Out of an industrial complex in Alhambra, a suburb of Los Angeles, Chris Richardson builds some sweet machines under the LA Speed Shop moniker. Bikes with classic good looks, but to this day none are as enticing or just plain beautiful as the Lady Luck.
Powered by a reworked and copper-encrusted ’47 Repro Knucklehead engine this bike is capable of both show and go. The frame is based off a ’53 Harley that Chris added 3 inches to the backbone and raked to 52 degrees. The springer is an early H-D job that Chris narrowed, added Ford radius rods, and topped off with a set of custom bars bent by hand. The bike rolls on a set of dual 19-inch wheels with Avon Speedmaster and Coker rubber.
The seating is a custom-tooled job that was hand-pounded by Chris and then finished by Pascal at Riff-Raff Leather with the LA Speed Shop logo. Other custom touches that stand out are the oil tank that Chris made by chopping up an Offenhauser cast aluminum 409 Chevy valve cover and the one-off mid controls that are an exercise in design and simplicity.
When it came time to paint, the design and color was left up to Casey at Headcase Kustom Art. Casey ruled it with a mix of Seafoam green with green microflake and gold leaf accented with lime green pinstriping. It looks great on the custom narrowed and tunneled Sporty tank and BSA front fender he used out back.
This bike has won every single time Chris has entered it into a show, and believe it or not it was never built to compete on the show circuit at all. The man just wanted to ride. sc
For more in-depth photos and a complete build list of parts used on this bike, go to: streetchopperweb.com