EDITOR’S NOTE: The magnificent Stealth wrote this one week before the wild Easyriders Bike Show in Charlotte, NC. This show was always one of the best in the Easyriders annual series of shows. It consistently brought out the best in customs from the Easter seaboard. Mike faced stiff competition and a dire deadline to finish this restoration on time. Hang on!
As I write this, we are a week away from the EASYRIDERS INVITATIONAL BIKE SHOW here in Charlotte.
All we are waiting on is Barnett clutch cable. We should have it in the next day or two. I am running GMA hand controls and the clutch lever takes a late model eyelet style cable, so we called Barnett and had one made with an eyelet for the clutch lever and the early style on the other end. Barnett has always been a GREAT company to work with.
My wife had a very cool sign made for the show, really nice. The old girl now has a name, “GLORY DAYS!”
More about that later. I decided to run a two into one pipe, Fishtail extension, with stock style header pipes.
Changed my mind on the seat, ended up going with a LePera bare bones solo set. It is low and clean and melts into the lines of the bike.
The rear end of the bike is really clean, with smooth fender struts, chrome sprocket, mirror finish rotor, chrome swing arm and a 16-inch rear wheel with white wall tire.
The engine is sharp, classic Shovelhead and detailed. It cleaned up better than I thought it would. All new chrome hardware, new inner and outer primary covers.
Normally where the horn would mount between the cylinders is a modified handlebar clamp cover. It houses the starter button and hiding behind it is the starter relay, very clean and very cool! This was Dean’s idea. Dean is the top wrench at Hollywood’s cycles.
The frame got welds cleaned and gloss powder coating and now it is as slick as a fat baby’s ass! The front end got a new headlight and new mirror finished brake rotor and a lot of polishing.
People keep asking me did I use all original parts? No, I did not ever intend to from the start. It is a restoration, but it is a custom restoration.
As we come to the end of this project there is still anticipation to roll her into the ER show It has been a long road but a fun road. I could not have asked for two better guys to work with, Jay the owner of HOLLYWOOD’S CYCLES and DEAN one of the top wrenches in this area. I appreciate all their efforts and last but not least my wife Vicki for putting up with all of my BS!
Back to the name GLORY DAYS, see this old girl is a 1982 model. Well, I had an ‘82 Shovelhead back in 1985. Yeah, I bought it used. It was my first BIG TWIN, 1340 cc, 80-incher.
I worked at IBM back then and I worked 2nd shift. I would get off at 11:30 p.m. and I got to the parking lot as fast as I could to take off on an adventure on Friday nights. I can’t go into all the details but let’s just say I had a lot of fun.
Yeah they were my “GLORY DAYS!”
As far as if I win an award at the EASYRIDERS show, it would be nice, but if I don’t so be it, I have already won, seeing this bike has brought back a lot of memories of my “GLORY DAYS” and no award could do that.
DON’T LET THE GLORY DAYS PASS YOU BY!!!!
Until next time, keep building!
