Out in Lakewood, Ohio, is a little place by the name of The Gas Box. Since 2009, Jesse Bassett, proprietor of The Gas Box, has specialized in custom fabrication and vintage motorcycles of all makes and models. Having built some nice British bikes, Jesse wanted to build a Harley-Davidson Big Twin, and when a customer by the name of Greg Christian came knocking, a Shovelhead build was next on the list.
This bike started out as a 1976 FX Superglide, but Jesse made quick work of that by hacking off the myriad of stock parts to reveal its stripped-down beauty. The frame was hard-tailed with OEM-style dropouts and chrome-moly DOM tubing. The stock Fat Bob tanks were ditched in favor of an Alien fuel tank that was severely modified and mounted high on the frame’s backbone. The fender used on this bike was one of the first Gas Box fenders made and was mounted with a fabricated sissybar. Everybody liked the style of fender so much that they are in full production as an aftermarket piece. Other sheetmetal modifications included a stock H-D Panhead oil tank that was fabbed up and mounted to look like an early Harley-Davidson OEM hardtail tank.
The rear wheel is an 18-inch chrome drop center with a juice drum hub, and the front wheel is a 21-inch laced to a Sportster drum. The ’70s Narrow Glide frontend was shaved, machined, and welded to accept the cable-operated Sportster drum.
Other custom details that stand out are the footpegs and taillight, which were machined from chunks of brass by Jesse himself.
The tired, old Shovelhead engine needed some freshening, so Jesse busted her down and punched her out with a 86ci stroking. The stock four-speed transmission was also rebuilt under Gas Box’s roof. Talk about a full-service shop.
Once all the mechanical and fabrication drudgery was completed, the bike needed some re-beautification. The simple, yet sweet paint was done by Jerry Koenigsmark at Jerry’s House of Kolor. On the shiny side, the chrome and polishing were handled by Jason’s Show Quality Metal Finishing.
With the reworked FXE stripped down and up and running in practically no time, the Gas Box kicked out yet another jam for the masses of petrol heads to salivate over. STC