There are a lot of reasons to label it “Old School cool” and possibly the best reason is that it was created using not only the style of days gone by, but the methods to build it are pretty much period correct too. Unless there’s a modern lithium battery hidden somewhere, there’s not a piece on this bike that doesn’t look like it wasn’t made back in the roaring ‘70s. From the rigid frame to the springer with a spool hub laced to a classic 21-inch chromed steel rim to the drum brake Harley wheel out back and everything else in between, it quietly yet capably shouts “Old School.” Toss in a beautifully detailed genuine Harley-Davidson Panhead motor and you’ve basically got a custom motorcycle that could have been built back when and now restored to perfection. Jack’s “Notsure” photo header could have involved more than just who built it, but when.

   Looking over the whole bike there’s not a piece that I notice as a modern blemish caught up in an Old School build. From the bars to the peanut tank to the slash cut straight exhausts, there’s nothing out of Old School line except maybe the lack of excessive Bondo molding that tried to cover up the sins of the past. It’s one clean and tidy machine that’s not trying to be a retro bike, it truly is one. Like all bikes, I can’t help but pick out my favorite piece and that would be the rear fender. The fender stays and their molded integration into the fender is flawlessly beautiful. Same goes for the lone bullet taillight and its molded home at the tip of the fender. It’s all suggestive of the ‘70s, but with a lovely modern technique.

   Throw in the ‘70s color palette the mystery builder chose for the paint job that looks straight outta the ‘70s and you’ve got a nostalgia smorgasbord of color that would look perfect on a custom windowless van of that era. It’s one of those color schemes that would look so out of place on a new Harley-Davidson, but looks just right on a retro custom. I try and picture a new Harley Ultra Classic done up like this and it makes me get a bit sick in my mouth. Here, on this Panhead bobber, it looks muy perfecto.

   Like the old Budweiser “Real Men of Genius” commercials, here’s to you Mr. Old School Mystery Builder for a job well done.