“I had an idea for a frame inspired by some of Hank Young’s past customs that used leaf springs for suspension. I visited a few shops where I threw the idea around about it and everyone told me it couldn’t be done,” Bill said. Moving forward without paying heed to the naysayers, he started purchasing chromoly tubing and piecing together parts to fabricate his leaf-spring frame. He set up a jig in the center of his garage and used a manual tube bender to fabricate a frame with 35-degrees of rake, a three-inch stretch in the backbone, and what appears to be a huge gap between the seat area and swingarm. “I didn’t want the leaves to be as obvious as on Hank’s bike and I tried to make the frame appear rigid at first glance,” Rick said. The swingarm was attached to the frame with a set of five leaf springs ranging from eleven- to four-inches-long and centered between a set of ball joints. “Ball joints are commonly used in racing applications, and I used three-quarter-inch hex-head bolts as pivots. They’re rated at 147,000lbs tensile strength, so I think the rear end is strong enough,” Rick said. He ordered a two-inch over, narrow DNA springer front end to get the frame rails parallel with the ground. On top of the springer, Rick built a set of wide, beach cruiser-style handlebars welded to a pair of two-inch risers. He also fit 60-spoke wheels to both ends of the bike, the rear Avon tire relatively wide at 250mm with a matching skinny Avon in the front. Harley-Davidson rotors provide a proven braking surface with a springer-mounted caliper in the front that works with a four-piston GMA Engineering caliper in the rear.

Rick went by one of the local shops that doubted him to pick-up the driveline. He obtained a 100” RevTech motor that produced plenty of power with a Mikuni 42mm carburetor, a .560 lift cam, and a square four-inch bore and stroke that many racers claim will make more power than a motor of the same displacement that has a bore that is greater than or less than the length of the stroke. A Crane HI-4 ignition system creates an accurate spark and Rick built a pair of custom pipes, wrapped in insulating header tape, that evacuate the gases incinerated in the combustion chamber. “I decided to go with a complete RevTech driveline because I knew each component would fit together without a hitch,” Rick said. He installed a RevTech enclosed wet primary and a RevTech 6-speed, left-side-drive transmission behind the motor.

Looking to save a few bucks without sacrificing any capacity or strength, Rick searched online for other necessary parts. He found a fuel tank on eBay that he secured to the backbone tube. Also found on the World Wide Web were the steel fender blanks, but he made the battery box under the seat, and the four-quart oil bag that he mounted on the swingarm just behind the leaf springs. Once the bike’s vital fluids were contained and the frame was completed, Rick had a company called IDS, located in nearby Indianapolis, powdercoat the frame, swingarm, handlebars, and foot controls for a durable, protective finish. The sheetmetal fenders and gas tank received a custom paint mix called Tiger Drylac specifically designed to match the color of the powdercoated frame. Then, Keith Stapleton graced the fenders and gas tank with light silver flames outlined in red.

He saved another couple-hundred greenbacks by designing and fabricating custom foot controls out of plate steel and lightening it with a series of holes and using brass pegs to operate them. Demon Cycles made the torpedo hand grips and internal throttle that he mounted on the handlebars with chromed H-D levers and front caliper master cylinder. Making the seat pan himself; Rick sent it to Maxwell’s Auto trim for a black seat, made with a new leather-like material, trimmed in blue piping the upholstery shop happened to have in stock.

Rick quickly gained recognition from local motorcycle aficionados after A.W.O.L. was seen around town. The recognition also brought new people into the shop, and now he’s got jobs lined up — and all he ever wanted was a custom V-twin.