I always thought KRs were classically beautiful race bikes, but after seeing Bryan Lane’s garage-built version of a later XR 750-inspired Panhead, I’m not so sure anymore.
What Bryan has done is akin to what custom car builders do to make phantom models that never were built by the manufacturer, but appear like they did. For an example, a phantom could be a perfect rendition of what a 1965 Pontiac GTO wagon might have looked like or whatever. Basically that’s what Bryan’s done here, but with is own personal twists instead of trying to look like it was factory made. And, I like it a lot.
It’s more than just flat track-influenced, though, as there’s a bit of café racer, a bit of bobber, and with a big whiff of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s probably due to the paint work of Pork Chop Paint. The bright white base coat harmonizes nicely with the dark red panels separated by a bit of black pinstriping. Just a clean simple design that accents, not overpowers the true star of the show, the lovely Panhead engine. In my opinion, it’s a pretty sophisticated and well-edited design with a bit of raciness mixed with a quiet touch of confidence.
The minimalist, but quietly smooth bodywork brings the dirt aspect front and center. The gas tank shape looks very dirt-bikey with a flanged neck shape reminiscent of something that lived another life on an actual one before being modified to fit here. Nothing wrong with that as it fits perfectly and shows some smart thinking on Bryan’s part. The flat-track tail section finishes off the look leaving no doubt as to what look Bryan was going for. Obviously, building something successfully in your garage requires you to be sharp and always using your imagination tempered with a good bit of cleverness.
Yes, that is a real ’56 Harley-Davidson Panhead. As always, Jack Cofano’s photos are amazingly clear considering the horrible show conditions he has to shoot them under and the VIN on the engine clearly says this is a 1956. You gotta give Bryan a hell of a lot of credit just for coming up with this idea of combing two cool and loved Harleys into one. Who doesn’t love a Panhead just because? And, who doesn’t love the looks of a Harley XR flat tracker? Both are timeless classics that are lustful objects even if you never want to own one. Bryan’s mingling of the motorcycles is a sure fire bet to get Harley lovers to involuntarily make low guttural noises upon fathoming what they’re looking at.
Bryan did a great job with the kicker-only Panhead itself giving it bit of old and new with a high degree of finish. Luckily it’s not overdone, but has the tiniest bit of real patina to it even though it’s spotless. Fired by a magneto and fueled by a modern mixer, the burnt mixture exits the engine by dual one-off ceramic coated headers snaking tightly mid-engine on the left before shooting directly under the seat and turning right and aft and dumping out through lovely oval-shaped mouths. Phew! That was one long explanation for one very short, but very beautiful set of pipes. And, you know they gotta sound good.
A mechanically pretty, because it’s so damn elemental, belt drive does what it has to before the tranny spins the chain final drive. Somehow I don’t think the DOT or even OSHA would be too happy with all the exposed belts, chains and gears whirring away on the left side of the bike, but I love the totally exposed look with a hint of vintage danger. Kinda racy looking don’t ya think?
On the flip side, the kicker just sits there ready to make anybody who’s never started a bike with pushing a button cringe a bit. I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that that is a garage-made kicker pedal like the nicely crafted mid-mount foot controls. Nothing shabby going on here, just high quality garage-built parts and pieces. What isn’t garage-built like the Mooneyes oil tank is just good taste. Who doesn’t like a real Mooneyes tank?
Wheels and tires are a bit of artistic license on Bryan’s part as they’re not real brakeless XR wheels and tires, but they are pretty damn close in many ways. The mildly-aggressive knobbys look peachy to me and the beefier rear tire fills out a street bike with a bit of muy macho, but in a good way. The drum rear brake does its best to be like one of the brakeless-wonder flat trackers while the spool front wheel looks flat track sharp. Not my brake choice for riding in heavy traffic, but it does look race-cool.
Bryan also took a few liberties with suspension, but, again, in good way. The rubber gator forks are lowered to the point of having little travel, but the stance is perfect. Out back are old FL-style covered chrome shocks that could be struts for all I know, but for some reason, I’ve always like the looks of these classical dampers. On this bike, there could be no other choice ─ they’re perfect.
One thing that’s a bit unusual is Bryan’s choice of clip-ons instead of some tubular bolt-on XR-style bars. Actually I think this move says a lot about Bryan in itself. First, he’s not stuck with self-imposed rules of what a XR-style bike could or should be. The clip-ons make a sleek statement of their own and clean up the whole front end. Plus, since he’s probably building this bike for himself in his own garage, he can build exactly what he would want to ride. With that thought, I’d guess he prefers the café position and likes to ride his bikes with a bit of verve shall we say (remember it’s a real Panhead and I can’t say super fast or something like that) so he builds what he feels comfortable riding on the back roads of North Carolina.
That’s probably what I like best about garage-built bikes ─ the riding aspect. I’d venture a guess (again) that from what I’ve seen and experienced that garage-built bikes actually get ridden and quite a bit too. An owner/builder has to especially enjoy showing off his work even if it’s only to himself out on the road. After putting this much time, thought, and effort into a project like this, you want to believe that Bryan will revel in riding the crap out of it and not regretting a second he put into making a dream into reality.
Bryan wanted Barnett’s Magazine Online to thank a bunch of people for him like his wife and kids, Pork Chop Paint, his buddies ─ Bo, Tom, and Eric, and Prism Motorcycles. Since I have zero contact information on Bryan, his wife and children, Pork Chop Paint, and especially Bo, Tom or Eric, I’ll just list Prism Motorcycles website http://www.prismmotorcycles.com/ for contact info and urge you to watch Prism’s extremely cool and entertaining video in the meantime.