Lowbrow Panhead: Painted and Done (for now)!

Just got the tins back yesterday morning from Joe Koenigsmark / Angel Dust Cycle Paint. Joe is the talented gent who painted my green '55 Triumph land speed bike last year. Along with his brother Jerry they run Jerry's House of Kolors in Elyria, Ohio. If you have a bike or car and you want a killer 60's paint job, hit them up. Their dad started the shop in 1957, so it's in their blood.


Got the pipes chromed as well, and Kyle's girlfriend Ava went OCD on my bike with a bunch of q-tips, rags and polishing compound and made it look nicer than ever. The bike and myself will be out at Born Free 3 next weekend, hope to see you there!

Lowbrow Panhead: Semi-Finished Bike Photo

Kyle's girlfriend Ava took this photo, a rare photo of my bike after it was semi-finished. I was working feverishly to get it on the road before El Diablo Run so I didn't take any photos of the final assembly. Once Kyle got back from California (drove back after EDR) this past Friday night I pulled the tanks and fender off and took them over to Joe at Jerry's House of Kolors in Elyria, Ohio to get some paint on em. Joe painted my '55 Triumph race bike and did a bang up job and I am excited to see what the Pan tins will look like when done! I had an OEM H-D rocker arm snap on the EDR trip so the bike is back over at Jesse's shop Gasbox to get a new rocker arm, and my pipes are off to get chromed so in a couple weeks it should actually be back together and done for real!

Crunch Time! EDR is coming up quick!

Tyler is hustling like a madman to get his Panhead done and try to get some mileage on it before El Diablo Run 2011! He roped Todd into helping with wiring, lines and other last minute details. Even though EDR doesn't start until May 5th we are 2200 miles away from the Biltwell crew and I will be leaving with trailer in tow this coming Sunday! It may not be painted all purty but I know Tyler will have this running strong (probably JUST in time, that's how he operates!) Hope to see a bunch of you guys down in Mexico, but for everyone else Katy, Todd and John will be shipping orders and taking care of business as usual. (Part of the fun in this post is as soon as Tyler reads it he will realize how close it is and start stressin' bad! Yeah, thats brotherly love right there.)

Lowbrow Panhead: Exhaust!

Just finished the exhaust up! Started with a set of side-by-side headers, some Biltwell Builder's Exhaust Kit pieces parts and some FMA ripple pipe (coming soon!). Stoked on how it turned out, next to get it polished and chrome, and on the quick! Tearing bike down tomorrow to do some finish welding on the frame, clean it, and paint it! I wrote up a DIY Tech Tip on making the exhaust, check it out here.

Lowbrow Panhead: Dual Amal Carb Setup

Dual Amal carburetors were a factory option from Harley-Davidson on Panheads, and I was lucky to secure this neat OEM manifold and carb setup for my '59 Pan. Now that I am done screwing around and a bunch of dudes are about to email me to correct me, check out this rad custom-made dual 930 concentric Amal carb setup on my Pan! Thanks goes to Nicholas at Trumpnut Cycle Parts for the manifold, he had made some for Shovelheads and Ironhead Sportsters, among others, and I contacted him about this and he knocked it out for me.

Publish Post

Nicholas used a an S&S Cycles Super E manifold that I had and shortened it and used that as the basis for the Amal manifold, which he made and flow tested to get good velocity and ensure it not only looks cool but runs strong as well. The starting sequence will be a bit different without an enricher, tickle the carbs like crazy and kick it fast as hell, no lazy kicks allowed. Should be interesting to fire it up (next week??)...

Lowbrow Panhead: Coming Together

I haven't done a ton of updates because I am too busy every night busting my ass to get this bike done and broken in for EDR 2011. Which is in less than a month. I will go over some of the progress in broad strokes, leaving out the countless hours of thought and minor details that I had to go over, the boring stuff that isn't as obvious as the early 50's Triumph forks getting rebuilt the other night after I got the lowers and trees back from the chrome shop.


Or the stainless steel handlebars bent for me by Craig at Front Street Cycle. He makes bars to order, contact him for your handlebar needs. Add some Barnett levers and a Kustomtech throttle.


I spent the last two evenings getting the dual mount headlight mount done. This would have been easier if I had a plan but I basically dove in and started making it. The first evening I did the actual light mount, so both lights were in position relative to eachother, but I still needed to sort out the mount to the forks. I wanted to make it adjustable so the light could tilt, as I have only ever seen fixed mount ones with the typical chromed steel bracket that bolts to the lower tree pinch bolts. I was dozing off and the idea popped in my brain and this evening I went ahead and finished the mount. I am stoked on how this turned out, sturdy, functional, and all stainless steel so it will polish up nicely.


Wheel is in place though I still need to set up the brake shoes, arm, cable, etc. One main thing on my list to do still as far as fab work goes is to finish the damn exhaust. Still want to make a custom top motor mount and carb support.. More updates coming soon..

Lowbrow Panhead: Sissy Bar In The Works

I have never made a sissy bar before, and I have spent the last 3 evenings doing just that. I also had never welded stainless before. This is the 2nd incarnation, a full 12" (!) shorter than the first version. 36" didn't seem so tall til it was sitting on my fender. Anyway.. 9/16" 304 Stainless Steel that will be polished up to a mirror finish. I still have to sort out the mounts to the fender, the plan is to tackle that late night tomorrow then move on to the exhaust. About 32 days from now this bike will be headed to California and I will be doing El Diablo Run, so I hope to be riding this bike in 2 weeks!

Lowbrow Panhead: Fender & Solo Seat Mounted

I have been working on my bike pretty much every night, as I need to get it done and get miles on it, and soon! El Diablo Run is coming up Cinco de Mayo and this is the bike I am riding! I got the Haifley Brothers solo seat mounted last week with the help of a cast stainless Biltwell seat pivot and some of our springs and spring mounts. Tonight I mounted the Gasbox 18" fender and am now ready to start working on bending up the sissy bar that will support the rear of the fender, give a nice place to strap gear, and look bitchin'.


Before I mounted the fender I got the 4 speed transmission in place and the primary more-or-less adjusted and put a rear chain on and adjusted that to the proper tension. I then put another chain over the tire and set the fender on it to give me even clearance along the radius of the fender. Top mount was nice and easy, one of our 1" diameter coped 3/8"-16 threaded bungs was a perfect fit. Bolt from inside the fender threads right in.


I used the stock HD lower fender mount tab and turned down an aluminum ribbed spacer and this was through-bolted. I will use a button head allen going through from inside the fender and then cross-drill and cotter pin just after the nut to ensure I don't have any bolts rattling loose. This weekend I should get the sissy bar done (hope hope) so stay tuned!

Lowbrow Panhead: It's a Roller.

I am in my office, a.k.a. the old Lowbrow shop before we moved into our new warehouse this past week. How sweet it is, working on my bike where Kyle's desk used to be. Less than a week ago it was hard to walk from one end of this room to the other, a hive of activity, now it is mainly empty and I am alone, working on my bike. Rad.

Got my wheels all laced up, my friend Todd got the tires mounted for me and I got it together as a roller this evening. The forks are early 50's Triumph and still need a bit of work, the lowers plated or painted, and I am going to shorten them up a hair. Dropped the motor that I picked up from Gasbox yesterday in the frame, looks great I can't wait to ride this bike!

Lowbrow Panhead: In Progress... EDR Bound!

With less than 3 months before El Diablo Run, I figured I better focus on my Panhead, as a frame and a small pile of parts wouldn't get me very far into Mexico. Getting the repop wishbone frame dialed in, decided to cut out the extra junk on the neck and window pane it. I saw this last time I was in California on a slab side Shovel that friend Jeff Leighton built. It is a great way to clean up the neck, and I decided to cut some of the unused castings from the top as well while I was at it. Here are a smattering of photos showing a bit of the process.

My Panhead project... wait that's not a Triumph!

Last month I got a new project in the shop, something I had been half-looking for for a year and a half or so. I got a good deal on this '59 Panhead and it came home with me. I got it running that weekend (thanks for the help, Todd!), and I just pulled the motor and trans. The only things I am using from the bike are the motor, trans and title, the rest of it is a mish mash of years and parts and that is traded off to a friend of mine. I have a vision in my head of what this bike is going to look like when done, and I have some parts accumulating around here for the build.


I just shipped the gearbox off to Frank Kaisler today for him to work his magic on, and I think I am going to tear that motor down next. I have a lot of black paint to remove, and I really want to go through this thing totally so I know what I have. Stay tuned for more updates as I get some free time to make progress..

Tyler