'72 H-D Special Construction Custom Chopper - What Are Friends For?

We hear stories all the time about people picking up old bikes and putting lots of time and effort into giving them new life. Bill Holder of Bonner Springs, Kansas, is one of those people. However, his hard work and dedication not only produced a cool-looking chopper, but it also got him this feature in his favorite chopper magazine. Bill wasn't alone in this rebuild project though, he wouldn't have been able to create this fresh chopper without the help of some good friends.

It all started back in 1999 when Bill purchased a '72 FX Shovelhead from his friend, Roger Skeffington. While the bike was an OK rider, it had almost 30 years under its belt. After three years, Bill decided it was ready for an entirely new look. He was sitting in his garage staring at his bike trying to get some ideas of what he wanted to do when a couple of friends, Denny Smith (who readers will remember for the red KC Creations Softail that was on the cover of the September 2001 issue) and Keith Bunce came over. The next thing Bill knew, the three of them were tearing the bike down to the bare frame and pulling out the cutting torch.

The guys got started on the rebuild by cutting out the stock downtubes and replacing them with a single downtube. Then, they added 6 inches to the backbone, changing the neck rake to 42 degrees. After all the welds had cooled, the next order of business was setting the bike up with some suspension.

Back in the '60s and '70s, Bill had built and rode plenty of choppers with long frontends, so as a flashback to the old days, he picked up a set of 16-inch-over Forking by Frank tubes and H-D Deuce lower legs. The stretched tubes were secured to the front of the bike with Mid-USA 4-degree trees. To handle suspension for the rear of the bike, Bill wanted to use the stock chromed swingarm he had in conjunction with a pair of chrome Progressive Suspension shocks. The only problem was he didn't like the height of the rear of the bike. So, after a brief brainstorming session, Bill and his friends decided to move the top shock mounts 3 inches forward, so that they could use shorter shocks and still keep the swingarm in place.

To get the bike up and rolling, a pair of H-D spoke wheels were slid into their respective positions. The front measured in at 21 inches and was set up with an H-D caliper and rotor, and covered with Metzeler rubber. Keeping the rear of the bike off the ground was a 16-inch Akront wheel with a PM caliper and H-D rotor, stuffed inside a Metzeler 140.

The old shovelhead motor that came with Bill's bike was in need of a thorough rebuild before it could be put back in between the framerails, so it was sent over to John Simpson, of Simpson Cycles in Kansas City, Kansas. Once he had the motor apart, John began reassembly using mostly H-D components. The only non H-D parts that he used were new S&S flywheels, rods, and cam. When Bill and his pit crew of friends got the rebuilt motor back in their hands, they installed an S&S E carb and air cleaner, along with a Crane Dual Fire Ignition. As they tried to figure out what pipes would look best on the bike, Denny picked up a pen and paper and started sketching a radical set of pipes. What he came up with was a set that help draw attention to the single downtube by traveling forward from the exhaust ports and filling in the space created by the downtube and lower framerails. Finishing off the driveline portion of the build, Bill decided to keep it old school and set the bike up with a '78 H-D four-speed trans with a jockey shift and a kicker, a Barnett foot clutch, and an enclosed primary.

With three people working on the bike, dressing it with sheetmetal was a simple task. They all agreed that since it was a chopper, it shouldn't have a front fender. Next, they decided that a WCC gas tank would look good sitting atop the backbone. In order to keep the lines of the bike flowing, the tank had to be stretched before it was mounted. The rear fender was another WCC piece that received some modification before it had the shape that they all liked. To help give the fender added support, the guys fabricated some fender struts and then welded them to the fender. For the oil, Denny picked up an '00 H-D Softail oil tank and welded it to the frame below the seat for a nice, clean look. Bill wanted his bike to flow as smoothly as possible from end to end, so before the raw metal could be covered in paint, it was handed over to Bob Porta for an extensive molding session. After Bob finished his work, the parts were given to Lee Daugherty so that he could drench them in several coats of Candy Tangerine.

As soon as the painted parts were back in Bill's garage, he called up Denny and Keith, and the three of them started on the final assembly. While Bill was securing a set of Big Dog handlebars with built-in pullback risers to the triple-trees, Denny and Keith were busy setting up the hand and foot controls with parts they had accumulated from their garages for the foot clutch and jockey shift. Keeping things well lit at night is an H-D headlight and a KC Creations side-mount taillight and license mount.

After one long, cold Kansas winter, the build was finished off with the addition of a Le Pera seat. As luck would have it, the sun was shining and the roads were dry, so they each took turns taking the chopper for a spin around town. While they all had fun building and riding, Bill had the most fun of all, because he knew that at the end of the day the rebuilt shovel would be sitting in his garage.

Specifications
General
Owner: Bill Holder
Year/Make: '72/H-D/Special Construction
Fabrication: Owner and friends
Assembly: Owner and friends
Build Time: One Kansas winter

Engine
Size/Type: 80ci Shovelhead
Cases: H-D
Flywheels: S&S
Rods: S&S
Pistons: H-D
Cylinders: H-D
Heads: H-D
Cam: S&S
Carb: S&S
Ignition: Crane
Pipes: Denny Smith

Transmission
Year/Type: '78/H-D
Case: H-D
Gears: H-D
Clutch: Barnett
Primary Drive: H-D

Frame/Suspension
Year/Type: '72/Harley/Special Construction
Rake: 42 degrees
Stretch: 6 inches in backbone
Swingarm: H-D
Rear Suspension: Progressive Suspension
Forks: Forking By Frank
Extension: 16 inches over
Triple Trees: Mid-US