Hardly shocking that a person would fall in love with one of their bikes, Super Co’s East LA-West Coast style is a perfect blend of classic steel and timeless design. Driven by the shop’s owner, sole fabricator and builder, Trevelen Rabanal is a So Cal native and has been a Los Angles resident for a couple of decades. He’s extremely active in the local scene’s lowrider and motorcycle culture, and has the skill and talent to turn just about anything with wheels into functional mechanical art. A casual review of his previous bike builds and customs cars reveal that he caters to those looking for classic cars and Harleys that haven’t been in production since before Trevelen was born.

It took Will some time to get back with Trevelen about his own build, mainly because he had recently purchased a well known East L.A. bar called East Side Luv Wine Bar y Queso. The bar had started to show a profit after Will became the owner and he used the extra cash as a down payment on his very own Super Co custom. Trevelen agreed to start building the bike for him, now that the timing was right. “I won’t build a bike unless I know I can do it the right way. I’ll never compromise style or function just because a person wants a bike built by next week. Each build dictates its own speed. Sometimes parts are easy to find, sometimes not,” Trevelen said.

When Will contacted Super Company, he said he wanted something that his friends wouldn’t have. At the time, Trevelen just happened to come across a 1947 UL 80” motor and frame. “I was on the Internet looking around for older motors and found this complete Flathead with a numbers matching frame. I couldn’t help but bid on it because the guy only wanted a little over three grand, it was an incredible deal on a rare motor,” Trevelen said. “The guy even delivered the motor and frame to my shop because he wanted to drive out here to take his kids to Disneyland.” The motor arrived at the shop and Trevelen suggested using the Flathead for Will’s bike, knowing that there was little chance that any of Will’s friends had one.

Uncommon today in every respect, the Flathead was rebuilt by Jack Dale Motorcycle Repair. As a 45” Flathead land speed record holder, JDMR obviously had plenty of experience with power plants just like it. They rebuilt the motor using mostly Harley parts plus a few performance upgrades like Leinweber cams, a Mikuni 36mm carburetor, a Dyna single fire ignition coil, and a K&N air filter and housing. Trevelen built a set of shorty pipes for the bike and rebuilt the original four-speed transmission with Andrews gears. The only part of the drive train that clearly isn’t antique is the Primo/Rivera open belt primary.

The frame’s numbers match the motor, meaning it would be stupid to separate the two after all this time. Instead of buying a new frame, Trevelen modified the old frame so he could use a 23” front wheel. To make the tall wheel work with the frame he had to add an inch to the backbone and added two-degrees of rake to the steering neck.

Wheels for the bike were simple, but the brakes are nominal at best. Trevelen found a pair of D.I.D. aluminum motocross rims, a 23” in the front and an 18” in the rear. He sent them to Black Bike for a fresh polish job, a super tiny spool for the front wheel and a custom made rear hub that works with the only brake on the bike, a restored mechanical drum brake.

Trevelen designed and fabricated the ridgeback gas tank and no-frills rear fender and struts. No fancy metal work necessary, just basic design that won’t ever be considered a fad or become out dated by the end of the year. The rear fender barely covers ninety-degrees of the wheel and is supported with custom mounts underneath the seat and a pair of struts. A Salinas Boys’ ribbed-style aluminum oil tank fits the style of the bike and was the last fluid container bolted to the frame.

Will wanted the bike to match the main color scheme of his bar, a deep dramatic red. Trevelen had the bike’s frame, the springer’s forward legs, gas tank, and rear fender molded and painted a dark candy red by Kolor King, creating the perfect monochromatic background surface for a graphic treatment. OG Abel, a well known Chicano muralist, laid down the graphics on the gas tank using his years of experience to airbrush a Sacred Heart on the left side of the tank and a thorny-stemmed rose on the right. Adding more personality to the bike, Duane Ballard Custom Leather hand tooled the bike’s name, East Side Luv, into the leather seat.

Trevelen admits that it takes a little extra concentration to ride this bike compared to a standard motorcycle. With no front brake and a Harley foot-operated clutch, there are no hand controls or levers to clutter the clean look of the ultra-narrow Super Company-made drag-style handlebars. Mounted to a ’47 springer and a pair of Flander’s risers, the bars are only a few inches wider than the front end. Trevelen finished the bars by installing a pair of black rubber handgrips and topped the springer front end with a Bates headlight.

Will was far more satisfied with East Side Luv than he would have been with the first Super Company bike he saw. The other bike was built for someone else, while this was his personal Super Company bike designed and painted specifically for him — what could be better than that?