Over the years Panhead engines always were the choice of chopper freaks and that included the iconic Captain America and Billy Bike to name two incredibly famous ones. It seems like when you think vintage choppers a Panhead is always included in the package. So many Panhead choppers have been knocked out over the years you have to wonder if there are any original models left...

  It took about three months to complete this project. The motor was rebuilt using Harley and JIMs products. The transmission received a fresh set of Andrews gears.  A lot of time was spent decorating the bike once the basics were finished.  A Candy Pearl paint job was applied by Tommy, in house painter at Black Magic Customs.  PM handlebar controls, Choppers Inc grips, risers and...

    I doubt Steve had nothing in particular when he built this as everything looks particularly particular from the Low Rider frame holding the 1956 Motor Company Panhead engine to the Harley FL front end featuring a Hydra-Glide-style sheet metal surround behind the Bates-style headlight. Nothing is ridiculously stretched or raked as he obviously wanted to keep it a fun to ride...

    Although purists would definitely go into deep heebie-jeebies about our feature bike, a mildly customized 1945 Harley-Davidson 45-WL built by Gary Elswick of Elswick Machine in Cedar Bluff, Virginia, I’m certainly not one of them. I understand the rarity of this particular model, a civilian version of the 42-WLA Harley made for the U.S. Army, with only 1357 models built ($396...

   Now, though, any of those vintage originals or restored Harley-Davidsons from that era is simply more beautiful than life to me. No, I’m not a purist stickler by any means and probably wouldn’t be able to tell an OEM part from a good modern reproduction. Nor would I particularly care, although I can appreciate it when I hear “everything’s original” from an owner looking for a...

Part of Steve’s cool, no-ego attitude could be that he, like a lot of us, holds both the work of and the man himself in high regard. Like that famous Harley saying, “If I had to explain, you wouldn’t understand,” if you were ever lucky enough to have spent even a few seconds chatting with Indian Larry, watched him on TV, or got a close-up look at one of his bikes you no doubt can...

Ouch that’s gotta hurt.  To avoid any doubt this time around, Rich documented his three-month build of a 1942 Harley Flathead named Cheaters Proof, in an ultra-hip indie documentary called Free To Wander that in itself is a work of art. It’s proven him to be a talented young filmmaker, but most importantly it’s put to rest any doubt that Rich Phillips is indeed a talented bike...

Those 750cc side-valve engine bikes were smaller, lighter, and sportier than Harley’s big-block EL and FL models to appeal to returning servicemen’s tastes after their wartime experiences with smaller, lighter, and sportier European bikes. Harley combined what they thought were the best aspects of British vertical twins with traditional Harley 45-degree V-twin architecture creating...

So it’s no surprise that Caleb Owens’ new breed build, ‘Siksika’, took first place in the builder voting at Born Free 3. It’s the sort of bike that doesn’t rely on embedded jewels, CNCed wheels, or thousands of skulls ghosted into the paint to get attention. As Owens puts it, “I’m not a huge fan of the trailer queen scene. I’m not so much of a show bike builder. I build bikes to...

I’m familiar with the history of the engine. Back before the Evo, the company that owned Supercycle Magazine also owned a parts outfit called Nostalia Cycles out of Huntington Beach, California. I don’t remember the guy’s name, but in the pages of the magazine he was hustling plans, parts, and frames for the home builder to construct a V-twin bike built with parts...