Vintage
This bike began life as a frame with skinny tubes. “I saw the frame at a swap meet, and what got my attention were the thin-looking tubes used to build it. It reminded me of an old Corbin-Gentry frame, but I have no way to be sure who originally made it,” Mickey said. The frame’s down tubes were stretched four -inches skyward and the backbone had an additional two-inches added to it as well, culminating at the 34-degree-raked steering neck. Using a 40-spoke 16” wheel in the rear he was able to get the frame rails parallel with the ground by bolting a Mid West telescopic front end built four-inches over the stock length and fit with an eighteen-inch 40-spoke front wheel. At first it may appear as though Mickey went a little crazy with the rear braking system, a pair of four-piston calipers squeezing the same rotor might seem a bit much, but he’s got a perfectly good reason for it. “Because it’s a jockey shift with a left foot-operated clutch I set up the right hand lever and the right foot control so they both clamp the rear- brake rotor. Doing it this way I was able to keep the front wheel free of any clutter and it helps a lot whenever I have to stop on a hill,” Mickey said.
The motor started out as an out-of-state bought, original 1949 Panhead motor that was supposed to be ready to fire up right out of the crate, but Mickey found that not every affordable motor is a bargain. He quickly realized after fooling with the motor a little that he was going to have to completely tear down and rebuild it properly. After the motor was 100-percent restored with a mild street cam and a 74” displacement, he bolted it to the frame in front of a ’38 four- speed transmission (that Brian Camper at D&N Cycle found for him) while a Primo/Rivera 3-inch open-belt primary transfers power between the two.
Mickey takes the sheet-metal fabrication process seriously, but that doesn’t always mean he requires new metal or motorcycle-specific parts. He started with a relatively new Sportster gas tank, cut out the entire bottom including the tunnel, and welded it back together to fit the new angle of the frame’s backbone and mounted as high as he possibly could. The petcock was moved to the rear end of the tank and the filler hole was moved forward as far as possible to get the most efficient use of the tank’s shape and extend the bike’s range a few miles more than a stock tank mounted in a standard orientation. Not every piece of tin needed fancy fabrication to make it look right on this bike. “For a narrow tire like the stock tires from the ‘70s, nothing beats a trailer fender,” Mickey said. But he did french-in a tombstone-style taillight and cut out a section of the left side of the fender for the chain final drive. The primary-belt guard was made with a piece of 18-gauge sheet metal that was bent around a cylindrically- shaped cement stanchion just enough to give it the correct radius to cover the forward-most primary pulley.
With the driveline in the frame and the sheet metal mounted, Mickey finished up Buster by bolting on a few remaining accessories. A pair of straight, ten-inch risers were mounted on top of the front end and capped with a set of Flander’s Broomstick handlebars. The tall risers and straight bars make the front end appear even longer than it actually is and the risers don’t look unusual because the gas tank was mounted so high. Plus the extra inches added by the old radiator cap Mickey made into a gas cap fills in the space between the tank and bars.
Happy with his period chopper, Mickey rides the bike quite a bit. “I just rode Buster to Vermont. It’s about a 160-mile trip, and the bike ran great,” Mickey said.
Builder: Mickey Halcomb
Groovey Street Customs
Builders like Mickey Halcomb always seem to have their hands into a new exciting build, but when there are so many great minds working within similar parameters, it’s extremely possible that two individuals will come up with parallel ideas. “I’ve been working on a ‘74/74” Shovelhead with dual-plug heads using a frame similar to the Indian Larry Legacy trike Barnett’s featured a few issues ago. I’d already started building my trike in a certain style, but now that I’ve seen Paul and Keino’s bike, I’ve got to start over again because they’re way too close in looks and design,” Mickey said. “I just wish I had started to build it sooner.” Running into that kind of problem divides builders into two categories, if they decide to continue with a build they are aware is close to the look of another builder’s, original fabricators and knock-off artists. Scrapping his idea to start anew outs Mickey into the original fabricator slot, and it’s a testament to what kind of person he really is.
Other than his trike project, Mickey’s got a bunch of other projects in the works, but don’t go to the Groovey Street shop looking for an over-the-top, incomprehensibly high-compression super-large displacement, drag-race V-twin motor. “I’m not into crazy motors that beat the bike up. I like dependability,” Mickey said. That said, he is delving into the performance realm by building a hopped-up ’48 Pan/Shovelhead with an assortment of S&S performance parts for that era drive train. “We call it the Ground Pounder because it’s a relatively short bike with really wide 16” tires at either end of the frame and it’s built to ride fast, but don’t expect any frills,” Mickey said.
He may not have a website, but don’t fret. Mickey’s easy to talk to and he almost always answers the shop phone. Give him a call during normal East Coast work hours at 203-668-3591.
This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #64, September-October 2008.
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
|---|---|
| Owner: | Groovey Street Customs |
| Year/Make: | ’49 H-D Panhead |
| Fabrication/ Assembly: | Groovey Street Customs |
| Build time: | 8 months |
| Engine: | ’49 Panhead |
| Cases: | H-D |
| Flywheels/ Rods: | H-D |
| Pistons: | Wiseco 9.5:1 |
| Cylinders/ Heads: | H-D |
| Cam: | Andrews B |
| Ignition: | H-D |
| Carb: | SU Eliminator |
| Pipes: | Paughco |
| Air Cleaner: | SU Velocity Stack |
| Transmission: | H-D 4-speed |
| Primary: | Primo/Rivera |
| Clutch: | Barnett Scorpion |
| Frame: | Groovey Street Customs |
| Rake/Stretch: | 34-degrees/4″ up, 2″ out |
| Forks: | MidWest/Ultima |
| Front Wheel: | 18″ spool hub/Groovey Street Customs |
| Rear Wheel: | American Wire Wheel |
| Front Tire: | Avon 2.5×18″ |
| Rear Tire: | Avon 3.5×16″ |
| Rear Brakes: | PM dual 4-piston |
| Fuel Tank: | H-D/Groovey Street Customs |
| Oil Tank: | Wyatt Gatling |
| Fender: | Groovey Street Customs |
| Handlebars: | Flanders |
| Risers: | Wild1 10″ |
| Headlight: | Bates |
| Taillight: | Tombstone |
| Hand Controls: | Jaybrake Classic |
| Foot Controls: | Accutronix |
| Electrical: | “Loose Nut” Ed Carlona |
| Chroming: | Bar Plating, Inc. |
| Painter/ Graphics: | Scott @ Shovelhead Red |
| Color: | Yellow |
| Polishing: | Groovey Street Customs |
| Molding: | Scott @ Shovelhead Red |
| Seat: | Cool Hand Luke |
| Special thanks to: | Shovelhead Red, Cool Hand Luke, and Loose Nut Eddy |