2005 Harley Davidson Custom-Built Chopper - No Time To Build

There is nothing like the sound of a Shovelhead. Last year Art had four bikes to build, and not one of them was for him. It was time to build a bike for himself. Art remembered his first bike, a '58 Panhead with a foot clutch and a jockey shift. His second bike was a '75 FLH - it was big, fat, and ugly, but that Shovelhead sounded great. He never had a problem with that old AMF Shovelhead. It was easy to work on and very reliable. He knew his next bike needed to be a Shovelhead - a real Shovelhead made by Harley-Davidson.

Art knew exactly what this bike would look like when the idea first popped into his head. It had to be a high-neck chopper with a lot of rake and a lot of attitude. A 200mm tire would be just big enough and he wanted the front end to be long and wide. Since Art was the one with the picture in his head, why would he let someone else build his dream bike? He started the build by logging on to eBay. He knew he could always find unfinished bike projects there thanks to all the bike build TV shows. People see that stuff and get the idea that they can be a bike builder, then find that it's harder than it looks on TV.

After getting most of the parts together, it was time to start the build. It was the dead of winter out in Minnesota and working out in the cold garage didn't appeal to Art, so he set up shop in the living room, right in front of the picture window. His neighbors would check the progress of the bike as they drove by. It was like their own personal bike build show right in the neighborhood. During Christmas he decorated the bike like a Christmas tree and put presents under it - his neighbors loved it.

While he chased the image in his head and the bike was taking shape, Art came up with the idea to skip an ignition key. He had some problems with the cheaply made key switches in the past, and since they're so easy to bypass, he thought he could come up with something better. The idea was to invent a keyless combination ignition lock (K.I.L). You have to insert a four-digit code to get battery power to the start button and the accessories. The keyless ignition lock is made of two components, the keypad and the control module. The keypad is milled into the top motor mount, while the control module is hidden in the battery compartment. This makes the bike more secure by hiding the battery power, which is usually behind the key switch.

The bike was finished in time for the Donnie Smith Bike Show. This is the biggest bike show in the Midwest. This year was the best so far, and the bikes in attendance were unbelievable. This was Art's second year competing, and last year he took home two Second Place Best In Class awards with two different bikes. This year he only entered the Shovelhead, and he took a Second Place Best In Class.

Spring finally came and the bike came out of the front room and hit the street for it's first real ride, not just a rip out to the show, but a real ride. With the push of four small buttons, the bike fired up and that sound that we here at Street Chopper and Art was waiting for came roaring out of the custom pipes, letting all the neighbors know that what they were looking at in the window was alive and well. The bike runs and drives fantastic. The (K.I.L.) Keyless Ignition Lock works flawlessly. There's nothing like the sound of a Shovelhead.