Fully metal finished pipes for my panhead build. All the bends were provided by Bill @ Biltwell as a donation to the build and added a few of my own bends for what i need. Hand made the squish pipe from scratch so be able to suck in the exhaust as tight to the frame as possible to sneak past the brake. Next post will have some mounted photos.
Here is how the Panhead currently sits.
I still have a few big things to make like the exhaust and handlebars to finish off the profile and some small details but spent a good amount of time welding on the frame and finishing off parts i have already started to bring me closer to finishing up fab work. Everything is coming together exactly as planned.
Next ill make a high upswept exhaust system and the handlebars. For the bars i have tapered risers as pictured and need to machine top caps so when all together the bars will appear to have welded on riser looks.
Tying to put some detail into every piece that is boring to look at some modified the timer cap and make this bird deflector for the face of the carb. The styles keep consistent when details on the rest of the bike.
One detail i love doing is putting the key switch inside the oil bag. Way cleaner looking and keep wiring short and contained and out of sight. This bag proved challenging cause i couldnt just pop a hole into the bag and put in the switch since there is no inside so this is the solution i came up with.
The hole for the switch is mounted on a faceplate which was welded to the bag. Behind that a tube provides passage for the wiring to leave the switch to the battery and pop out the top. A face plate that will be chromed holds the switch in place.
One off manually machined headlight for the build. I liked the style of the old VW reverse light but wanted to use this cool glass lens and make the housing slimmer. I machined the body for the headlight and bezel from two pieces all based around this glass lens and a H8 car fog light bulb. all manually machined and hand finished to soften it up. All up the total thickness on the body is 1.25” and really compact.
Finished taillight that i machined from my new to me Diamond kneemill.
The taillight is machined in three pieces, the base plate out of steel which is welded to the fender, the middle plate that holds the LED and bezel that keeps the lens secured. All 3 pieces manually machined and hand finished together for a tight fit.
Full sheet metal seat molding to continue the flow from the the tank all the way down to the fender. This is pre planning for the paint scheme i have in mind which will continue the design continuously jumping piece to piece.
Quick show of the gas tank mounts. A hidden tab behind the tunnel that is threaded picks up a bold mounted through the counter sunk bung on the tank.
Moving forward with some extra details on my oil bag for the panhead.
Made two recessed pockets for the battery and coil to sit side by side underneath the seat.
The more ignition components i can fit in the oil tank the less wiring that is visible. To me removing the coil from view also really cleans up the lines of the bike.
Took a break from the Bornfree build to help out my friend Matty with putting together his whole bike that he has been collecting parts for a few years now.
His frame was hardtailed by Arie in san Mancos ( @Arie_vee) and motor built by Dan Carr ( @dcchoppers)
I took care of the rest making mounts for every part to be mounted to the frame best fit they can and made a custom sissy bar, exhaust muffler tips and shifter.
This bike will rip and with a few custom touches for me will be sure to have a different appeal next to a bike of the same stance.
Big milestone in the build to have all the parts done for the controls, mounts and shifter.
Many many hours into all these pieces to cut, bend, shape and weld up all by hand one by one. Really happy with this collection and definitely some of my favorite pieces i have made to date.
A few pieces finished this time over the weekends work.
Top motormount, clutch arm and the hanging mount for the master cylinder to finish off the brake parts and also added the tab for the brake rod to the pedal.
Wrap over fender strut made from scratch.
Clutch pedal for the panhead. Keeping the collection all alike with the same shape again.
Start of the Mechanical style brake pedal for the Born Free Panhead.
This will be adapted to actuate a master cylinder that will be hung behind the trans with a rod underneath the transmission.
Footpegs for the Panhead. Same matching shape as the shifter that you will see throughout the build.
Finished hand shifter for the Panhead. Im going to be jumping over to making all the controls which i need to get all set up so i can make the exhaust around everything. This shape is made up on round and flat steel bended together then blended into the shape. This is a step further then i have previously gone with making my own materl shape for the parts. Ill make this shape for the footpegs, motormount, brake pedal, clutch pedal, and lower sissybar mounts.
Scratch made oil bag for the Panhead. Similar profile to a stock horseshoe bag but with alot more flow and fit up to make it look at home. Alot more work putting all the fittings bungs and fillers in place but needed the shape to continue making some pieces around it and ill come back to those details later once all the parts around it are finished so they can be located correctly.
Finished gas tank going on the Born Free panhead for my buddy Paul.
A style idea i wanted to do through out this build is a blend of flat into round all over. I cut the top out of the tank and made this raised section with a “flat” top that is crowned so its not totally flat. moved the petcock bung and removed the front tab so ad a hidden mount under the front of the tunnel. The rear tap will stay and will eventually get covered by the next piece.
Here is the custom front end for my build for Born Free 12 next year.
Really excited about the sleek look of the Barneys smooth lower legs and the set of one off trees that were machined by my friend Adam Cole.
The trees were altered by the original model that Adam made for him own bike and has been running for a good amount of time to test. His set are super narrow and made for 39mm tubes. I wanted to modify they slightly and go for a mid width of 7”OC and also accept 41mm tubes.
Really excited about how this front end looks and will be a key part to the overall look of this build.
