B.K.’s mental itching finally came to a close when he finished building the classic Old School chop you’re looking at right here. That’s not too much of a surprise as just about all of us would love to have a beefy old chopper to muck about on and not go anyplace in particular. Just sit back and take in the Old School vibes that we’d all love to believe we’d adore. But, that was not exactly the itch B.K, wanted, needed, to scratch. In case you haven’t looked too closely at the details of this bike, zoom in on the engine.

   Yup, it is what you see ─ a genuine Harley-Davidson engine that dodges the question a lot of people have over what’s the best looking H-D engine. Usually it boils down to a vintage Knucklehead or its successor, the Panhead. What B.K.’s done is to combine the best of both worlds, Knucklehead and Panhead, onto one common crankcase and his itch was finito. That alone will blow the minds of onlookers who have enough knowledge to pick out the different heads and not understand that they can’t go home and do the same to theirs.

  Personally, I’ve always be a huge fan of engine projects like this where mixing and matching bits and pieces goes to a whole new level. Every now and then something like this would pop up in a magazine or online with different heads or even twisting it around in the frame and making it work backwards. There’s really no practical reason to do this and no performance gains to be had, but it sure damn is an eye catcher. The amount of time, money and head scratching involved in doing some of these “What if?” engines is incredible, but as I’ve said (over and over, sorry) if that’s your itch, then figure out how to scratch it.

   What B.K.’s done is combine a 1950 Harley Panhead with a rear cylinder and head from a 1947 Knucklehead and shazam, no more itching. And, no, it’s not some kind of direct bolt-on to a Panhead case, but something that requires quite a bit of mechanical finagling and a lot of patience to get right. Obviously, B.K. did his homework and gets some extra credit for seeing it through as most people might just write it off as a cool, but bad idea requiring a lot more work than they thought. Hey, that’s exactly what makes this cool in the first place. If it was easy to pull off, it wouldn’t be so uncommon.

   This build is not just about the engine, though, as B.K. put a lot of effort into making a retro chop that doesn’t look like it’s trying too hard. It is what it is and that’s what makes it so comfortably cool. The old FL frame still cradles the engine and tranny while a new chromed-out Harley springer provides the only suspension and looks the blingy biz hanging off the frame. Traditional laced wheels with a lot more spokes than they traditionally had and in a much thicker gauge sit at each end. In another tradition, the front is brakeless and the kinda hidden rear disc setup handles all the stopping duties other than a downshift or two via the hand shifter. Ah, just like in the old days, but there was a lot less traffic then.

   Keeping it real also demanded a Fat Bob-style tank that still looks as good to me as the day I saw my first one. Harley got it so right that this tank along with a Sportster tank so long ago that they are still using that design today on just about every bike they make. I guess you know you’re on the way out at Harley when you get assigned to the tank design department as I picture that to be a dusty, cobwebbed office with an empty desk and no chair. They probably tell you to bring your own air mattress to pass the time away between paychecks. But, hey, when you do it right, you don’t have to change the basic winning shape. Just ask Porsche if you don’t believe me as the 911 has changed radically over the years, but it’s still basically the same look.

   Same goes for the iconic horseshoe oil tank, although I think that Harley oil tank styling department has been a bit busier than the fuel tank division over the years. I do like the boringly traditional look of the fenders that actually look like they could fend in crummy conditions, the Bates-style headlight, the Sparto taillight, and the luscious looking diamond-pleated, rigidly mounted seat that looks great, but has to hurt like hell over any bump much larger than a quarter laying flat on the roadway. All stuff done well without the themey hit of a bike trying too hard.

   One thing I’m not too sure about is the right-side master cylinder and lever on the mini-apes. Is that for the rear brake too or is it an auxiliary clutch lever of some sort? Frankly I have no idea that I’ll stand behind as I can’t figure out where the hose goes to. Maybe I’m not trying hard enough or maybe this is one of those itchy things like wanting two different cylinders and heads on the same case. Chalk that up to one of life’s many mysteries I guess.

   For paint, I’m going to assume this was a no-brainer like me where whenever it comes time for paint, I paint it black. It always looks good with chrome and this bike has plenty of that and if it ain’t some Old School-style paintjob with more techniques involved than you knew existed, then it’s gotta be black. It just looks right. What B.K. probably had on his mind by the time it came for paint was “Just paint the damn thing black. I want to ride it.” And the make-believe Lord of motorcycles said, “. . . and so it was.”

  All in all, B.K. has made another head scratcher for people like me and you to just drink it all in and enjoy the work put into this bike. Finishing something like this only makes me wonder what the hell he’s got an itch for now. Hopefully it’s just as interesting as this Pan/Knuckle, but that’s asking a lot. Maybe B.K.’s got another itch that’s even scratchier than this retro beauty.