The Paughco frame was a platform that Pete had been holding on to for some time. He figured it would work great for this bike for two reasons: it had a wishbone shape in the downtubes and it was already paid for. Raked to 32-degrees for quick handling, they bolted a one-inch-under girder front-end to the frame. “To get the bike’s stance correct with the tall front wheel we had to get a shortened girder and widen it to fit the larger hub and rotor,” Pete said. A matching 16” wheel was used in the rear, and the front wheel are both slowed by Performance Machine four-piston calipers.

The rounded jugs of an S&S 92” motor, designed for one of Indian’s many rebirths, found a home within the bike’s wishbone frame. They bolted a large diameter velocity stack to reduce air turbulence entering the carb while spent gases exit through a 2-into-1 pipe that is built functionally spartan. Rearward of the motor they secured a Roadmax 6-speed left-side-drive transmission and connected it to the motor with a modified BDL open belt primary with a Grandeur automatic clutch. “I’d never build a jockey shift bike like this without hand controls, if I didn’t have one of these centrifugal clutches, it makes the bike so easy to ride,” Pete said.

A traditional bobber can be defined as a stripped down bike with few sheet metal coverings. Aware of that fact, Pete and the crew nixed the front fender and only retained the necessary pieces. “We decided to use a late model XL tank because like so many traditional customs, we could still say we used a Sporty tank, without it being recognized instantly,” Pete said. They flush mounted the gas cap and moved the petcock to the rear of the tank to allow for smooth, unbroken sheetmetal contours. “The jockey shifter is a nod toward traditional tank shifters. We put the shifter through the tank because the knob is located in a more natural position for the rider’s hand instead of on the side of the tank. The late model Sporty tank was just wide enough,” Pete said. The rear fender hugs the 200mm tire, trimmed just outside of the outer diameter of the wheel on the right side and cut to allow for the chain final on the left. It’s held to the frame with a series of steel mounts and a custom fender strut that curves up from either axle and around the end of the fender. Pete Fritsche painted the metal a bright copper metal flake that included the belt drive pulley covers.

Once the major components of the bike were fit together, Pete’s crew finalized the remaining details. Behind the tank, just in front of the seat, is a neutral LED light so the bike is never started in gear. Made in-house, the Softail-style seat is actually a piece of seamless leather formed to hide a pair of hairpin springs. Accutronix foot controls were attached to the frame, the rider’s right foot operates a proportioning valve that sends hydraulic fluid to both the front and rear brakes, while the left foot operates the clutch (as a back-up for the auto-clutch). There’s nothing on the handlebars except a pair of grips and a mirror on the left side.

The future owner of the bike, Patrick Russell, literally worked around the corner from his workplace. “Pete’s shop is in my neighborhood and I had them do some hot rod work on my Dyna Street Bob. I really wanted an unusual custom bobber and didn’t want to go any further with the Street Bob. Pete had just brought Hot Bob back into the shop from an Easy Rider show and I instantly recognized it as a bike I had to have,” Patrick said.