”I’ve always loved choppers, but way back when, there were no custom bike shops in Ireland so I had to try to learn to do everything myself. From custom painting, which is my main income, to making my own frames, pipes, bars, tanks, saddles, the whole lot. I’m still learning all the time. I think the bike turned out better than I expected. But, if I had to do it all over again, I would like to think I could do better. A few things on it I’m not really happy with, but at the time, it was the best I could do,” said Ger. “Hey, I’m my own worst critic.”
Taking that last statement into account, I can tell you that Ger’s not only a wicked smart and extremely talented guy, but also a pretty damn down to earth guy who does what he does, not just because he likes it, but because he can. Few people are going to attempt to build a high-tech friction-drive ride like this and Ger just didn’t copy what’s already been done, but put a whole new twist on it. “I wanted to build a friction-drive chop ever since I saw one on the Biker Build-Offon TV. The only thing I didn’t like about friction drive was going to be the length of the bike as I would have to build another reverse drive gearbox and sit it behind the regular tranny to get the bike to drive forward. Talking about this problem with my buddy Mick, I mentioned it was a pity I couldn’t get the motor to run in reverse and he jokingly said, ‘You should turn the motor around backwards,’ “ said Ger. “That’s so simple! Why didn’t I think of it? Doing that, I could do away with the extra reverse gearbox and keep the bike short.”
Ger got to work and ripped the 1200cc Shovelhead out of his own 1970 Electra Glide for his O’Frankestein experiment. After show polishing the cases that he modified to accept two rear cylinder heads, Ger fabbed up a pair of stainless intake manifolds to hold a pair of show-stopping, dual-throat 40mm Weber carbs topped with 4” stainless velocity stacks. Internally, the motor is stock and the dual Webers are a bit over the top you might be thinking, but are they on a rad ride like this Ger calls Rattle”n” Hum (also the title of a little song by U2)? That little Irish pub band is definitely over the top in the music world (yes, I’m a big fan), this bike’s over the top in the custom world, so what’s an extra carb between friends?
You’ll never guess in a million years what this bike is listed as on Ger’s registration. Go ahead, guess, but don’t take a million years. Nope, you’re wrong. Your second guess is wrong too and so won’t all your others, so I’ll let the cat out of the bag and I’ll admit I never would have guessed either. According to the Irish version of our DMV, it’s (no last guesses as you’d still be wrong) a 1990 GS1100 Suzuki. Yeah, one of those use a titled headstock to make it legal kinda things. Maybe it was Ger’s single-sided hard tail that kept you from guessing correctly or the beefy, slotted 2” top tube and 2” down tube, no matter as no GS1100 ever made or modified has anything in common with Ger’s chassis other than a similar Suzuki VIN number holder.
With something this radical, Ger just couldn’t find a nice front end, bolt it on, and call it a day. No, he had to build his own one-off that’s a mixture of a springer and an inverted fork sporting 14”-wide alloy yokes. The 41mm inner tube runs on nylon bushings and the length of the forks can be adjusted in height by up to 2”. Ger also fabbed up a set of bars with nary a lever, cable, or wire in sight in true Joe Friday “Just the bars ma’am, just the bars” tradition. A hand shift twists the gears on the Ultima 6-speed which Ger turned around and mounted upright and is turned by a something-looks-wrong-with-this-picture-but-I’m-not-sure-what right-side open chain primary.
Speaking of something-looks-wrong-with-this-picture, check out the big canister mounted outboard just aft of the tranny on the left side. Yup, that beautifully machined and finished piece sporting a cable, a pulley, and a lever arm is a re-purposed Honda rear drum brake now doing duty as the sole stopper. It’s a bit of fabulous mechanical whimsy. “I like the way it spins backwards when the bike moves,” said Ger. “I don’t have any reason, I just like it. It’s my favorite part on the bike.”
Body work consisted of a Ger-made double gas/oil tanks that feature twin caps, but only on one side. The left tank has two chambers; the lower half holds oil while the front-left half also feeds the right tank with fuel. Nice job on the shapely tanks Ger and the hangers look cool too. He also English-wheeled a piece of aluminum until he had a vestigial, but pretty rear fender and worked another piece of alloy until he had a seat too. “It will never be a comfortable bike to ride, so long distance is a no-no. In Ireland where it’s almost always raining, the lack of a front mudguard and the almost useless one on the rear will make for a very soggy trip,” said Ger with a bit o’ the Irish humor.
You might remember that Ger said earlier that painting was his main income and even with all the mind-blowing fabrication he’s already done in constructing this bike, he took the paint and finish seriously, but subtly over the top too. The HOK Organic Green Candy over a ground-steel finish with cream colored tank panels combined with gold leaf and brass and copper accents throughout the bike lends a warm, vintage look to Rattle “n” Hum without slamming you in the face or taking anything away from the overall look. Talented and tasteful, two things anyone looking for a great painter would find in a Ger-paintjob.
All of this is even more amazing as Ger along with engineering help from buddies Mick and James and parts help from Lou de Miguel made this all happen in the most unlikeliest of places. No, it’s not some shop with Water Jets and laser cutters working through the night when no one’s there, but his own little workshop that’s in his garden of all places. Having a little workshop means there’s not a lot of room for other projects like the little one Ger’s up to now of combining two Kawasaki Z650 motors into a supercharged V8, so Rattle “n” Hum is up for sale to finance and make room for this new one. Visiti C&C Chops’ website www.celticchops.com for more info and make Ger an offer he can’t refuse.
Click on and watch Ger’s YouTube video about Rattle “n” Hum.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki2kyd9k1jE