A little over a week ago Joe Hurst called and said he was stopping by Steve Sharp's to drop off some stuff for his Panhead's rebuild. Steve is a long time Southbay Chopper builder who happens to live just up and around the corner from me and is putting together Joe's Pan. Joe needed the top end done as the bottom was already assembled. It seems a recent conversation about needing a sissy bar built turned to engine work. It's now very likely that Steve will help Joe with many aspects of the whole chrome frame bike.
The mighty harley V-twin. It's always an impressive sight when out and up on a stand.
Steve was in the process of installing a right side electric starter on this clean Panhead which he helped a local rider build last summer.
I just found out that Steve builds Dick Allen style springers based on his old friend Fats' versions. Fats used a bolt pinned lower tree and used rectangular stock for the lower spring perch, where as Dick welded his trees and used round stock for the perch. Steve has perfected them over the years and follows Dick's theory that the bike's center of gravity is the most important factor in building a long bike that handles well. This one has off set trees as suggested by Mike Torres and per the owners request. Fats' and Dick's springers were always inline. Sugar Bear's are off set.
Here's a shot of most of the bike.
I've seen Steve blasting up the street on this same bike for the last 25 years. I had never met him in all those years, so one day about 2 years ago, I dropped by and introduced myself. One of these days, I hope to do a feature of his bike. He's also a master mechanic and drag boat builder/racer and has won many races with his home built boats.
It's great to see a couple of South Bay Chopper Veterans pair up and still doing what they've always done. Build Choppers!
