Purists are a hard group to please, this bike will send them running, but unless you look closely, all you’ll see is a perfectly restored 1948 Harley Davidson Panhead. Then, upon closer examination, you notice a brand new S&S 88 inch stroker in place of the original engine, looking perfect, but obviously not from The Motor Company. The Bison Micro Flake Brown paint never came from the factory, either, but it certainly looks right. Electronic ignition, too. Oh, the horror!
Of course, this is now a far more reliable runner than any perfectly restored original and it will get more attention than a brand new bike, nothing wrong with that. It’s currently set up for foot shift, but it comes with all of the components to swap back to tank shift if you really want to look original and impress the onlookers at bike night with your perfectly executed hand work. Pro tip, practice first.
Bikes like these look really good to me because I’ve long ago gotten over any purist tendencies. A custom like this, well done, stopping at the “just enough” level without taking it too far looks pretty sweet, don’t you think?
Pete says
So much nicer than most any custom Harley based bike
todd says
90% of Harleys are customized anyway. Not many people know what is correct anyway. Make it the way you want.
It’s like all the eucalyptus trees we have in the California hills. Yes, they are not native here, but they’ve been here so long they might as well be considered native now.