Love Triangle

Harley trikes are pretty rare these days. You don't see them often, especially any as custom as the one seen here. The owner of this '42 custom trike, Michelle Nichols of Las Vegas, Nevada, bought it as a basket case from her ex about seven years ago. With no money or expertise to throw at the project, the boxes of parts did nothing but collect dust for a couple of years.

That's when Michelle's current boyfriend, "Bones," got tired of her riding his '46 Knucklehead trike -- figuring if he ever wanted to ride his machine again, he had better find a way to make all of Michelle's parts become a motorcycle.

When it comes to older Harleys, Bones can talk your ear off. He eats, breathes, and sleeps old iron. All-tolled Bones owns seven Harleys from days long gone. Without a doubt, this project was right up his alley.

The main components in the dusty boxes were a frame, motor, primary, and trans from a '42 FL. This combination, with a 74-inch motor is extremely rare, due to the fact there were only 2,500 of them made for the public. The majority of bikes produced in 1942 served in WWII, and most never made it back.

Considering the rarity of the frame, Bones was hesitant to slice it up for trike duty. Instead, he pulled out a '60 FLH frame from his parts collection and cut it just past the oilbag for use as the front section of the chassis. Beyond the oilbag, the frame is made up of a combination of 1940 Servi-Car components and hand-fabricated pieces.

Giving the frame some bounce is a '40s vintage Springer frontend. Bones welded a pair of Ford radius rods to the rear Springer rod, lengthening it by 15 inches. Helping the rear end come together is a differential from a 1940 45-inch Servi-Car. The transmission on a 45-inch motor has its output shaft on the right side. Therefore, Bones had to take the Servi-Car differential and flip it upside down in order for the left side output shaft of the 74-inch motor to line up.

A pair of '40 taper-shaft wire wheels completes the Servi-Car differential, and a star hub wire wheel from 1942 is put into service between the forks. All three wheels wear Dunlops to separate them from the road. Keeping the wheels as close to original as possible, Bones mounted mechanical brakes to both ends of the trike.

Sheetmetal would be limited to the two-piece '42 gas tank that wears an original Harley dash and a chromed '42 oilbag. With that, it was on to the motor.

By the time Bones had sorted through all the motor parts, he realized he had the majority of the parts needed to build the 74-inch Knucklehead. The only way to proceed was a complete rebuild. Everything was torn down, balanced, and reassembled, starting with the H-D cases, flywheels, and rods.

From there, Bones continued by adding Wiseco 9:1 pistons, H-D cylinders and heads fit with Rowe Machine titanium valves and actuated by an Andrews (Bones-designed) cam, Sifton solid lifters, and H-D pushrods. Rounding out the mill is a Harley M-47 carb, and a 6-volt three-brush original '40s generator.

Michelle's original '42 four-speed transmission (three forward and one reverse) was rebuilt and wears a shiny new chrome outer skin. Creating the link between motor and trans is a custom-made Karata 8mm primary drive that drops the engine sprocket from a 23-tooth to a 20-tooth unit -- giving the trike a little more top end. In keeping with the old way of doing things, Bones retained the hand-operated shifter and foot-operated clutch.

The pair continued to plug along with numerous custom parts including handlebars, luggage rack, and an outrageous set of exhaust pipes that are topped with a pair of spun steel tips.

After the addition of a Paughco headlight, an AEE Maltese Cross taillight, a Barnett hand-brake lever, and an H-D foot-operated brake lever, the bike was ready for wiring.

The project had taken the better part of four years, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Bones tore the bike down to the bare frame and sent off many of the parts for chrome. He took the molded frame and shot it with a white basecoat, worked some purple into the downtubes, and finished up with purple and green flames on the gas tank. From there, it was just a matter of reassembly.

So if you're ever in Las Vegas and you see this trike cross your path, keep your eyes open because chances are Bones will be close by. If you can chase him down, you just might want to congratulate him on a job well done.

In keeping with the old way of doing things, Bones retained the hand-operated shifter and foot-operated clutch.