Snow White Harley-Davidson Shovelhead Motorcycle
A boilermaker by trade, Steve is very hands-on with his love of building and riding old Harley-Davidsons.
I BOUGHT this Shovel four months ago. Chris at C&R Engineering had serviced my previous bikes, and I kind of went there and told him I was looking for a basic bike to build a custom. He had this 1980 FLH so I bought it from him. It wasn’t running. Apparently the last time it had been running and registered was 10 years ago in NSW.
I started buying stuff for it and modified the frame with a drop-seat casting and lower shocks in my garage. I started putting it together—put the forks and the wheels in—to see how it would look, to choose what kind of tank and seat I would use; and later on, before the painting and wiring-up, I took it to Chris and we pre-assembled the bike to make sure everything is matching.
Meanwhile Chris had done the engine and transmission for me. It’s a completely rebuilt; 93-cubic-inch stroker engine with a four-speed kicker gearbox.
The front suspension is an Australian-made, two-inch-under springer from Meatballs V-Twin & Custom Cycle Parts.
Chris supplied the two wheels: 21-inch on the front; 16 by 5.5 inches wide on the rear, the maximum we could put on the back with the swing-arm.
I bought the two-gallon, low-tunnel tank from Lowbrow Customs in the USA. I made the fender-struts in stainless steel, and mounted the tanks and handlebars. The Peace Bone handlebars are from Biltwell, as are the grips. All the controls and brakes are Performance Machine. The lever ignition switch mounted on the transmission is an idea I saw at the Daytona Bike Week.
The back guard and drop seat are from Speed King Racing, a big custom bike builder in the USA. I also got a couple of ideas from them because they build similar bikes to mine.
The white is a lot different from my previous bikes which were green and black, but it turned out beautiful. The painting was done by Tuning Mako, whose owner is a Hungarian friend of mine. I helped him by sandblasting the frame and stuff like that but he did the actual painting. Szilard, another Hungarian friend of mine, helped me a lot with the initial assembly and welding.
I really appreciate the help I received from Chris. He gave me a lot of ideas, and when I had time, I went to the shop and we worked together on the final assembly. Also, a huge thanks to my girlfriend; she supports me all the time.
photos by George; words by Steve
