T., from 7-Palms searched for historic images.
Jim covered the E-Bay purchase and the basics of the restoration, so I started digging, and called Paul Pardini in Marin County above San Francisco. This wasn’t his first turkey shoot. He’s been riding since he was a kit and stumbled across his sloping San Franciscan street to the neighbor’s house. The 16-year-old heard the rumble of freedom calling and went to investigate.
Paul discovered another young man slightly older than him by a couple of years. Jack Clark spun wrenches on his ’49 Panhead with a stock springer front end and a bobbed rear. That straight-pipe meeting sealed Paul’s raucous fate on the streets of San Francisco for several years. He was immediately enamored with the Panhead configuration.
He purchased a ’52 Pan and peeled through the streets of Frisco, raising hell for several years. “I’d still be at it if it wasn’t for my wife, Laurie,” Paul said. “She tugged on me just hard enough to pull me away from the city and harm’s way.”
His marriage would have never lasted if he had remained in the city. My first wife’s name was also Laurie, and she recently passed away under the destructive hands of the Big C. She tried to pull me away from the streets. She would come out on the balcony of our Long Beach apartment in tears and beg me not to ride. It didn’t work and we ultimately parted. I’ll never forget her.
Paul stuck with his Laurie and raised three girls, but he stays in touch with his city-riding partners and relishes the wild times. After 16 years, Paul sold the ’52, bought a Heritage Softail, and then this ’60 Pan.
“Restorations are a pain compared to a chopper,” Paul said. “Finding just the right part, even the correct information regarding the paint scheme was a chore.”
I could sense during the interview the desire to build an early Pan chop again. “I like to customize,” Paul said. “I’ll find another early Pan someday and build it with a springer, a sporty tank, shotgun pipes, a bobbed rear fender and no front. Now we’re talking.”
He still has a garage wall plastered with David Mann paintings. He’s been married 30 years, but the desire to split lanes in the night across the Golden Gate is still a driving force. Enjoy our Panhead investigation.
Panhead History:
The Panhead era was one of the most significant models in Harley history. Beginning in ’48, it was the last year of the springer forks. In 1949, the hydraulic Duo-Glide front end was introduced. Then the rigid frame slipped away in 1959.
Tank shifters gradually were eliminated in the Panhead era, although my first Shovelhead was a ’66 with a tank shifter. The first electric start H-D was introduced in 1965. The 6-volt electrical system was replaced for 12 zots during the Panhead era along with the manual advance distributor, to be replaced by the auto-advance distributor. Even the tin primary fell away under the Panhead watch.
H-D News from 1960
The Harley-Davidson Topper motor scooter is introduced and is the only scooter platform the Motor Company ever produced.
Harley-Davidson purchased a half interest in Aeronatica-Macchi, forming Aermacchi Harley-Davidson, a European division that will produce small, single cylinder motorcycles.
In this year Brad Andres finished 1st place at the Daytona 200. The top 14 finishers were also riding Harley-Davidson 750 KR models.
A Quote from Willie G. Davidson
The first important new product I was involved with was the Electra Glide, introduced in 1965. The Electra Glide exudes familiarity; it was major because it was the first time we used an electric starter on one of our pleasure motorcycles, and the styling was revolutionary.
Look up the word “motorcycle” in a dictionary, and in my mind, you should see a picture of an Electra Glide, possibly a police version. This is the bike that from any distance is unmistakably a Harley-Davidson. It continues to be a very popular motorcycle for a range of riders.
By the sixties, the custom movement had gained a lot of momentum. I remember being in Daytona around then and watching a group of riders pull out of a drive-in. A guy made his way onto the street with an extreme long-raked, pushed out front end. It was the first time I had seen an extended front fork.
— from 100 Years by Willie G. Davidson:
1960 DUO-GLIDE, 74 OHV MODELS
Prices
60 FLHF-Super Sport- Foot Shift $1,375
60 FLH-Super Sport-Hand Shift $1,375
60 FLF-Sport Solo-Foot Shift $1,310
60 FL-Sport Solo-Hand Shift $1,310
Credits for Paul’s Restoration
Assembly: Milwaukee, Sept. 9, 1959
Original Dealer: Dudley Perkins, San Francisco, since 1914
Original Owner: Thomas Bayly
Original Price: $1,375
Engine Rebuild: Dale at Pengrove Motors, Pengrove, California
Transmission: Cleaned original
Frame: sandblasted and painted stock enamel black
Paint: Pete “The Painter” Underground Color, San Francisco
Color: Hi Fi Red and Birch White
