Yeah, there’s some serious Old School spirit going on at Prism Supply and the best part about it is that it isn’t forced or retro-hip in any way. Zack and Jake are just two old spirits trapped in a young guys bodies and they’re having the time of their life building custom motorcycles. Along with a bunch of motorcycling friends with the same attitudes as theirs, they’re living the life that really looks straight out of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Some builders really try to do Old School and it shows in the final result trying to hard to capture a lost time. On the other hand, I swear these two bros are mentally trapped in that time and are just enjoying the hell out of it. For instance, I don’t think you could pay them any amount of money to build a big wheel bagger. It’s just not in their DNA. They build beautiful Harley-Davidson choppers and bobbers with an artist’s eye, but not a plastic fantastic big wheel bagger ─ ever.
So, what do you think about our Knucklehead feature bike? Pretty nice stuff for a couple of kids, huh? You bet your ass it is. As an invited builder to the Born Free 8 show, Prism Supply stepped up to the plate with this fabulous 1941 Knucklehead hot rod that came home with the Founder’s Award. Quite a cool thing to win as the creators behind the whole Born Free event chose it as their favorite bike. With some of the most artistic and skilled builders in the world as competition, getting this award had to be extremely fulfilling for the work Zack and Jake put into this build. Sometimes things just work out right.
Sometimes what you see is not as it seems and that’s exactly what’s going on here. At first I thought this was just an old Harley lugged frame that got reworked a bit. Man, I was wrong as I could be as it’s all stainless steel although you’d never know it. Working in stainless steel tubing is quite different than mild or chromoly steel, but these guys seem to have the stainless thing down to a science. One thing’s for sure, they sure wrapped it tight around the engine as front downtube had to be dimpled to give enough clearance for it to fit. Plus the lines of the frame give it that feel of restrained motion like my German Shepherd tugging at his leash until it’s straight-out taunt.
Just like everybody loves a Knucklehead, everybody loves a classy springer and Zack and Jake didn’t disappoint a bit with a proper double-spring springer that looks the biz in this Knucklehead setting. Same goes the wheel sitting between the fork legs which is a classically simple 19-inch laced wheel sans brake and covered in vintage Firestone rubber. Out back it’s more of the same, wires and Firestone, but what once was referred to as a juice brake is a drum brake doing any braking duties other than engine braking. The drum setup also carries the sprocket for the chain final drive. Back in the day, builders didn’t know this setup was the foreshadowing of what is known today as a sprocket brake although now it’s more likely to be a caliper grabbing a sprocket as a rotor replacement. Funny how the more things change, the more they stay the same.
And, there’s that iconic engine that’s just quietly sitting there dominating the view even though the Hindes lads kept the finish about as subtle as you could ever get. The aluminum finish is raw and real while the black cylinders provide a nice contrast to all that’s going on about it. There’s the slightest touch of chrome from the pushrod tubes and Timing cover but that’s about it and that’s good. There are plenty of chromed-out Knucks out there already so this subtle vintage-appropriate approach is right on for me.
No new-fangled Mikuni carb here as Prism stuck with the old Linkert carb and it looks natural doing what Linkerts have done for decades and still do today ─ feeding an engine that’s been around since the beginning of WWII. That’s 76-freakin’-years in layman’s terms.
It’s not all vintage, though, as you can clearly see of those twin megaphone exhausts Zack and Jake fabbed up that snake their way around the engine and through the inside of the frame. It’s a long journey that was taken almost a step at a time with the multi-piece stainless pipes bent, cut, welded and shaped into place. Somehow those big megaphones have been fitted between the frame, curved fender stays and rear tire and look like they should been there all the time. A lot of work went into them, but it paid off and I only wish I could hear the end result. What a shame.
No big open belt drive need apply for the job of transferring power to the slick jockey shifted tranny. No sir, just some tinwork covering up the power transfer goings-on like when Roosevelt was president. If it was good then, it’s even better now that we have an appreciation for the past. With not a foot control in sight near the mid-mount miniature floorboards, I can only assume they act as pedals as there’s nothing else in sight to do the job. Even if the left hand grip was an internal clutch or brake, it couldn’t be both so I’m a guessing here and that makes it even more entertaining to check out. There’s not a control on the racy Prism springer bars other than the throttle so I’m going with those minuscule floorboards although I’m probably dead wrong, but it’s all I got.
At first I thought the fuel tank was some sort of modified Wassell tank, but then I noticed that it’s actually a split tank setup. Now that’s some pretty cool stuff going on right there. It also explains how they found the room to run the exhaust where an oil tank usually is by splitting the tanks for fuel and oil. Simple as could be although it’s definitely not good if you hate pulling into a gas stations right after you filled up at the last one. Sometimes you gotta lose capacity to gain beauty. They also fabbed up the rear fender with a spritely kick-up at the back that contributes to the flow of the bike and gives a feeling of motion even at rest. Surprisingly, but I like it, the seat platform (is this where they hid a tiny battery?) is pretty wild being a polished stainless platform that’s not afraid to show you its shiny side. The gray pleated seat kinda disappears in all the action around it but then it’s up against polished stainless so why bother.
The simple blue paintjob with gold leaf and white pinstriped graphics that could be a burning fireball of a star or just a design that really adds a bit of retro-pop to a bike that looks so right like it shouldn’t even know what retro is. It really jumps out compared to the muted gray colors of the frame, fork and wheels. A bit of pinstriping along the outer edges of the rear fender and Prism painted on one side finish off what is a simply wonderful Knucklehead to look at anywhere you look at it. The whole bike is so slim it’s hard to believe it’s a Harley-Davidson, but that’s the early race look they seemed to be going for and man, Zack and Jake nailed it on every count. Yup, those Born Free founders knew what they were doing when they picked this bike as their favorite. It’s mine too.