Another Harley build. Much less involved. 59 Panhead.

[newman]

So I was at a shop and a guy was talking about how he had a panhead for sale. I went to go see it. This is what it looked like. (it actually had an american flag painted tank on it when I showed up the first time)

Guy was asking 10 grand, which is reasonable, really. I told him I wasn’t interested in the front end, tank or bars, so after some negotiating, he knocked the price down to 6. (a lot of money off for not a lot of parts, haha).

So I got a used mystery sporty front end (turned out to be from an 81) and put some 6 over top tubes in it. I really like the way it sits, but I think I might put a 21" front on instead of that 19 that’s on there.

I had a scalloped sportster tank laying around that I got for the greasy dozen contest as well as an old king/queen seat.

I am not going to use that particular seat, but I do like the look of a KQ, so I ordered this one. It was made in the 70s, so it’s sort of period correct. Not that I really care.

Then last night I made some handlebars for it. A little cad action:

And then I put them together and installed them.

That’s where I’m at for now. Going to mount the fuel tank tonight, and mess around with getting that weird fender off there. Once I get the seat I’ll make some sissy bar and paint it and ride it. Not much of a “build” but whatever, still better than that ebay honda thing.

[GV1390]

I want to see a picture of what the previous owner looks like.

[newman]

Old, half bald, white ponytail, still kick starts all his bikes. He’s a badass.

[checko]

I have a 21" 36 spoke bare rim kickin around if you wanna lace one up to run instead of the 19". I’m unsure of the with off the top of my head

[newman]

@checko

I have a 21" 36 spoke bare rim kickin around if you wanna lace one up to run instead of the 19". I’m unsure of the with off the top of my head

Thanks, but not only is the hub a 40 spoke, I can sell the 19 for about what it would cost for a 21.

[Onyx_Z32]

I still like my idea of installing a small subwoofer between those wide forks that were on it. Think of all the bass-offs you could have gone too.

[XwalkerX]

@GV1390

I want to see a picture of what the previous owner looks like.

panhead bruce!!!

http://instagram.com/p/N9tBagI7mR/

[L8APEX1]

@checko

I have a 21" 36 spoke bare rim kickin around if you wanna lace one up to run instead of the 19". I’m unsure of the with off the top of my head

If Newman doesn’t want it (which apparently he doesn’t) I may take it off your hands. Pm sent.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[newman]

Mounted the gas tank and sort of closed off the tunnel. In theory I should have actually made the tunnel smaller to increase fuel volume but I just put a facade over the opening.

Bottom mount tabs:

the old tunnel opening:

Mounted, the tunnel filler looks kind of concave for some reason here, but in real life its got good flow.

I also added a petcock to the rear.

Then I put this headlight on I had from an old MG GT that I converted to an H4 bulb, but it looked really small.

Fortunately I had this old nacelle laying around, it was pretty beat up.

Perfect fit:

Cut it up a bit:

Rusty 24 gauge really sucks to weld:

Then clearanced it for the light:

Last night when I finished it all up, I didn’t really like the way it looked. This morning when I took another look, I really liked the dirtiness and rawness of it all. Fortunately, it’s a bolt on part so if I don’t like it, it’s simple enough to just take it off and put something else on.

[newman]

Got a pretty good condition King/Queen seat. A cheetah relic from the 70s. I love it.

Put on a bobbed fender. I cut up some old fender struts and shortened them considerably, then added some internal bracing to the fender. It’s good and stiff. Built up a stainless sissy and added a fork bag that my old man had. I’m loving how this thing is coming out.

Sissy detail:

Good fit:

I’m going to weld some stainless balls to the bottom where it hangs below the fender for some pizzazz.

I think I am going to paint the tank something like this:

Going to drop off to paint today, then just have to do some minor stuff like source/make a taillight, wiring and bleed brake, fix clutch pedal.

[Onyx_Z32]

[checko]

:tup: I’m diggin it!

[svtcobra]

there’s not enough room in the garage for this, sell me the Honda

[LUKE_L]

Nice! :tup:

[newman]

@svtcobra

there’s not enough room in the garage for this, sell me the Honda

That’s sort of true but I wouldn’t sell it for what anyone would pay for it, so no. Lol.

[Spam16v]

Something bothers me about the tank up on the backbone combined with the nacelle/valence. I don’t dislike either, I just don’t like them together.

[newman]

Un fucked this rocker pedal.

OK, I’ll be honest, the “before” one was what was on the bike, but it was only slightly worse than the other one that was included with the bike. I just forgot to take a before picture of that.

[XwalkerX]

i vote you cut those down at least an inch or two

[newman]

@XwalkerX

i vote you cut those down at least an inch or two

They’re only 4" long, I think they would seem too small if they were any shorter.

You can see in some of the other pictures these cob job foot pegs.

Made some proper ones.

RH:

LH:

[Onyx_Z32]

Tight clearance!