In 1827 an adventurer named Henry Dodge founded the city of Dodgeville, Wisconsin. An area that approximately 40 miners, including Henry Dodge himself would stumble upon, and come to discover that it was not gold, but lead that the land would yield. Soon after, these adventurers set up camp, they built stone cottages, some of which still exist today in an area known as Sleepy Hollow.
Almost 200 years later, Dodgeville is home to yet another adventurer, though this one more accustomed to working with a TIG-welder and steel, rather than a pickaxe. This adventurer is known as Nash Mesman, who resides on a farm on the outskirts of town. Nash, a down to earth, soft spoken, red-blooded American is a certified welder by trade.
In order to occupy his free time, Nash has converted his barn into a functioning speed and fabrication shop, which allows him to feed his 30-year addiction to all things fast and old. This compulsion includes a passion for old drag cars, early era dragsters, and as far as motorcycles go, anything that you have to kick to start.
Always on the lookout for a new project, Nash came across a '39 Harley Davidson EL Knucklehead, which for lack of better terms was a complete basket case. With only a motor, frame, and transmission to start with, Nash began with his vision of building this bike for his own use, with much inspiration stemming from the board track era.
Stepping away from the more commonly used mock-up and roller build process, Nash took a more build-it-as-it-goes approach. Starting with the motor rebuild, Nash stayed with mainly factory parts, replacing the original top end with a 74ci setup for a little more power. Rummaging through his personal parts stash, Nash chose an old 45 springer frontend for the build. As it turned out, his choice would end up being a project in itself. The old springer was pretty bent up, requiring Nash to build an entire new jig around the frontend to true it up.
Staying focused on his original inspiration for the build, Nash knew that with the stripped down style he was going with, the main focal point of the bike would be the fuel tank. With a VL inspired vision, Nash hand built the fuel tank from scratch. The tank ended up contain ing a total of three separate inner sections, which would house the fuel, oil bag, and battery box. With a total build time of four months for the whole bike, Nash quickly found that the majority of it would be devoted to the tank itself.
The remainder of the build mainly focused on cleaning up as many of the original parts as possible and locating those miscellaneous ones that he didn't have. This was made possible from friends in the industry, as well as online sites. Nash commented on the interesting history older bike projects have, referring to the mix-matched forms that they come in. Such was the case with the transmission. With an original lower end and a '61 upper section, Nash chose not to disturb the combination, and opted to just do a once over on the internals.
Being that the bike was era inspired, Nash went for a stressed look, rather than powdercoat or chrome. The frame, frontend, and tins, were given a base coat of Harley-Davidson orange, with a flat black top coat. Some steel wool and wet sanding allowed the undercoat to show through to bring out the stressed look. Nash has since added to the stressed look by leaving the little old bike the way it is. Sunshine, rain, or snow, the Knuckle has never seen a formal washing.
Although some of the parts Nash had to deal with were not in the best of condition, his hard work did not go unnoticed. Since the completion of the bike, several bike enthusiasts, seeking a similar layout, have approached Nash requesting the same fuel tank design,. One of the later tanks he made ended up sparking a close-knit friendship with famed tattoo artist Dana Brunsen. Being that Dana capitalized on Nash's talents, Nash figured he would do the same. Dana has since become Nash's trusted tattoo artist, turning his upper torso into a mural that pays tribute to the early era of V-Twin racing. An era when "No Guts No Glory" truly was the bottom line. SC