News — Harley Davidson
1969 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead
We’re approaching a year since we finished this ‘69 Shovelhead build, so we figured it would be a good time to revisit the motorcycle and highlight some of our favorite aspects.
The Third Annual Congregation Show Recap
Year three of The Congregation show is a wrap. Two weeks ago, literally thousands of vintage motorcycle and hot rod enthusiasts flooded the property of Camp North End. Thanks to the countless love and support we received from friends and family in the industry and what felt like countless hours, we were able to pull this sucker off alongside DicE Magazine.
Greg’s 1975 Shovelhead
This bike was built for one of our good friends Greg. Greg really trusted us with overstyle and basically said “build what you like.” We wanted to build something timeless & traditional so this is what we came up with!
From the very beginning, we knew we wanted 18/21 wheel combo with stock panhead frame dimensions, springer front end, forward controls and tall bars (Greg is 6’7”!) Aside from those things we weren't worried about the rest of the individual parts. We knew if we had those components, everything else would come together just the way we wanted...and it sure enough did.
We started building the bike in June of 2018. We made the entire frame excluding the neck. We wanted to use the original neck because it contained the VIN but of course we rarely leave anything factory, so we decided we had to modify it by “windowed” it.
We retrofit the stock style axle plates to fit a juice drum. Once the frame was complete, we began working on the stance. The 18/21 wheel combo with high shoulder aluminum rims partnered with the chrome 4+ front end really helped the overall stance. We then figure out bars and riser height. We made the risers using Flanders style clamps. The riser are actually brazed onto the springer top clamp and then chromed so it has a nice 1-piece finish. The risers were then fitted with our 10” hurricane bars.
About the time the roller & stance were figured out, the engine was completed by @prism_derek. We then mounted the lowbrow customs Tanks and fender, the chrome oil tank, river seat and p-pad. We also made the hard oil lines in house using 36-37 style knucklehead banjo fittings. From here we decided on the exhaust with which Greg had some really great input on. We chose the overall style of the exhaust together and then when we thought we were finished we decided it would be nice to add the “trumpet” flares at the very tips.
The very last thing we did was add some miscellaneous rod to certain parts of the frame, fender, and tank that would eventually be bondo’d and molded to give it the last little touch of “custom.” Some people may not even notice the molding but if you look close enough, we think you’ll appreciate it!
Our brother @calebhindes painted it from a color we chose with Greg. It's a ‘69 Camaro color called Dusk Blue. The bike was completed in December of 2018.
Prism production parts on the build:
- 10” hurricane bars
- Prism Chopper Tail light
- Prism chopper Tail light bracket
- Vintage Cloth Covered Wire
- Vintage Spark Plug Wires
- Kicker Pedal
- Ignition Cover
- License Plate Jewels
- ¼” NPT Stainless Petcock & Fuel Line
- Grip Collars
- Key Switch
- Key Switch Bracket
Prism Custom Parts on the build:
- Frame
- Sissy Bar
- Exhaust
- Choke knob
- Risers / top clamp combo
- Foot Pegs
- 36-37 knucklehead style oil lines
Special thanks: Greg Mitchell (owner), Prism Crew - Mitch, Zach, Rob, Derek, Alistair, Jake, Bens V-twin (Transmission), Matt Best (Photos), Drew from Freakshow fab for keeping up with the maintenance.
A Look Back - The 2018 Congregation Show
Read our recap and browse our photo gallery from The Congregation Show. With 5,000 + people in attendance, this year's show was our largest yet and we have no intention of slowing down.