The builder of this bike, Mickey Holcomb, owner of Groovey Street Customs, acquired many of the main components from a guy who used to work for him. His former employee built the ’37 Knucklehead motor over a number of years with the intention of building a bike around it. Time passed and he got married, leading to a bun in the oven and the need to move into a larger house for his growing family. Mickey had been after the guy to buy the Knucklehead for years; the guy finally decided he needed money more than he needed the motor. “I bought the restored 61” motor along with a few other un-restored parts: a’48 rigid frame, ’56 4-speed trans with no provisions for electric starting of any kind, and an old horseshoe oil tank,” Mickey said. Purchasing the motor and old parts put his project well on its way towards completion.

Upon arrival at the shop, the collection of parts was instantly dubbed Skeletal Remains for the heavy surface corrosion on everything except the motor. The all-original 1937 Knucklehead had been meticulously restored to its previous glory and fit with an S&S Super E carburetor and air cleaner assembly. Parts for older bikes aren’t always easy to find. “Brian Camper at D&N Cycle helped me find many of the new old stock (N.O.S.) parts. He can find you anything if you give him enough time. He’s like a pit bull when it comes to ordering parts.” The primary’s chain, inner, and outer covers are a few of the original parts that Brian spent months tracking down. Mickey also incorporated the original in-line, external oil filter bolted near the rear cylinder with oil lines sheathed in braided stainless steel coverings.

Mickey restored the ’48 frame without changing any of Harley’s geometry, but trimmed off any brackets that weren’t necessary to his final design. He bolted a chromed DNA springer front end to the bike as an appropriate era suspension style for the dated driveline and frame. Eighty-spoke DNA wheels were attached to the front end and frame with a spool 21” front wheel and a 16” wheel in the rear. The only braking device on the bike is a small two-piston Exile sprocket brake. “I like the Exile sprotor in the rear, but if I rode this bike all the time I’d definitely add a front brake,” Mickey said.

He chopped and trimmed the V-Twin Manufacturing rear fender blank and fabricated the custom fender struts. Traditional Paughco fishtail exhaust pipes were sectioned and shortened to fit the look he was after. Twelve-inch ape hangers with Equinox knurled billet handgrips were secured to the DNA front end featuring a Headwinds headlight. He found a set of Bourget Bike Works’ forward controls at a swap meet, the same place where he got the handlebars. Plus, he used an original mousetrap clutch actuating mechanism. One of Mickey’s friends, nicknamed Cool Hand Luke for his years in the Big House, does all the shop’s leatherwork. Mickey made the pan and mounted it with 2.5” long coil seat springs and Cool Hand Luke handmade the seat’s leather covering.

The Groovey Street has had more orders for restorations and customs lately. Much of their success is due to word of mouth, but clearly their resto-mod bikes, like this Knucklehead, speak for themselves.