Dalton Walker is one of those young enigmas who can channel their inner Old School child and build a chop that can defy time through authentic-style building just like when Arlen Ness was his age and doing the same thing. I don’t know if Dalton has discovered his own time portal to jump into and check out how things were done back then, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did. This low-down audacious digger strikes every cord I ever had or will have about Old School as only a few builders can do without trying too hard and ruining the recipe.

 

   One thing Dalton never ever does is take the easy way out when it comes to building customs and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that that’s the approach he takes to everything in life. His design aesthetic of no-holds-barred style and construction along with extreme detailing sets him apart from the average builder and his work over the years shows this ─ one bike after the other.

 

   With each bike he’s built, his skills, knowledge and propensity for the unusual keeps reaching new limits. Barnett’s Magazine Online has featured a couple of his builds like his retro Triumph chopper and a couple of years later, what we called his Fabergé Flathead takes everything up a notch, or two, or three. With his featured build called Well Hung, if the devil’s truly in the details, this is bike is about as devilishly detailed as you can get without having a pointed tail, cloven hooves and tiny horns on your forehead.

 

  Beginning with the idea of a stressed-member digger frame is about as retro-radical as you can be. Hanging a big lump of Harley-Davidson Panhead out in what we refer to as the atmosphere surely presented a few problems and solutions that needed to be taken care of. The frame is made out off eighth-inch-thick sheet metal and presented as one piece including the bodywork. Basically, the whole thing was built around sketches and air until each piece had a piece to be welded onto and so on and so on. No laying out of tubes on a frame table and welding them up using more easily established frame parameters, Dalton’s sheet metal frame is like starting from the inside and working out while hoping the whole thing’s gonna be worth it. It is Dalton. That’s a sh*tload of work and determination and I don’t think he found a hell of a lot of info online as there haven’t been very many customs built other than the occasional aircraft radial engine custom or one using a more sensible unit-construction Sportster engine.

 

  Speaking of the frame, the heart of it balances seemingly precariously in thin air ─ a genuine Harley-Davidson Panhead that shows no fear of failure. Part of that mechanical confidence just might come from the fact Dalton built this mill up to a big-ass 96-inches with extreme and awe-inspiring mods both inside and out. Obviously this is not some kind of concours Panhead and it didn’t bother me a bit to find pout the right cases is from a 1964 Harley and the left case is one of Cal-Products Bonneville left-side replacement cases from the ‘70s. In fact, it only makes things more interesting. I won’t bore you with all the other inside goings-on other than to say it’s stroked a hefty five-inches.

 

   The outside of the Panhead engine is where the magic happens. To keep 96-inches of cylinders fed, Dalton installed a twin SU carb setup sucking through mandatory ‘70s velocity stacks with the whole shebang splayed out over the shocking to me prism-shaped primary cover. Not to be out done, the right side has a pair of manly magnetos lighting off the dual plug heads and the end result of dual-carb/dual plug combustion bellows out of the curvaceous 2-into-1 large mouth collector. It must be a bastard to kick start and not the easiest thing to tune, but it sure is a hunk of burning love. You did yourself proud on this engine Dalton.

 

   Hanging off the front is a stunner of a springer that you really have to take time to mull over until you get every last detail in. Dalton’s prism-shaped, one-piece sheet metal fork legs are dazzling, but the sculpted metal rocker arms are just more than I could comprehend anyone doing. They’re simply outrageously beautiful in a ‘70s single-spring way of life with the prism legs of the springer lovingly duplicated in the pull-back bars. Up front is a radial-laced spool hub wheel that’s bracketed out back by something so totally different you have to look twice. Especially once you realize it’s not a product of a CNC machine, but the metal sculpting skills Dalton is not afraid to abuse until he has what he sees in his head. Okay, he didn’t build the rim, but everything else you see he hand fabricated (basically carved) out of metal and welded it to it. That’s a mindblower to me especially since I know Dalton wouldn’t stop working on it until it was perfect.

 

    Same goes for all the integrated or should I say “unit-body” bodywork. It starts with a slender prism fuel tank that works its way back along the straight-sloping backbone and then sharply down after flaring out on its way to the rear fender and axle. Oh, I should mention along the way, it morphs into an oil tank directly under the seat too. It’s kinda funny how ‘70s chopper-style prism tanks established the design parameters for the stealth bombers of today. Maybe that’s not totally true, but it could have. A slight flip-up of a rear fender rises up out of nowhere and gives a place to mount the Shack Cycles-built button and tufted, beautifully-stitched leather seat.

 

   Another Dalton moment has gotta be the foot controls. He took them to the next level again sculpting pedals for both shifter and brake that mimic the design of the fork rockers and rear wheel. Don’t ever assume they’re some party animal piece that doesn’t really work well, they do. And sprinkling them in real gold plating like all the other sculpted pieces and various other bits like the front hub and spoke nipples, the springer spring, the SU carb dashpots, and many bits of hardware only makes for wonderful extravagance that was part and parcel of any true ‘70s build. I wasn’t so crazy about gold plating then, but my tastes apparently have changed over the years. Rolling in gold ─ how cool is that?

Dalton’s got to thank Jose Reyes Gold Plating in Fresno, California, for the fine work and I’ve got to thank both of them for being so audacious.

 

    Complimenting that period gold touch is a complex paintjob straight from the ‘70s. Dalton laid down the black to blue fade base paint and a guy called Dicky Doodles who actually was painting gold leaf and striping back in the ‘70s like on this bike, did what he does best. The leafing is simply beautiful to my eyes and I can’t imagine how much time was invested in getting it this beautiful. When ol’ Dicky Doodles got through, Dalton cleared the whole thing over until it still looks glossy wet. It’s a pip of a paintjob that makes you want to take in every little detail front-to-back and then do it again.

 

    Dalton Walker has taken a wild idea and run with it just like the great iconic ‘70s builders would have done and often did. No stone was left unturned and no style feature or engineering problem was too much to handle. Dalton has made a Fresno-style retro digger that bends the hands of time as well as metal. You might not want to own it or ride it, but you definitely can’t help but admire it and that’s what a true show bike is all about.

 

For more info on Split Image Kustoms you’ll have to do a little chasing. Check out Facebook and spend some time on the Internet. Sorry, no web site I can find and I’m sure that’s exactly the way Dalton likes it.