One of my fondest memories was that I use to hitch hike a lot in central California and the bay area as a teen. And there was a time that I was picked up by a friend of a neighbor that I had met on his Panhead chopper and how exciting it was to be riding on the back of that death trap. The sissy bar was loose and leaned way back and I was so nervous to trust that it would hold my 135 LB skinny weight. So fun now.
I wanted to put those memories to work and build a bike that would be that picture, that thrill, and not a death trap. Now that I have a million miles of road underneath my years I have the chops to do it. so I thought…. Let’s go!
Remembering being a kid in California in the 70’s and the cool choppers some of the guys in my neighborhood built and used to ride. I wanted to build my 70’s memories. That old school look, and the style of those days.
It is hard to still find old school parts that fit what is available with modern frame pieces without allot of cutting, and unmodifications . For instance a ridge frame that has a seat post tube that hasn’t been squished for a larger motor clearance. Or an aftermarket frame that has a mount for a drum brake that can have the the brake mount bolt so that the wheel can have full adjustment forward and back without having the brake mout keeping it from impeding the movement.
I finely found an early 45 springer on line after repeated failures on eBey trying to not spend $3000.00 buying some rusty old POS. I spent a fair amount of time educating my self on what fit’s and what doesn’t and what was a waist of time as well as money. Low and behold things started to come together.
I fabbed allot of parts that no one would notice, and made allot changes to pieces to make things fit. I found an old car headlight that I liked and had it plated in brass, and carried it through in allot of the pieces that added to the look of the bike.
I got allot of thumbs up, the folks that knew what I had done to build it complimented me , and those were the ones that really felt great. Riding a ridged frame bike when you are a young guy is one thing, but riding it when you are in your late 60’s is TOTALLY different. I can attest to the fack that it sucks getting old!
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