Bare Necessities Shovelhead Harley-Davidson
Here’s a bike that was built using ingenuity, practicality, and a few alcohol induced ‘research and development’ sessions.
GRUNT bought this motor off a brother. It’s a low kay 80 cube Shovel motor that had never really been run. It’s matched to a four-speed Genuine Harley box, running all Andrews gears for reliability and all mated up with an open three-inch belt and heavy duty clutch.
The brakes are set up as a single braking system activated by foot through a Moto Guzzi dual brake actuator slave cylinder. The system works like a charm in wet or dry conditions.
All the cabling and wiring are hidden through the frame or through hand-bent copper tubing.
The internal throttle was made at home by Grunt and works smooth and with a light twist.
The springer front-end is off a Bad Boy and was shortened a couple of inches by Andy at Fireball Kustom Fabrications. Andy has a proper jig for modifying springers and does a fantastic job.
The front wheel is a 21-inch smooth-rim Harley wheel and the rear is a standard 16-inch spoke.
That rear guard was made by Grunt out of a piece of flat trailer guard.
Grunt spent hours hand-bending all the copper oil lines.
You may be wondering about the unique sissy-bar. This was devised during a late-night bourbon-inspired session and is made out of a section of horse harness called a Hames.
The frame is a Santee rigid from the ’70s, running 36-degree rake and about one-inch stretch.
The seat is hand-made using imitation croc skin on a steel base, hinged and fitted with a small airbag to take the edge off the rigid ride.
The fuel tank came from Bomba at King Pin Choppers.
The paint is a House of Kolor Candy Red with an extra large silver flake under five coats of clear and was done by Brett at Brett’s Custom Paint in Sandgate.
The bike runs a suicide clutch and a frame-mounted hand shift.
So, as you can see by the pictures, the finished product is one very tidy chopper, built the old fashioned way—bare essentials only with no unnecessary bolt-on bullshit.
This bike is ridden pretty well everyday and has done a few long distance runs with no problems. Grunt is more than happy with it.
Pics by Chuck; words by Angry
