Twin Cam Patina

What to do with a 65 Panhead?

As stated in an earlier post, Every now and then I do little thumbnail sketches to explore ideas floating around in my head.

Although I have all the parts to put my '65 Panhead back to it's former police orgins, I'm thinking of  having some fun with it before doing so. I even have an extra frame I could hard-tail if the urge is strong. Basically, I have almost enough extra parts to build another complete roller.

Anybody can build a nice rigid, but swingarms can be a challenge. 

The style below is practical since it's an easy bolt-on process to go back to stock.

It aint much other than sort of a Dick Hirshberg style Fat Bob. Due to the rear shocks some pipes styles (like up-sweeps), don't work well with a swingarm. A Dick Allen style collector fits the style well. 

Wild Goose Sighting

Levi Lewy's Wild Goose re-discovered in an old Street Chopper

  

Patiently Waiting

I don't even want to say how long I've been collecting parts for my 45 project. It always gets pushed aside. 

 The Finned Mushroom.

45's are one of the coolest looking motors.

Too Many Projects, Too Many Things to Do.

Life Imitating Art

It's a Frame Up!

 Some owners think it can never say Harley-Davidson quite enough times on their bike. I tend to not fall into that camp. One part or area that tends to go this way is the license plate frame, especially since the dealer's frame will usually have some sort of H-D logo on it.

This cool frame (from a cool dealer), was on my first bike when I bought it. I'm sure there's a lot of riders unaware that there was ever a Long Beach H-D.

Not too long before they closed, they were handing out freebies which included this not so cool plastic frame.

A somewhat typical modern era dealers frame with some razzle dazzle.

Another long forgotten dealer. Before Harbor City Harley (now California Harley), Lomita Harley was the south bay's dealer. 

Plain frames are much more my style. I had to make it since the old black plates are larger.

I usually don't go for this sort of thing, but it's kind of cool in solid brass with patina. This was an official licensed product (yes, made in Taiwan). It may be fairly rare since it appears the design was altered in the name of safety, as shown below. 

No more wing tips to catch on stuff... like your leg. Does H-D even still offer this one?

Panhead Blog Filler

A shot of my 65.

It's funny how some photos make something look better than others.

Shovelhead Blend Blog Filler

Here's a shot of my first big twin circa 1984 in Redondo Beach. It was what some call a blend bike. A 1974 FLH engine in a 1972 FX frame. At this Bob Job stage it was undergoing transformation from a Chopper to what I call a Stripped Dresser.

I've always liked the atmosphere of this shot. Digital is nice, but there's a warmth to film.

You probably would have to have been around the early eighties Harley scene to understand that. At the time fat was in and choppers were, well... sort of out.

After selling it in 1995 I wished I'd kept it to chop.