Peoples Champ – Motor Stuff

Here are a couple pics of where we’ve started. We’re using a 51 panhead right side case and an 82 alternator shovelhead left case. The magneto is a cheap $20 Fairbanks Morse XD from the late 70’s. I made the adapter collar and internal gear set here in the shop.

We are doing a lot here to get the motor to the next level. A generator shovelhead alone is a pretty rad motor but if we’re building a competition level bike, it’s just nowhere near enough. Polished cases, heads, carbs, cam cover, and chrome on everything else. We’re also dual-carbing the heads to run a pair of Mikuni VM36’s. The original distributor hole will be filled and machined smooth to give that area of the case an extra level of detail. We’re rebuilding the motor from the flywheels, up just to make sure the insides match the details given to the outsides. The mag was a crazy amount of work but she’s all set to go. The head work will be a little bit of machining and a whole lot of tig welding.

Both I and Charlie are taking a lot of chances with this bike. The machine work I’m doing is more than I’ve ever accomplished in the past. The frame work that Dorius has banged out was all about mashing together all the best of the different era frames. We’re pushing the limits of our skills and we’re trying to remain fearless as we steadily approach disaster. We just hope folks at home and at Born Free Show can understand and appreciate that, sink or swim – we’re trying to really give folks something interesting to look at.

Give myself (@speed_club) and Dorius (@charliedorius) a follow to see more. Thanks!

Speed Class?

Can you dig it!? HEAVY himself gettin some pics of my bike for the upcoming issue of Show Class magazine! Rolled the bike out over the highway along an old caged foot bridge. Zac’s got an eye for finding places like this. Z snapped some crazy riding shots too. Nothing says gangster like a long bike in motion. By a Speed Club Tshirt. Help me get to Born Free.

Getting close?

Yeah – me neither. Seems like everyone out here is working on at least one project if not two. I just checked the Donnie Smith Show site and that at least give me some kind of deadline. 52 days to get my act together. TO DO: Tonight Im getting up with New Kevin to bend up a sissy bar and finish weld my bars. A new wheel arrives tomorrow (Ive got the tire and tube sitting on a shelf). Im also making some crazy super-pipes and I have to rebuild a set of heads and rockers. After that, I can make some wheel spacers, mount my fender and piece everything together before stripping down for paint and chrome. Okay – so apparently Ive got some work to do.

A Texas Style Trip

On our way back from Born Free last year, we made a number of stops at some long forgotten holes in the wall. This one in particular sticks out. We made a few calls while traveling through Texas. A lot of the bike junkyards had long since closed but one guy gave us a lead on someone. He said “yeah, call Dan… He’s got an old grocery store full of stuff.” Low and behold, He truly did have a grocery store full of parts. We met up with Dan and his buddy Mustang. After they sniffed us out to make sure we weren’t trouble, they let us dig through anything and everything. Jordan scored big. Old pan trans case among some other stuff. I just grabbed whatever looked shinny. The whole time, Dan is sitting out front on a lawn chair pick ticks off his dog. It was surreal. It crazy to remember that we went from standing in the middle of Born Free 3 to a grocery store in Texas full of HD parts in less than 24 hours. There is a second half of this story better left untold for now but… I realized this morning as I glanced at some of the parts I got from Dan, that I never posted any of the pics. Enjoy.

Making Chopper Bars

Look closely at old chopper bars. The crazy wild two-piece ones are usually a set of apes or bull horns that have been flipped, cut, mildly bent or hacked. That’s what I’m doing and shit is looking right on time. Dig it. Measure, cut, slug em, tap & mount, measure again and add a cross member or two for good measure. Some dude online is asking 120 bucks for bars just like these.

Total cost… $20 + chrome.
Satisfaction of making em myself… priceless.