1928 Shovelhead

We have a goofy Shovelhead in the Bikernet shop called the 1928 Shovelhead. It has 21-inch wheels front and rear in a Paughco rigid frame, but some 1928 elements were used, including the re-pop semi-flat sided tanks, the rear fender and perhaps the seat. The bike was conceived by Bandit the bastard, built by the crew at Rick Fairless’ Strokers Dallas, with the help of Randy Simpson who manufactured the handlebars. The bike has contained a couple of hiccups and hasn’t been ridden much. Recently, one of Bandit’s friends needed a ride, so Bandit shipped this puppy to Washington. Richard Kransler installed new Avon tires and took it out for a spin. Unfortunately, the early Rivera-Primo belt, stuffed into the ...

 The pressure is on. Lena Fairless, a 15-year-old bubbly Texas beauty, is after Bandit. This hell bent young woman plans to become his sixth wife. To lure the big bastard from the coast, Easyriders of Dallas has been working hard on his Shovelhead under Lena’s strict direction. Even this article was investigated while the shop fabricator was sick in bed awaiting surgery. Lena's wrath reached him bed side. "Keep the project moving," she screamed into the phone, "we've sent out the wedding invitations." We couldn't find Bandit for comment. At this point the motorcycle is almost ready for paint, powder and chrome. According to Jim, who coughed up blood as we forced him to speak clearly into our failing 20-year-old ...

Just when you thought a project slipped off the lift, the paint arrived. Harold Pontarelli of H-D Performance, in Vacaville, California, made this puppy sing. It's now mighty close to pavement miles. What started as a 1984 Mexican Police bike was transformed into a 1928 Shovelhead. All the Compu-fire electrics possible were stashed on brackets built into the frame backbone, under the split halves, of the gas tanks. The finish on the frame, front end, brackets and wheel rims came from Custom Powder Coating in Dallas. The drive to finish the bike came from Lena, the lovely daughter of Rick Fairless, the owner of Strokers Dallas, formerly Easyriders of Dallas. The magazine publisher determined that the 30-odd Easyriders stores around ...

    Here's the deal. The 1928 project was recently completed except for a stylish exhaust system. The antique notion was based on racers from the '20s, something way off the pavement, open and short. JR, the service director of Strokers, explained the steps, "They were cut and pasted together. Bits and pieces from the scrap yard, combined with pre-bent 1 3/4-inch diameter 16-gauge tubing, which is similar to stock. We also used stock exhaust manifold chunks off scrapped systems." He hung up, and I sat back in my chair perplexed. I was faced with the same daunting task when we built the Amazing Shrunken FXR pipes. I had a myriad of questions and called back. "Hold on JR," I ...

    Master builder and mechanic, Deacon, from Pro-Street in Oahu. Bob Kay. from American Iron Horse. was a bro and shipped the retro Shovelhead. from Strokers in Dallas. to LifeStyle Cycles in Orange County, California along with a new batch of Dallas Choppers. It arrived the day before a handful of weary travelers stumbled into Los Angeles. on their way home, from Sturgis, Glen and Kerry Priddle were headed back to Australia after spending almost a month, with a dozen Aussies, roaming the mid west.   Deacon's son Chase and the 1928 Shovelhead. Deacon, his son Chase, and the son's girl Amanda rode several thousand miles averaging 95 mph wherever they rode. Deacon and Chase are both master mechanics. ...

In an effort to stay tuned with the rapidly growing and ever changing industry the staff of Bikernet began a project Shovelhead several years ago in conjunction with Randy Simpson of Milwaukee Iron and Arlen Ness. It's been a strange road, but we're now rolling closer to completion with the assistance of Rick Fairless of Dallas Easyriders and his ace fabricator Jim.  The project began with the purchase of a slightly destroyed Mexican Police bike from Arlen a couple of years ago. He had scored some 300 1984 Mexican cop bikes that had been ridden through several revolutions and costly rebellions. The bikes were shot at, dragged, bombed and ridden harder than any V-twins on the planet. When we first ...