When he received the bike, Walt disassembled it right away. He then sent the stock Shovelhead motor to Connecticut Performance Center for a complete rebuild. A little later the motor was brought back to the shop and weighed considerably less than when it left. “Van didn’t want a big bore kit, he wanted the motor strong and quick, but appearing stock,” Walt said. The 74” was rebuilt .030” over stock with lightened Keith Black pistons, lighter-than-stock Carillo rods, and H-D flywheels that had five pounds shaved off. Then the assembly was balanced and stuffed into H-D cases, cylinders, and topped off with a pair of ported H-D heads. A Crane 470 bumpstick was installed within the cam chest and 36mm Weber carburetor was fit between the heads, and the fuel mixture is lit with a Morris Magneto. Typically, a builder will design exhaust pipes that flow together purely for aesthetic reasons. The pipes that Walt made for Van’s bike don’t appear to have anything in common. “The front pipe is straight and the rear pipe is curved because it’s the only way I could get the pipes to have exactly the same length. It’s a performance trick that racers have used for years,” Walt said. He finished the pipes by applying HPC coating to the outside and inside of each one that he claims helps to reduce overall engine temperatures and give them an interesting look. A Tech Cycle one-and-a-half-inch open belt drive primary delivers power to the modified H-D transmission. “I tried to gear the transmission to complement the quick-revving motor. I used early FX gears for first and second, and early FLH gears for third and fourth along with a 24-tooth trans sprocket and a 48-tooth sprocket for the final drive, the result is 1700rpm at 75mph and it’s still very fast off the line,” Walt said.

During the process of rebuilding the motor, Walt was piecing together a new rolling chassis. “V-Twin makes a reproduction rigid frame like many other frame manufacturers, but I like V-Twin’s best because they bought all the original H-D castings for parts like the neck and trans mounts. It’s also stronger than an original frame because it’s welded together instead of brazed,” Walt said. The wishbone downtube frame features a stock raked neck and no stretch, Walt claims that it’s pretty light, too. A Dyna front-end was hung from the neck with a few modifications; the triple trees were re-machined because Walt didn’t like their look and he wanted to remove some weight from the front-end. He also moved the riser mounting holes so that he could mount the bars as low as possible and use a tapered set of aluminum Magura handlebars that taper from a one-inch diameter in the center to a three-quarter inch diameter at either end. Reciprocating mass was to be kept to a minimum so Walt used a pair of relatively light rolling stock in the form of a pair of British Dunlop 40-spoke wheels, a 19×2.85” was slipped on the front axle and an 18×3.18” wheels was used in the rear. An Avon 120mm front tire is slowed by a full-floating H-D rotor and 4-piston caliper while the rear Avon 150mm is stopped by a KLR dirt bike caliper from Japan with custom mounts to fit the American cruiser.

After joining the freshened drive train with the rolling chassis, Walt started fitting sheetmetal to the frame. He started with a ’48 Norton gas tank, cutting away two-thirds of it and making the rest from scratch. He also made the oil tank and fenders. Nate Wiener molded the metal and sprayed it with silver metal flake paint with red stripes. A local jewelry maker, Shana Leino, fabricated an “H” emblem out of sterling silver to resemble the “H” that used to grace the tanks of some early Panheads and Sportsters.

The final assembly went smoothly, thanks in part to Jane Kennedy’s expertise. “I hired Jane from a Harley shop for electrical work. She’s so meticulous, it’s like she’s an artist,” Walt said. There is no chrome on the bike whatsoever; every bit of metal is either aluminum or stainless steel. Walt shifted the Italian, cast-aluminum Darozzi forward controls rearward instead of using mid-controls because Van is over six feet tall and needed the extra room to comfortably ride the bike. A Back Drop seat covered in black leather was bolted to the frame with a pair of springs. The headlight he used was a vintage fog light with a yellow lens that might not be legal, but looks right on the bike.

Satisfied with its latest reincarnation, Walt was happy to ride the finished bike without all the old garish period mods. “When riding the bike you have to anticipate the road because the throttle is so responsive. If you hit a bump, the bike could shoot out from under you if you’re not holding on tightly,” Walt said. “It’s a smooth running bike because of the balanced motor, and it doesn’t rattle the teeth out of your mouth because of the tall gearing.”

Visit www.waltsiegl.com or call 212-203-3257 for more information.