A different sort of Harley custom
Discussion
On my fantasy custom list (details of other bikes on the list are available on request 
) is a cross between a Harley big twin and a 1960s British bike.
Just found this on eBay, and it seems that someone else had the same idea.
I think it looks remarkably different from all the other big H-Ds, standard or custom, that I've seen, although the changes are quite minor.
"Mine" would look even more British, with a seat similar to a BSA A10, handlebars and headlamp brackets and tail light/number plate like a 1960s Triumph, a Gold Star silencer, and a different colour scheme, but otherwise, it's my bike.
Does anybody else have an idea for a custom - of any type - that's a little different from the norm?
) is a cross between a Harley big twin and a 1960s British bike.Just found this on eBay, and it seems that someone else had the same idea.
I think it looks remarkably different from all the other big H-Ds, standard or custom, that I've seen, although the changes are quite minor.
"Mine" would look even more British, with a seat similar to a BSA A10, handlebars and headlamp brackets and tail light/number plate like a 1960s Triumph, a Gold Star silencer, and a different colour scheme, but otherwise, it's my bike.
Does anybody else have an idea for a custom - of any type - that's a little different from the norm?
Merch131 said:
I built this a few years ago, I'm still upgrading it, better shocks and forks are planned next
While a chap I know up in Dundee has built this BSA A7 with a Harley ironhead engine like mine, but with a BSA gearbox, Norton clutch and CB750 front end. To use the BSA box meant cutting off the back end of the engine, as its unit construction, unlike the big twins..
Haven't seen that ironhead flat tracker before. Like it.While a chap I know up in Dundee has built this BSA A7 with a Harley ironhead engine like mine, but with a BSA gearbox, Norton clutch and CB750 front end. To use the BSA box meant cutting off the back end of the engine, as its unit construction, unlike the big twins..
The Harley engine/BSA gearbox combination reminded me of a hillclimber that was built in the '90s. Google did it's stuff, and...
Patrick Hook's Spirit of Semtex
History & specs >>>> http://people.exeter.ac.uk/pbhook/harley.htm
Not the usual use of a big twin.
Edited by gareth_r on Sunday 16th February 17:55
Paddy_SP said:
I fear that you have got your memories mixed up! The only reason I took the carbon brakes off was because I got fed up of all the know-it-alls who kept wailing on about how they'd never heat up enough to work. The reality was that the brakes worked extremely well at the speeds we were doing on the hills.
It is true that I binned the bike at the Martini hairpin one time - but I never came off when the carbon brakes were fitted. No, the occasion you're referring to was a couple of years before I'd even acquired them, and the only reason I had to lay it down then was because of all the idiots who insisted on queuing up in the safety run-off area because they were too impatient to get back down the hill to consider the implications of what they were doing. As a consequence, I had nowhere to go when I got the approach to the corner wrong...
For those who're interested - the bike is now eight inches longer than it used to be as I've modified it for use on the sprint track by lengthening the swing arm. As a result, it no longer stands on end leaving the line. I've also fitted a magnesium-cased Quaife six-speed 'box (don't tell the wife what that cost...). This was done for two main reasons: a) because even with the biggest front sprocket and the smallest rear sprocket fitted, the grass track 'box in the bike was way under-geared for the 1/4 mile - the new ratios give me a much appropriate top speed; and b) the change action on the old box was typically AMC - you had to throw the lever about three inches every time you wanted a new gear. The new 'box changes just like a modern Jap bike, something I could really have done with on the hills!
Good to see that it's still being used.It is true that I binned the bike at the Martini hairpin one time - but I never came off when the carbon brakes were fitted. No, the occasion you're referring to was a couple of years before I'd even acquired them, and the only reason I had to lay it down then was because of all the idiots who insisted on queuing up in the safety run-off area because they were too impatient to get back down the hill to consider the implications of what they were doing. As a consequence, I had nowhere to go when I got the approach to the corner wrong...
For those who're interested - the bike is now eight inches longer than it used to be as I've modified it for use on the sprint track by lengthening the swing arm. As a result, it no longer stands on end leaving the line. I've also fitted a magnesium-cased Quaife six-speed 'box (don't tell the wife what that cost...). This was done for two main reasons: a) because even with the biggest front sprocket and the smallest rear sprocket fitted, the grass track 'box in the bike was way under-geared for the 1/4 mile - the new ratios give me a much appropriate top speed; and b) the change action on the old box was typically AMC - you had to throw the lever about three inches every time you wanted a new gear. The new 'box changes just like a modern Jap bike, something I could really have done with on the hills!
Would the standard AMC gearbox survive behind that engine, or are the Quaife 'boxes especially strong?
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