Thank God high-dollar choppers aren't cool anymore. The whole billet chopper boom has come and gone for those riding on the "next-cool-thing" bandwagon-we don't even want to know what they're ruining now. We're just glad that we can get back to bikes, good bikes, real bikes, built and ridden by real people, like it should be. People like Eric Webb.
Eric's current Shovelhead came as a basket case from a college kid that needed some bread for school. He put the '73 FLH back together and rode the shit out of it. It was nothing real special, but had some neat parts on it for sure and definitely had a different look to it. The tins, which included a set of 3 1/2 gallon tanks, were in primer and everything was set in a Knucklehead frame that Eric had, which proved to be a blessing and a curse. The old H-D frame certainly set the bike apart from most, but it soon fell victim to what happens when you put a strong motor in an old frame-it cracked. This soon was the last straw for the bike as Eric knew it and he decided it was time to redo the Shovel, but do it right and do it nice.
The year that was soon to span the rebuild was full of promise, but also of remorse. The '73 was Eric's only running form of two-wheeled machinery and even though he has a Big Twin Flathead and a Panhead in the works, this was little comfort when everyone wanted to go riding. Eric is a longtime member of the Sinners and here's what he said was the hardest part of the build, "I knew what I was doing (with the bike) would pay off in the long run, but a man feels broken when he sees his good friends riding and he's not. There is nothing better than rolling down the road getting oil blown on you from the bike in front and smelling the exhaust fumes of a 35-plus year old chopper. Basically just laying down some good hard miles with your closest friends, you can't buy those dreams, you make them."
Obviously Eric had plenty of motivation to get his bike back on the road and coming from the same good friends as well as him was their penchant for real choppers from which came much inspiration. Fellow club member Rick "Rico" Fodrey rebuilt the 74-inch Shovel motor with a stock H-D lower end in S&S cases, 0.020-over J&E pistons, as well as factory cylinders and heads with Manley valves. Requisite Andrews cams were used with hydraulic lifters, an S&S Super E with an air cleaner from Chopper Dave, a Dyna S ignition, and pipes built by another Sinner, Jimmy White. Rippled pushrod tubes mount four brass letters spelling the obvious. Eric grabs gears through the '65 Four-speed via a ratchet top lid using a brass door knob from a 1926 Craftsman house. A '40 rocker clutch was trimmed up for more of a Lee-look and operates a smooth BDL clutch.
The cracked Knucklehead frame was set aside for repair and for another project. To replace it, Eric bought a stock Panhead spec wishbone frame from Paughco. No molding was done, but it as well as a Frisco-mount Sporty tank and a section of a '36 Ford spare tire ring were handed over to John Edwards for the full treatment in black, burgundy, and silver 'flake. It's reported that the lace pattern was from some stolen fat ladies panties. The end result was nothing short of sweet, as was to be expected, but this meant that Eric was going to have to polish and plate what wasn't painted. The UL springer is a mix of black and chrome that mounts Flanders risers and Z-bars like the original bike had. A star hub twenty-one is shod with an Avon Speedmaster and there's a dual-stripe white wall in the back. The hand tooled leather seat was left to Eric by close friend Johnny Chop before he passed away.
Well, it did only take Eric a year to get his scooter back on the road and he couldn't be more thankful to be on two wheels again. The bike is no trailer queen and even though he's entered it in a few shows, it gets ridden hard-rain or shine. The end! SC