Todd Sillicato, owner of Todd’s Cycle in Huntington Beach, California, had built and worked on a multitude of bikes and motors over his enduring twenty some years in the motorcycle industry, but he usually uses modern mills like ‘90s-style Evos and Sportsters, and the current Twin-Cam. “I never planned to build this bike, it just kind of happened. Johnny Chop told me about a guy he knew that had a knucklehead for sale at a bargain price. He said he would have bought the motor himself, but couldn’t ‘cause he was working on something else,” Todd said.

Once Todd talked with the motor’s owner they agreed on a price and it was shipped from Florida to Todd’s Cycle. “When I got the motor it was obvious right from the start that it was going to need some attention before it could power a bike. All the exterior bolts were rusty, it arrived in a wooden crate laying on its side surrounded by a disturbing layer of sand,” he said. The presence of sand can be disheartening for any gearhead because if the grainy particles had gotten in the motor’s oil supply or had found its way into the cylinders or bearings, the motor might seize. “The motor wasn’t much of a bargain once I had it rebuilt, upgraded, and refinished the exterior. But it was nice to work on something other than a Twin Cam or Evo for once,” he said. The rebuilt 93” Flathead Power motor features a 4.5” stroke and a 3.625” bore with S&S cases, flywheels, rods, pistons, and a Super E carb.

It would have been easy for Todd to buy a frame from one of the many custom frame builders in SoCal because the reproduction knuckle’s mounts are set up like an Evo’s, but he thought the engine would be better supported in a frame of his own design. He built a rigid with wishbone shaped downtubes connected to a steering neck raked to 32-degrees. Next, he raised the stock motor and transmission mounts .75”. The extra room underneath the tranny was designed to house a battery and air compressor to supply the Paul Cox designed Rigidaire seat suspension air bags. “I’m making reproductions of this frame, available to the public, through a company called Chassis Design with the same raised trans, motor mounts, and measurements,” Todd said.

Instead of using a stock or traditional looking springer, Todd ordered a Spartan Frameworks Springer, built one-inch longer than a stock front-end. “I love Spartan’s Springer. It rides solidly and doesn’t tweak and bend like other springers. It’s got billet steel rockers, grease fittings at the pivot points, and high-quality bushings — it’s built to last,” said Todd who’s obviously a big believer in Spartan Frameworks’ products.

Rolling stock for the knucklehead was never designed to be anything like the traditional skinny tires associated with the archaic looking engine. Todd had Black Bike make him a pair of spoked wheels with black powdercoated rims and hubs that matched the color of the frame. A big, meaty 18×8” wheel was built for a wide Metzeler 240mm tire in the rear and a 21×3.5” wheel was assembled for the front with a beefier than average 120mm wide Metzeler.

With the effort put into the chassis and motor Todd had to put equal energy into the bike’s skin, after all, it’s usually the first thing most people notice. “I spent tons of time on the finished gas tank, a solid three work days. In that time I actually made two tanks, the inner tank that holds the gas and an outer shell that is slightly larger than the inner, but matches each contour exactly. Then I cut away the outer shell so the inner tank was visible as well,” Todd said. He found the tank holds about two and a half gallons and he gets about 80-miles to a tank — he attributes the decent gas mileage to the tall gearing of the Baker 6-speed trans. He practically built each piece twice and spent twice as long as it would normally take him to design and fabricate the rear fender (which also acts as an oil bag and holds approximately three and a half quarts), and the sheet metal accent under the seat area.

Instead of another black bike, Todd wanted a little color spread across the build. He brought the gas tank, rear fender/oil bag, and seat accent to famed painter, Buck Wild, for a gold metal flake base coat covered in candy green with black accents and subtle pinstripes. The front legs of the springer front end were painted to match the sheet metal, tying it to the bike’s color scheme and adding to the custom look.

Years before opening his own shop, Todd worked for Performance Machine and still uses a number of their parts on every one of his bikes. His knucklehead sports a PM 2” open primary and clutch, PM hand control levers, and PM foot controls. Each piece is slightly modified or coupled with Todd’s parts like his hand grips, handlebars, and foot pegs.

Not surprisingly, this knucklehead rigid has even more Todd’s Cycle branded parts. Todd manufactures and sells other parts on this bike including the ignition switch (tucked in behind the primary on the seat post), seat pan, and seat pivot. The risers, pipes, and license plate mount were custom made for this build.

After taking the bike to Sturgis this year, Todd received critical acclaim for his knucklehead at every show it was entered in. He won a Best of Show trophy at The Horse Magazine’s pro-builder judged show and first place in his class in another. The bike creates a crowd around it everywhere it goes, which is telling about Todd’s skills; if he hadn’t confessed to the fact, it would be hard to believe that this is the first knuckle-powered bike he’s built.