News — North Carolina
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.
New Apparel! Crewnecks, Beanies and More.
Just in time for the new season, we've hooked up with Daniel Sheridan to design us some fresh designs for our latest apparel line up.
Meet the Team - Alistair Blaha
Have you placed an order with us recently and received a nugget of useless (albeit interesting) information on the back of a sticker stuffed inside your order?
Prism Heads West - 2018 Born Free Motorcycle Show
This year, instead of building a bike for the show, we were asked to build a giveaway bike for one of the lucky attendees to win. We were given 100% creative freedom for the Born Free crew. They only thing they said they wanted is a “chopper.”
Rob Lunetta ID’d - Dice Magazine - Issue 78
Recently, our friends at Dice Magazine interviewed our very own, Rob Lunetta.
Rob, if you don’t know him, is an avid outdoorsman who is as comfortable in the woods as he is on his Sportster… maybe even more so. He’s the kind of guy who, if a zombie apocalypse ever becomes a reality, you’re going to be grabbing your things and driving to his house because he’ll know how to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.
To celebrate this eclectic side of him, Dice asked him to walk them through some of his must-have fly fishing equipment. They ran the interview in Issue 78 and we decided to share it with you in case you haven’t had the chance to see it in print.