Twin Club MC is one of the oldest and most respected motorcycle clubs in Sweden. It was founded in Norrtälje in the autumn of 1969. For 34 years, since 1974, Twin Club MC produced the biggest and most prestigious Custom Motorcycle Show in all of Scandinavia. Builders from Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Germany and all over Scandinavia and Northern Europe ride their creations in, to the delight of the over 10,000 people who crowd the Societetsparken on the harbor in the heart of this ancient town. Last year the show was chosen by American Motorcycle Dealer Magazine, a well respected industry publication, to be a European affiliate show for their World Championship of Custom Bike Building.

This years first place winner was Itso Kotavuopio of Tampere, Finland.It blew the crowd and the judges away.

Please keep in mind that this show is not a “Chopper Show” but a CUSTOM BIKE SHOW although there were plenty of sweet choppers also entered.

Isto's inspiration came from his experiences with death and re-birth at an early age. In small towns in Finland, old ornate horse drawn hearses are still commonplace. Most of the ideas for the fantastic hand made details were taken from these vintage 1800 carriages.

Looking at the bike, it's difficult if not impossible to tell what's going on under its shell and how it was put together. “That's one of the mysteries of life” Isto explained. I'll try to unravel the mystery here. The frame was made out of 25mm, seamless hydraulic tubing and covered in hand fabricated 1.5 mm. Sheet metal. The sheet metal was first shaped on a Pullmax then finished off by hand hammering to its perfect shape. The frame and fuel tank were then molded with lead, just like vintage custom car makers like George Barris did in Southern California back in the 1950s.

The rims were another major project. Isto drew up the plans and laser cut the blanks himself. He then twisted the spokes, ground them round and hand polished them. Being a Silversmith by trade, Itso took the time to design and hand fabricate each exquisite detail piece you see in the photos. The Flying Eyeball headlight itself took almost 100 hours to complete. It's got a modern bulb and lens wired in.

There are lot of symbols of death and rebirth on the bike. It's an old Finnish custom to ward off evil spirits. For example the hour glass jockey shifter symbolizes time running out. The cross on the petcock and Omega design of the framework symbolize rebirth.

The bike’s engine is a vintage 1942 600cc. 741 Indian remade with JE pistons, a Harley-Davidson M-18 Linkert carburetor and a Wico magneto.Isto also designed and fabricated the exhaust pipes.The 30-degree raked neck attaches to a hand made mono strut girder style lower leg, fitting the curve of the front wheel perfectly, while mounted on the left side of the bike. Notice also that the rear wheel is also mounted to a mono, rear mounted from right side to give the bike its balanced look. The rear brake is an outside shoe designed by Isto himself.

The oil tank had to be custom made, as well, to fit in with the lines of the bike. The handlebars are Bicycle style. The foot pegs were made by Stefan of Chemical Choppers and the foot controls by Jussi Hayha both of Tampere. The tires are white Firestone Racing and balance out nicely with the flawless black and pearl red paint job by Pasi Kovula. The hand tooled leather seat was crafted by Sweet Liquid Skin.

I know what you're thinking, this doesn't exactly look like a contemporary motorcycle. Remember what motor bikes looked like back in the late 1890s before Bill Harley and the Davidson brothers had a few beers together and came up with the bicycle-related modern motorcycle. Also compare those bikes with some of today’s whacky designs. Could this be the new composition for future motorcycles? Doubtful at best but I'm sure there are some innovations and attention to craftsmanship, I for one, would like to see return. Take for instance the inset brass plate that guards the frame’s paint work from the chain rubbing against it. It's the hard-to-detect little things and the over all attention to perfection that cinched the jury first place and the spectators who awarded this creation both best-in-class for the Scandinavian Championship as well as the Peoples Choice Award.

Isto will surely face stiff competition from builders from all around the world when they meet for the finals in the AMD ProShow World Championship of Custom Bike Building at Thunder Road in Sturgis August 2006, but win or loose, Isto, the silversmith from the little town of Tampere, Finland, will surely mark his place in Custom Bike Building history.

–TBear

You can reach the Twin Club below:http://www.twinclubmc.a.seand AMD's link ishttp://www.amdproshow.com/

Here’s the deal, stirred up a couple of weeks ago with one shot of the above motorcycle, based on a seven-cylinder Rotec rotary airplane engine. Rumors spread quickly and we received another shot of an inline 8-cylinder airplane-based, rotary-engine motorcycle.

Of course I contacted my rare-motorcycle guru, Don Whalen, of Sierra Madre Motorcycles in Pasadena, California. He confirmed that the first motorcycle was spotted at the Legends of The Motorcycle Concourse in Half Moon Bay, California, a few weeks ago. “Jesse’s staff was having difficulty pushing the motorcycle across a grassy knoll,” Don explained. “It was so low the engine hung up in a grassy ridge and they had to recruit help to move it.”

He mentioned Jesse James, but I need confirmation. Another reader, Larry Curik, of Lone Star Choppers mentioned the bike to me and suggested that Jesse built it, based on the WCC frame emblem on the neck. I needed another confirmation and received a strange e-mail from Jesse about Sturgis, but at the bottom were two, out-of-focus shots of the bike in his shop. Done deal?

Ah, but the mystery didn’t end there. We are still trying to locate the owner of the 8-cylinder Rotary. In the meantime Don explained that in 1921 a German company produced 5-cylinder, 4-valve-per-head, dual over-head cam, airplane-based motorcycles.

Some 2000 Megola Motorcycles, from 1921-25, were produced with direct drives, no transmissions and the suggestion to orbit intersections, if you’re unable to enter. The Gnome-Et-Rhome engines powered the front wheel. These same engines powered WWI Sopwith Camel bi-planes and were so powerful that they had a tendency to flip the planes during take off. You can imagine the gyroscopic effect on a motorcycle’s front wheel.

Here’s a quote from a Sopwith Camel history site: The First World War saw the advent of the airplane as a viable military weapon. In a period of only a few years, military aircraft advanced from rudimentary flying craft to killing machines. During this time, aerial superiority over the front changed hands as often as new designs were introduced. In 1916, the Germans controlled the skies over the trenches, and the English developed three fighters to regain control of the air war.

The best and most famous of these three designs was the Sopwith Camel. Small and lightweight, the Camel represented the state-of the-art in fighter design at the time. The Sopwith Camel shot down 1,294 enemy aircraft during World War I, more than any other Allied fighter. However, it was so difficult to fly that more men lost their lives while learning to fly it than using it in combat.

So far the only know sighting of the Jesse James' version took place at the Legend of the Motorcycle: International Concours d’Elegance, the first world-class concours exclusively for motorcycles.

The Saturday, May 6th inaugural event attracted approximately 4,300 participants to the lush coastal lawns of the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, California, and raised over $22,000 for charitable organizations.

In attendance were entrants and spectators from five continents admiring the more than 250 motorcycles on display, ranging from an 1895 Pennington brought down from British Columbia to a 2005 KTM Moto GP factory racer shipped over from Austria. While the concours only judged bikes made before 1976, many later models were on exhibit to represent the evolution of motorcycling. Whether it was a 1995 Britten or a recent custom creation from Arlen Ness, almost every facet of motorcycle sport and culture was represented.

Kiehl’s Since 1851 sponsored the Steve McQueen Award conferred by Ewan McGregor and Peter Fonda, along with Steve McQueen’s last wife, Barbara Minty McQueen, to Jim Lattin of California for his 1928 Cleveland Racer, while the Best of Show went to a 1940 Crocker owned by Mike Madden of California.

Pictures, a list of class winners from this year, and a complete list of sponsors are available on the website, www.LegendoftheMotorcycle.com.

“We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support and we’re already planning for 2007,” says Zaugg. Next year’s event will take place the first Saturday in May and will have as its featured marques Vincent, Excelsior and Henderson.

They had a cool event, but didn’t have a Megola Motorcycle, but Don spotted one on E-bay less than a week ago. “Jay Leno has one,” Don told me, “but there are very few still around. They are worth between $150,000 and $200,000.” We hope to bring you more on this mystery as it unfolds.

AIRPLANE BIKE UPDATE: Less than 24 hours after this article launched, new information appeared on my screen. I’ll let Philip Wakeham’s words straighten out mine—Bandit.

Greetings from England.Loved the aero-engine bike article.I’ve attached a pic of the Megola, a fantastic machine, but it didn’t use the engine form a Camel!

Sopwith used a variety of engines from 100-hp Gnome, 130-hp Clerget to the 150-hp Bentley, but they were all big 9-cyl rotaries. Incidentally they didn’t have throttles power was reduced by cutting the ignition “blipping” whilst landing.Also none of the bikes in your articles are Rotary engines! They're all Radials, the difference being that rotary engines the entire engine rotates whilst the crankshaft stays still!! Where as radials work like conventional engines with the crank rotating and the engine staying still.

The Megola did use a rotary the whole engine spinning with the wheel.

I've also included a pic of another bike with a small radial claimed to be a French bike from the 1900s but in fact made recently in England.

Though one of my favorite aero-engine bikes is the Curtis V8

Hope this is of some help

–Philip

P.S. did you here about the Australian guy who cut to cylinders off the end of a 27L (1647ci) Merlin v12 out of a spitfire to make a v twin for his bike! There are pics on the web some where.

Here’s what we know about the bike in the second image from the top: It’s a Rotec's 7 cylinder 110HP R2800, and they make a Rotec's 9 cylinder 150HP R3600.This 80% Stearman is Under Construction.It’s the1st Chopper to have a R2800 Fitted.Credits go to: Rotec's Paul, Hevle's Eric (Stearman), Ron Herron (Little wing) and John Levey (JRL Motorcycles)

You can Contact Rotec Engineering on International dial 61 3 9587 9530 9.00am to 5.00pm Melbourne Australian time, or within Australia call (03) 9587 9530 or Mobile 0412 469 964.

Latest update 7/06:

My name in Mike Redpath. I was the person who was originally contacted to modify the motor to work in a bike frame. The work was done 3-4 years ago. A guy from Kansas (can't remember his name) called me with a project and would not tell me what it was except he wanted to modify a Rotec engine. When he showed up at my shop and had a bike frame in his van, I knew it was going to be a challenge to make the motor work like he wanted it installed.

A very good friend of mine, Robert Barnett, is a tool and die maker/machinist did all the machine work. We never mounted the motor in the frame, so I can't say if that is the frame the guy had or Jesse's frame design.

I always wondered what happened to the bike. The person we did the work for wanted to sell it to Jay Leno, Jesse James, or some like that who had the resources to bring the idea to life. Anyway's, while watching “Motorcycle Mania 3” a couple years ago when it came out on TV, I caught a glimpse of the motor sitting on the back bench of Jesse's shop. I am glad Jesse did finally build the bike. We had real doubts the bike would work and viewed it more as something to look at. I have included a picture of me (on the left) and the guy we did the work for (on the right).

Mike Redpath
405-414-1072

This just in from a Bikernet Reader:

The finals for the Official World Championship will be held during Sturgis Bike Week in the United States later this year (August 6th-8th). The European and World Championship program, includes endorsements of approved national affiliate events around Europe and elsewhere. It all comes together this year in Sturgis. We’ll bring you the final report and winners in September.

This is our last feature of the winners, out of 127 entries. As you can see, this is the first chopper in the mix, and wouldn’t you know it—Robin Bradley didn’t cover this bike in his report, although it extended to 10th place. I’m sure he didn’t intend to dismiss the 8th Place winning bike by Thomas Habermann of Habermann-Performance GmbH in Erbach-Ringingen, Germany. From my standpoint the chopper gods would spit on my grave if a glistening chopper wasn’t represented and this is one helluva example.

May the evil spirit of the night who draws us into dank garages with perfectly fine motorcycles, praise this offering. He is the one to drives us to dismantle highly engineered machinery, strip it to its barely functioning core, modify it beyond all reasonable means, remove anything that doesn’t speak of the night, shapely women and treachery, adorn it with layers of paint worthy of fine art and ride the sonuvabitch to hell.–Bandit

Photos and most text courtesy of:
Robin Bradley
Publisher/Owner
American Motorcycle Dealer
robin@dealer-world.com

8th PLACE EUROPEAN CHAMPION 2006

Bike Name: Balor

Business: Habermann-Performance GmbH
Erbach-Ringingen, Germany
www.Habermann-Performance.com

Builders’ Name: Habermann-Performance GmbH

Owner’s Name: Thomas Habermann

Year/Model: 2006

Engine Make/size: OEM Twin Cam 1550ccm

Frame Make: Habermann-Performance GmbH
Type: Rigid (oneleg)
Rake and stretch: 40° 5-inch

Transmission: 6-Speed

Wheel (front): 2,5″ x 19″ RC Components
Wheel (Rear): 12″ x 17″ RC Components

Brakes (front): 2 Kolben PM
Brakes Rear: Felgenbremse Habermann-Performance

Tyre (front): 90-90-19 Avon
Tyre (rear): 330-35-17 Avon

Painter: Bianca Hennig Fanta D

Chroming/Plating : Fa Kiesling D-Neusäß

As a boy my dream was to own a Harley.I got that chance when my nana past away 7 years ago.She never wanted me to get a bike because her Grandad was a daredevil & she use to say I was just like him.

I brought the bike Trader & looked through it cover to cover.A small add stood out, 1974 Ironhead Sportster 1000cc £2000.I asked a few people regarding what to look out for when I went to see it.Everyone said buy an Evo.As soon as I laid eyes on the old girl, I knew I was going to buy her, even though I knew nothing about old iron, and the choice was against everyone's advice.But hell, I was born the same year, so it was meant to be.

Sixty miles down the M1 highway from the purchase location my stubborn relationship with Janisstarted.Four hours later Dave, my mate who took me on his bike to buy my new pride & joy, and me arrived in a tow truck at my garage.To top off a bloody long day, the truck driver released the straps before we were even on the back of the truck, and in slow motion we watched the bike hit the deck.

Four months later I finally got my bike back after a complete motor rebuild.Riverside Motorcycles in Putney, London, UK recommended a complete rebuild even though the top end was all that went tits up.

Four weeks after riding about , the pinion shaft snaps in half.Back to Riverside, repaired for nothing but his guarantee stopped after that.At this point I started reading the manual and getting to know this beast. as I couldn’t keep chucking money away.Plus her in doors wasn't too pleased about this new pile of broken down metal.

I rode around on her for a while, before I decided I started to personalise her a bit.I had heard of Biker Build-offs from a local Harley mechanic who turned out to be a great friend and wealth of knowledge when it come to old Ironheads,Dave at Sunset Motorcycles in Bexley Kent, UK.I discovered two very inspirational builders in Billy Lane & the late Indian Larry were the driving force behind my changes.

Before I left England to go back home to New Zealand I had a springer made for £50 & a shop sign by Steve aka The Angle Grinder Man of SAS Engineering.He is a top fab man & a great bloke.The springer will go on next winter, as I don't want the bike off the road again right now.

My old Bendix carb shit itself so I brought a new one and fitted it.I liked the look of the teardrop air-filter covers but couldn't afford the £80 for one so I decided to make one.I snatched some chicken wire & fibre glass, some P38 bog, and a few faint-headed moments with the fumes and wella £10 later a new air-filter cover.

I had painted her a typical ‘50s style and wanted something different.I love the History of WWII, and this was to be the inspiration of the paint theme for Janis.I decided to call her Janis, after Janis Joplin, because she was a stubborn bitch with loads of character.

Archie Dickens was a famous Pin Up Artist who I met, what turned out to be a scary introduction.He was 97 when I met him to pick his brains regarding painting Pin Up Girls.He had a stroke there & then.After the panic of making sure he was conscious I rang the ambulance.As he was being wheeled away he said come back in a few weeks & we'll start off where we finished.Old Archie died 4 weeks later.The artwork on the air-filter cover is one of his. RIP Archie.

I joined the Harley riders club of Great Britain, www.harley-davidson-hangout.comwhere there was knowledge on tap.It was here I got the idea to change the front caliper so Janis would stop a bit better.A bloke called Roger had just done it on his Ironhead & emailed me the info.The Nissan caliper is off a sports bike and has 4 pistons, and too make it work better you can link them up.It works a treat.

I brought a rear whitewall tyre as I knew it would look right with the overall look I had in mind.Boy that was fun changing my first tyre!

My mate Kiwi Dave from the Riders club had just changed his H-D to a jockey shift.I did a little research & decided I'd get the bits together to do this.I cut up an old sissy bar & got the Anglegrinder man to weld them together for my forward controls.I've cut up an old clutch cable a couple of times so I have a few spares for the foot clutch.I've made a gear lever from a MR2 car shifter with a WWI German egg grenade for the knob.Once again it's a project for the future to install.

My wife and I decided to up sticks and move back to New Zealand.My old man is a stainless steel fabricator which has been awesome.I showed him my plans for the Mustang tank, and we got on to it straight away.There's nothing like learning to weld but learning from ya Dad is even better.He welded the round stock & the extra panels on the top of the tank to hold the A12 Austin Panel van bonnet badge I bought off Trade Me.As soon as I saw this badge I remembered the one Billy Lane put on his bike in the Build-off with Indian Larry, and I thought it would be perfect.The “A” stands for Spitfire Ace as well.

The reason I've tried to scrimp with parts and make as much as I can is it is really expensive in New Zealand for parts etc.There is a Chopper shop opened in Christchurch and one in Wellington, but the style of bikes are the long choppers, I think they may even be imported from a company in the U.S. The price ranges from 50K up.The only Harleys around are new from the factory.You see quite a few old Trumps and BSAs about which is pretty cool.I've never seen a Bobber as such like mine.If you are lucky enough to be able to afford a bike there is some awesome open roads to ride on.

My first go at welding was the relocation of the fixing brackets on the tank.I was quite surprised how quickly I picked up the knack of TIG. It is a very similar movement to airbrushing.I then filled in the tank with bog (Bondo) and started the sanding process.As I said earlier the artwork is inspired by Archie and my interest in WWII.

The flames are gold leaf & inspired by Robert Pradke, he makes it look bloody easy but believe me it's not.I need a bit more stripping practice.Robert your a God!

I only get 69 miles to the tank now but I'm rapt with the way it looks so who cares. I wanted to add a little Larry & Billy touch so I did a gold leaf collage on the oil tank with elements of the two masters.

The 12-inch apes were brought at a Harley Boot Sale for £5. I think they’re homemade.I brought the springer headlight in the US on transit back to NZ & added the gold leaf touch to the light surround.The bracket is a piece of copper bar I had lying about which I bent to the right angle.It should transfer easy enough to the springer.

I had another challenging time with Janis when I got back to New Zealand. The wiring fired.Sick of throwing money at every Tom Dick & Harry, I rewired her myself.I got a friend to check it, and I'm quite proud to say I did a good job.I put the nicest set of turn-signal indicators to match the style I could find.You need them in NZ as the drivers are crap.

Next thing was to change the seat.A local bloke wanted $800NZ to do a solo seat so you can imagine what I said to that.I brought a book off Trade Me for $5 on leatherwork.My Dad got me some copper 16gauge & I made a seat pan.Dad welded a strengthening bracket to it.I wanted copper, so it would reflect off the top of the chrome battery top.I then found the Paul Cox tech sheet on this site, and I was rapt.I followed that step by step, and the result was one of the most satisfying parts of the whole project.I then got carried away and made a single saddle bag as a tool bag.

The rear mudguard was brought at a Harley Boot Sale for £5. It was all bent up so I had to do a bit of panel beating to that.I repositioned the fixing holes as it sat too high on the bike.I brought the beehive brake light as it looked right.

I had drag pipes on it, but so did everyone else so I brought some cool old looking mufflers.But the front one came off, and I couldn't find it, so that gave me an excuse to make a custom set.I got a couple of bends from a car muffler shop, cut them to the right size, and Dad welded them on.I turned them up slightly just like Mr. Lane recommends.I can't afford chroming so I thought I might spray them white with heat resistant paint.If that looks crap I'll wrap them.They sound awesome! I wish I could video them on my digital camera, and you post it on the site.

(We will launch Bikernet TV in 2007 and be able to post everything from events to techs.

I've spent countless hours looking through The Horse mag, checking Bikernet and watching Biker Build-off episodes.I'm over the moon with the look of the bike, and the finishing touch will be the springer.After being off the road so frequently in the past, I am enjoying riding it to work everyday.

There's not really anything in New Zealand with this sort of look so it's quite cool when people have stare.We' ve decided to move back to England so my goal is the ride to the Harley Riders Clubs Vintage 50th Sportster Anniversary in July 2007.

She's been a stubborn bitch but we’re slowly starting to get on now.I will never sell Janis. She's left to my son in my Will so he won't be getting her for some time yet.

Cheers

–Tibbs

P.S. I forgot to mention the gold tap I tried to use.It's a gas tap and I machined out some grooves on the tap itself and fit some small o-rings on it.I brought a really old lathe and am teaching myself how to use it.But the bloody petrol just poured out.I'm going to try and find the perfect size o-ring and maybe slip the tap in with a bit of grease.I want to solve this little problem, as it looks sweet with my tank.

BIKERNET/TONY TIBBOTS SPEC CHART

Owner: Tony Tibbotts
City/State: Christchurch, New Zealand

Builder:Tony Tibbotts
City/state: tonytibbotts@yahoo.co.nz
Fabrication: Tony Tibbotts & Cobbers
Welding: Arnie Tibbotts(Dad), Tony Tibbotts,Steve SAS Engineering(Angle Grinder Man)(UK)
Machining: Tony Tibbotts, Steve (Angle grinder man)

Engine

Year: 1974
Make: 1000cc Ironhead
Model: Sporty
Displacement: 1000cc
Builder or Rebuilder: Jeff Murphy, Riverside motorcycles, UK
Cases: STD cases
Case finish: STD
Barrels: Stock
Bore: .010″ over stock I think
Pistons: Superior.010
Barrel finish: Spray Can Black
Heads:STD H-D
Head finish: Spray can Black
Carburetion: Bendix carb, homemade teardrop aircleaner, made from chicken wire, fibre glass and bog.

Transmission

Year: Stock
Make:H-D
Gear configuration: Stock
Final drive: Stock
Primary: Stock
Clutch: Stock

Frame

Year: 1974
Make: H-D Stock
Style or Model: Stock
Stretch: Stock
Rake: Stock
Modifications: A few more holes here & there.

Front End

Make: Stock, Springer to go on I got the plans from www.mcdschopperprints.comHad a few teething problems with them, but their customer service was great. The Anglegrinder man welded it up for me.The rockers are a Kiwi bird logo I had cut through a work contact.I did the paint to match the tank, just cleared the front tubes.The bronze caps are from British WWII anti aircraft bullets.
Model: Stock, Showa
Year: 1974
Length: Stock
Mods: None

Sheet metal

Tanks: Arnie Tibbotts and Tony Tibbotts, my Dad did a great job turning my Mustang Tank into a dished tank aka Indian Larry Style.
Fenders: Dorking Harley Boot Sale, rear fender was 10 pounds which was bent to hell, I straightened it best I could.No front fender.
Oil tank: Stock with gold leaf image of Indian Larry & Billy Lane

Paint

Sheet metal: Tony Tibbotts
Molding: Tony Tibbotts, A lot of bog & even more sanding but it was rewarding when finished.
Base coat: PPG Tiger84U Matalic Orange
Graphics: Tony Tibbotts, WWII Pin up art airbrushed with rivet background. Gold leaf flames on the top & bottom, inspiration Robert Pradke.
Frame: Stock, couldn't bare having it off the road any longer so the motor stayed in.
Base coat: Black
Graphics or art: Tony Tibbotts, WWII Pin up Art, gold leaf flames
Special effects: Tony Tibbotts
Pinstriping: Tony Tibbotts, this was challenging as well, I can paint & draw but stripping is definitely an art. Practice Practice, I'll get there.I wish Robert Pradke was after a apprentice!

Wheels

Front
Make: Dunlop
Size: 21″
Brake calipers: Nissan conversion on front, this was one of the best things I couldn't have done.
Tire: Dunlop

Rear
Make: Avon
Size: 16″ Spoke
Brake calipers: H-D Drum
Tire: Avon Venom X Whitewall 130/90

Controls

Foot controls: Floor boards, mini Custom Chrome, fabricated bracket to fit. I've made a set of forwards but haven't fitted them yet. I cut a old sissy bar & fabricated them so they can be used with a jockey shift.
Brake lines: Braided
Handlebar controls: Stock
Finish: Black
Clutch Cable: Braided
Brake Lines: Braided
Shifting: Foot-shift, jockey to come just need to install.I've welded a bracket to the battery box to create the cross over for the shifter. My shifter is off a MR2 & the knob is a WWI German egg grenade.

Electrical

Ignition: Stock battery ignition
Coils: Accel Super coil
Regulator: Custom Chrome
Charging: Stock
Wiring: Stock I rewired it to the manual
Harness: Custom Chrome
Headlight: Early Springer model
Taillight: Beehive, the Pin Up girl attached was a beer can holder.
Accessory lights: Bullet marker indicators, Harley boot sale, you need indicators in NZ as the drivers are crap.
Switches: Stock
Battery: Yuasa 32-amp, I had to make a bigger box for it to fit.

What's Left

Seat: I made the pan from copper & dad welded a t-bracket to add strength. I did the leather work from the Paul Cox How-to on this site. I'm rapt with the result.
Pipes: Cut up drags and added Tips Billy Lane style
Mufflers: Use to, one fell off.
Exhaust finish: Stainless
Gas caps: Stock
Handlebars: Home made apes, 12″ Harley Boot Sale
Grips: Antique
Pegs: Stock and forwards mini custom chrome boards.
Oil filter: Per Form
Oil cooler: Jagg Oil Cooler, Bargain 15 pounds.
Oil lines: I bent up some copper, idea from Billy Lanes second book.

Fuel filter: Custom Chrome
Fuel Lines: Clear
Throttle: Stock
Throttle cables: Black Stock
Fasteners: All sorts

Specialty items:I like the airfilter cover I made as these are bloody expensive. The tribute to Archie is for the late Archie Dickens a famous Pin Up artist, RIP Archie.I made the single saddle bag for a tool bag.

Comments:Thanks to Dad & Steve (Anglegrinder man) for welding.Dave @ Sunset Motorcycles in UK for loads of free advice.Finally they probably get it all the time but Indian Larry & Billy Lane were a great inspiration in the look of Janis & I'm grateful you guys do what you do. RIP Larry

I started building a bike for two reasons: I needed something new to ride, and I didn't want bike payments. I had an idea of what I wanted. I liked the looks of the bare bone choppers, with no gimmicks. I like long springer front ends, and I like fat back tires (to an extent). The first thing I had to do was figure out what I really wanted.

I am a big fan of Billy Lane's bikes, and I really liked his “Whole Lotta' Rosie” bike. I decide these were the dimensions I wanted my bike to have. I did a little homework and learned Billy's frame was a 6 up, 4 out Santee frame with a 42-degree rake and a 250 tire. It had a high mounted gas tank, straight and low split handlebars, plus a long springer front end. I remembered reading in his first book that he said if you can't afford what you want to buy, pick up a book and learn how to make it, so that's what I was going to do.

I only had basic hand tools and a flux core wire feed welder, but I figured I could tack all my parts with it and pay someone else to TIG everything. The parts I couldn't make I thought I would just pick up at a swap meet, and once it was finished I was going to rattle can everything flat black. Nice and simple.

I got an old springer front end, which was made in the early ‘70s from my dad. It came with an old Panhead chopper he bought. It was just extra parts, so he didn't need ‘em. It was missing a lot of pieces, but I figured I could make it work, and it was free.

Next I started shopping around for a good frame, I looked high and low for a good deal on a quality frame and finally came across Chopperhead Road's ad in The Horse Backstreet Choppers. Through them I got a frame with the exact dimensions for $999, and it turned out to be a great frame. Next I started shopping around for the rest of the parts for a rolling chassis. I started to look at local swap meets, but couldn't find anything that was worth anywhere close to what people wanted for it. Soon after this I met a good friend of mine named Andy Schupbach, who introduced me to eBay. It wouldn't be long before the good deals started rolling in.

I started shopping around on eBay and in no time I had wheels and tires. Around this time Andy introduced me to a guy named Bob Archambeau, who used to be a tool and die machinist for General Motors, but is now retired. It turns out he has a 3 phase lathe and mill all hooked up in his garage, and he likes to work for cheap! Bob made me some of the front end parts I was missing, and at the same time I continued to shop around for the rest of the parts on eBay. I now had a rolling chassis and would enjoy riding it whenever I could find someone to push.

I started looking for a motor and tranny, I didn't really have a preference other than the fact that I wanted a kick-start only bike. I preferred a Shovelhead motor but I was open to anything because of my budget. Sometime around June of 2005 I got a good deal on a ‘79 four-speed tranny, which was, “freshly rebuilt with Andrews gears.” I bought it, took the guys word it’s condition and started to figure out my offset distance for the tranny plate, so I could get around that big ass back tire.

Andy showed me how to use the Bridgeport vertical mill at work, so I messed with it a little and in no time I was hacking parts out with the best of them. I made my tranny plate out of a chunk of 1/2 inch thick aluminum, and on the third or fourth try I got it right. I was still shopping for a motor and belt drive, but at the same time I was learning a little about fabrication while building the handlebars, oil tank mounts and rear fender. Sometime around August I came across a guy selling a bunch of leftover Shovelhead parts on eBay. For about $700 I scored just about everything, except pistons, cases, rockers and boxes, push rods and tubes, lifters, electrical, and so on. In other words I bought a bunch of junk that was nowhere near a complete motor. My plan at this time was to rebuild the motor with aftermarket cases, and shop around for everything else.

I kept shopping and came up with some rocker boxes which I was splitting, rounding off and re-polishing. I found a dual throat dell'orto carb set up with the manifold, which was supposed to be in good working order. I also found a belt drive: a 1 ½-inch wide Primo, which I wanted to use to be different, I just needed the clutch parts. I started piecing the clutch together at my local parts store. I also came up with the crazy idea of using old 1950s aluminum malt cups for velocity stacks. I machined a single flange from 1/2 inch aluminum and welded the cups to it. Then I smoothed out the welds and polished everything. The finished product was a dual throat, 6-inch velocity stack, which shared a single flange. By about this time I was starting to get quite a parts collection. My house was starting to look like a salvage yard, because that's where I kept everything, due to a leaky garage roof.

Everything was rolling along up to this point, so it was about time for disaster to strike. In November some punk kids kicked in my door, in the middle of the afternoon, while I was gone. They grabbed all my electronics, some tools, and apparently anything that was shiny. From what I could tell these idiots didn't know a fucking thing about cycle parts. They grabbed my brake caliper but not the rotor, one reworked rocker box but not the other, the stock Shovel heads, but without taking the valves and springs that were right next to them, and finally the carbs and velocity stacks, which I worked so hard on.

I'm sure that once these “thugs” figured out that they couldn't get a dime for the parts they stole, they got tossed to the curb. Meanwhile I was left with so few engine parts that I was better off to start looking for a whole motor than replace everything and continue to shop for what I still needed.

Within another month I received a hefty check from the insurance company, so I started looking for a complete motor. I found a few Evo's going for reasonable prices, but I really grew to like the old Shovelhead motor that I once dreamed of. I watched eBay like a hawk and it paid off, because before long I came across the deal of a lifetime. For $2,400 I bought a complete motor, which only had about 1,500 miles on it. It turns out that the guy built it to show it and rarely rode it further than down the road and back. It was titled as a ‘78 Shovelhead motor but that's hardly what it was. When it was rebuilt it was based on STD cases, with all Crane Cams valve-train components, Keith Black pistons, an S&S HVHP oil pump, and STD Panhead, dual plug heads to top it off. The only thing stock about this motor was the fly wheels and the jugs. Needless to say I got a pretty good deal, but it gets even better. The owner threw in a Daytona Twin Tech single fire ignition, and a complete charging system. Like I said, “deal of a lifetime'.

Those crooks did me one hell of a favor because if it weren't for them I'd still be piecing together a rattly old stock Shovelhead, built out of everyone else's left over parts. I could also start selling some of the old Shovelhead parts on eBay to help finance the rest of the project.

The next couple of months went by fast. I was learning a lot about metal fabrication. I learned to TIG weld from Andy, and I was taking a Machining class at the local community college. Andy drastically changed my original plans, definitely for the better. He helped me fabricate a lot of my parts at work, and he gave me the idea of making all the pegs and other bolt on parts out of twisted steel. Of course this was all inspired by Indian Larry, whom I am a great fan of.

I thought of tapering the steel square stock before it was twisted, which put a new “twist” on it. I still haven't seen anybody else do it quite like that. I also tapered and twisted some hex stock, and decided it would look great as a sissy bar, foot controls, and some other small parts. The hex stock really keeps a nice round shape when it is twisted and it also stays straight.

The tranny I bought the previous summer didn't quite look right next to the motor due to some black powder coating on the motor. I decided to tear down the tranny and polish the case, and send the covers off to be powder coated gloss black. It was when I did this that I realized something didn't quite look right about this picture. This tranny was rebuilt, yet it had globs of sealant on the outside of the case around the counter shaft seal.

I didn't want it leaking all over my back wheel so I bought a manual and decided to tear it apart and change all the seals. When I got it all apart, I figured I might as well add some style to it, so I TIG welded some flames I already had hand-sculpted out of aluminum. When I was done with this I smoothed out the welds (remember at this point I'm still learning to weld. so my beads looked like shit) and polished the whole case. Now, when you look at the tranny, the flames appear to be melting right out of the back of the case, and it looks awesome. I didn't want to have any regrets later so I decided to change all the bearings because some of them didn't look too “rebuilt.” I was certain that this tranny was a huge piece-of-shit and I bought someone else's headaches. The counter shaft leaked due to extreme heat coming off of the bearings. This heat was happening because some asshole pounded the bearings in despite the fact that the hole was about .010-inch smaller than the outside of the bearing. I had my machinist friend bore the hole in the counter shaft to accept the new bearings and before long I had it all going together smoothly. At this point I also learned that all the gears were stock Harley-Davidson parts and that the year this tranny was made Harley was producing some real garbage. Oh well, it was too late to turn back now.

This tranny was definitely a lesson, but I am glad that I can now say I know how to rebuild a tranny, while the asshole that sold it to me never learned.

I didn't have a welder so a lot of the fabrication was going on at work, after the shift. The general foreman didn't like it, so finally it got to the point where he was threatening to fire me. My union reps confirmed that he could, if I got caught using their company equipment again. I needed to buy a TIG welder, so back to eBay I went. I found a barely used Miller syncrowave 180 for under $800, so I drove down to Indianapolis to get it.

The next couple of months sailed by. I fabricated my gas tank, my oil tank, all my controls including the handlebars, and I was getting sharp on a mill and lathe. I made my own license plate frame/taillight using a ‘64 impala lens. I used a lathe in my machining class so I turned all my own brackets and mounts out of round stock. I bought some exhaust flanges from Fab Kevin and tubing out of Jeg's and welded up my pipes with some help from my Dad. I didn't want to spend $400-600 dollars on a brake caliper to go with my sprotor set-up, so I decided to try a Wilwood caliper for a car, also out of Jeg's.

I found a dual Edelbrock carb set-up, mounted on an early weber manifold with S&S velocity stacks on eBay. I also found a good deal on a 3-inch BDL belt drive. which I decided to use to hold up the extra power of my new motor. By early May I had a complete bike, minus paint.

This was my first build and I was figuring out most of it as it progressed. Needless to say I didn't want to have to change anything after it was all painted. I wired everything up while it was all in raw steel, and with about 8 kicks the beast was alive. It was leaking a little oil, but it ran, and that was all that mattered to me at that point.

Within about a week I had it all torn apart, and my good friend Andy was going to paint it for me in his garage, with his paint, and he wasn't charging me a dime, except that I had to repay him for the paint. He volunteered to mold the gas tank, and he did all the work that took any know-how. I just helped as much as I could, molding the frame and sanding where he said to sand.

By about early June I had all the parts back from the chromer, the paint work was done. I had some awesome pinstripes thanks to Chris Hornus of Flint Michigan, and it was time to bolt it all back together and get her running. Reassembly was a breeze, probably because I took it so far in the mock up stage. I put together everything in four days, and it only took about five kicks to start it the second time.

I had a couple small bugs to work out. I couldn't run velocity stacks on the Edelbrock carbs, and I was constantly blowing oil out of my breather line. These were all minor problems and were nothing to overcome. I had to install the stock air cleaner on temporarily, but eventually I put two flathead ford air cleaners on it, they look wild. I also fabricated a bracket out of aluminum to hold a half pint Jack Daniel's bottle, which acts as a catch can for the breather.

As soon as it ran, it was my only transportation, because my truck's rear-end went out in late April. I could only do one project at a time and I made gettin' the bike done my priority. Who wants to drive a truck in June anyway, right? Within a month I had all the bugs worked out, so my trusting girlfriend and I took the blue bomb on it's first long trip, from Flint to Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, and back, which was about 1,200 miles. I am happy to say it went beautifully with only one minor set back on the way back when my alternator loosened up. luckily I was only about 2 miles into the trip home, so I was able to push it back to the cabin and get it fixed soon enough to catch the second ferry ride across Lake Michigan.

For three months this was my only transportation, I used it to travel 30 miles a day to work and back, and I still beat the hell out of it every weekend. I am proud to say that everything is holding up great. To top it all off I won best of show for the 2006 bike night season at a local bar, Scooter's Bar and Grill. (www.scootersbarandgrill.com)

This whole experience was great for me, and I can't wait to do it all over again this winter. I decided to make some subtle changes to this bike, and I am also building a Buell based chopper, which I will most likely sell to finance a ‘54 Panhead project. I'll send some pics of those when I can.

Eric’s Blue Bomb Spec Sheet

Owner: Eric Barnett
City/State: Flint Michigan

Builder: Eric Barnett
City/state ( or company contact info): cyclepartsmaniac@yahoo.com www.myspace.com/choppin_steel
Fabrication: Eric Barnett and friends
Manufacturing: Eric Barnett
Welding: Eric Barnett and Andy Schupbach
Machining: Eric Barnett and Bob Archambeau

Engine

Year: 1978
Make: 1340 cc Shovelhead
Model: Big Twin
Displacement: 1340 cc
Builder or Rebuilder: Richard Zubli, of Zubli Engineering
Cases: STD cases and STD Panhead heads
Case finish: Cast
Barrels: Stock Harley
Bore: .010″ over stock
Pistons: Keith Black 10:1
Barrel finish: Powder coated gloss black
Lower end: Stock Harley
Stroke: Stock
Rods: Stock
Heads: STD dual plug pan heads
Head finish: Powder coated gloss black
Valves and springs: Crane cam, stock size
Pushrods: Crane cams
Cams: Crane Cams, roughly .570″ lift, duration unknown.
Lifters: Crane cams, solid
Carburetion: Dual 38mm Edelbrock mounted on an old Dellorto manifold, with flathead Ford aircleaners
Other:

Transmission

I bought it on eBay and got royally fucked on it.
Year: 1979
Make: 4-speed,
Gear configuration: as far as I know it's all stock gear ratios
Final drive: Stock
Primary: BDL 3-inch open belt, no backing plate
Clutch: BDL

Frame

Year: 2005
Make: Chopperhead Road
Style or Model: Double down tube rigid
Stretch: 6 up and 4 out
Rake: 42 degrees
Modifications: I cut the tubes around the seat area away from the back bone, shortened them and bent them in, then welded them to the seat post tube. I also used one frame tube as an air tank to fill the airbags, under the seat.

Front End

Make: Very long and narrow springer which was originally built in the '70s. This was actually the first piece I had for this project.
Year: '70s
Length: a mile
Mods: I had to shorten it by about 14 inches, make new rockers, come up with some shoulder bolts for the rockers to pivot on. I had a custom pin and top plate made for the triple trees by Bob Archambeau.

Sheet metal

Tanks: Eric Barnett
Fenders: West Coast Chopper cut in half, (they were having a sale).
Oil tank: I made the oil tank from a really long air cylinder, cut in half. The tank has two chambers, the return oil fills one chamber, then flows to and through the second chamber before being fed to the motor. The two chambers are held together by about 12 fins made of 3/16 by 1/2 inch flat stock, which I welded on individually and them rounded off with a grinder and polished. I had in between the fins powder coated gloss black so I didn't have to polish there. I'd say I have about 80 hours in it, but it turned out pretty cool.

Paint
Molding: Eric Barnet and Andy Schupbach
Paint: Andy Schupbach
Graphics: engine turnded silver leaf scallops by Eric Barnett and Andy Schupbach
Pinstriping: Chris Hornus of flint Michigan

Wheels

Front
Size: 21 by 2.15 80 spoke with twisted spokes
Brake calipers: No front brake
Brake rotor(s): Nope
Tire: 80/90 21 Dunlop

Rear
Make: DNA
Size: 18 by 8.5 40 spoke
Brake calipers: Wilwood Dynalite caliper for a car
Brake rotor: Sprotor style made by a machine shop in Lansing Michigan
Pulley: Sprotor
Tire: Dunlop 250/45R18

Controls

Foot controls: Hand made by me, tapered and twisted hex stock, with '60s Chevy emblems for pedals.
Finish: Chrome
Master cylinder: I believe it's for a newer Indian, eBay item.
Brake lines: Braided
Handlebar controls: None
Clutch Cable: No cable, foot clutch with twisted hexagon likage.
Brake Lines
Shifting: Jockey shift, tapered and twisted hex stock, with custom handle made by me.

Electrical

Ignition: Daytona twin tech Dual plug, single fire with multispark.
Ignition switch: toggle
Coils: Another eBay item, dual coils from Big Dog, mounted in Gas Tank.
Regulator: Stock Harley
Charging: Stock Harley
Wiring: 4 wires, nice and simple.
Headlight: Harley 5.75″
Taillight: '64 Impala taillight mounted in a plate frame made by me.
Accessory lights: None
Electrical accessories: nada
Switches: none
Battery: Odyssey dry cell

What's Left

Seat: I made the pan and did the foam, Leatherman of Flint Michigan did the leather work, also has two goodyear air bags hidden under it for a little comfort on them long rides.
Pipes: Fab Kevin did the Stainless steel flanges, I welded the pipes up.
Mufflers: No way,
Exhaust finish: The first bend and the flange is stainless, most of the pipe is steel, and the tips are autozone chrome. I wrapped most of the pipe in black header wrap so all you see is a little stainless at the beginning and a little chrome at the end.
Gas caps: Brass pipe cap, I turned it on a lathe to put a little style on it. (and because it used to say CHINA on the top)
Handlebars: 1.25 o.d. d.o.m. tubing,
Grips: bars are drilled on the end and I stuck another tube inside, I then welded the end up and smoothed it out for a seamless look. No padding, lots of grip.
Pegs: Tapered and twisted 1″ square stock
Oil filter: Fram racing filter, holds almost a quart.
Oil cooler: Tank doubles as a cooler
Oil lines: black rubber lines
Fuel filter: no, probably should get one I guess
Fuel Lines: clear plastic
Throttle: Cheap internal throttle I got off of eBay, has a bronze bushing instead of a bearing, I don't suggest buying one because mine is looking very rough after only 6 months, this is one thing I wish I wasn't trying to save money on because now It's welded to the handle bar.
Throttle cables: Barnett internal throttle cable.
Fasteners: A mixture of Stainless Steel, Chrome and Black, mostly Socket Head.

Specialty items: Everything is pretty special to me. You asked about the flames on the back of the tranny case, I made those. I started with a 4 inch square piece of 1/2 inch thick aluminum, and sketchted some flames on it. I then started sawing out the rough shape, but had trouble getting in then tight spots. I then started using a vertical mill to rough out the shape. Once this was done I started using a combination of grinders, files and emery cloth to shape and sculpt the flames. I then polished them with sandpaper and a buffing wheel. When they were finally done they looked great, but I had no idea of what I was going to do with them. A couple months later I decided they would look great on the tranny, so I welded them on and slightly molded them in when I was polishing the tranny case.

Credits: I definately want to give thanks to Andy Schupbach, he helped me through this bike practically from day one, and never charged me a dime, what he wasn't helping me on he helped make possible by teaching me new skills.