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Feature Bikes

Old School Pan

Originally Published In The June 2012 Issue of Cycle Source

 

Article By: Milwaukee Mike Photos By: Chris Callen

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The Northeast Bike Expo 2012 ended up being a place that was a bit of a goldmine for Chris and me. At the Boston show, we ran into the owner of this little gem. We had intended to do a shoot at the end of a pier, but the harbor cops didn’t agree with this, so we had to move across the street and start all over. It was worth it, and we are honored to bring you this Pan from Larry Fredella and his little shop in New Hampshire know as Old School Choppers.

Now I know that a lot of people have been using the term “old school chopper” as of late, but in Larry’s case, it is very accurate. He told me that he prefers to work on old iron versus the newer stuff. He’s not opposed to the later as long as the build is in a style that makes sense, can be built to ride and looks good.

Larry crafted this Pan to show off his skills at the 2010 Biker Build-Off in Laconia. This particular build-off was a little different than the others you may know about. It was all done live in front of an audience in the span of 36 hours. To compete, the builder had to finish the build and fire it up to qualify for the title: Best of Laconia. In the case of this bike, it took 34 1/2 hours to complete, and once it fired, it immediately drew a crowd as “nothing in the world sounds like a Panhead with fishtails,” Larry told me. The build took second place among a field of beautiful machines. Part of the reason it finished so well was because of the trick, little twists that are hidden all over this bike. Speaking of twists, one of the coolest things done on this bike is evident by looking at the handlebars and frontend. If you look closely, you will see that there is a disc brake on the front wheel but no lever or master cylinder is visible. That’s because he hid it in plain sight by reverse engineering a twist internal throttle to work as the lever. He then concealed the master cylinder and put the whole setup on top of a pair of Yaffe monkey bars with the points running up to match the other components. It’s clear to see when viewing the bike from behind. Larry explained, “It reminded me of a thorn bush. This is why we named it Thorn, and also because it had the ability to be a pain-in-the-ass, just like walking through thorn bushes.”

Even though the bike took an honorable 2nd place in the Laconia contest, Larry said he received a better prize than that because the bike is just plain fun to ride. The strong, rebuilt motor makes it possible to do just that. Larry also mentioned that of the twenty or so bikes in the shop that belong to him, Thorn gets the most attention by being his daily rider.

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Like I said earlier, the teams had a total of 36 hours to assemble and get them to run, so Larry spent the 4 months before that mocking-up and changing the bike as he would any other one that would be built at Old School. A lot of that time was spent coming up with things like getting the geometry in order for it to make sense. If you look at the bike from the right side, you will see the matching vertical lines from the way the pipes and air cleaner sit; it’s pleasing to the eyes. The rectangular lines that start with the tank and match with the frame and components give a great view on the left side. This was all intentional as the looks of this bike will attest to.

The origin of this bike was to build something that had the styling of a mildly customized drag bike, but after the original mock-up, Larry was not comfortable bending his knees up that much to fit a pair of rear sets. So, the original Shovelhead was used in favor of an already running Pan motor. The direction of the build then changed to a cross breeding of a dirt bike with a chopper. You can see dirt bike influence from the knobby tires on the big front loop. Then there’s the aggressive seating that is assisted by an air bag system done in the Indian Larry/Paul Cox style. The frontend was an e-Bay find: an original Killer Choppers’ Springer frontend that is now being remade by Acme Choppers. The rear wheel is a centerline that Larry said he has used 3 times in the past and they always work and look great. On top of the bike sits a prism tank with a special cap, another e-Bay find. The finish took 3 different colors of paint to match the false patina that Larry refers to as “relicing,” which was spread all over the frame and steel components.

The patina is a bit of a trade secret that he learned from a carpenter friend of his that works for the TV show, This Old House.

As you move down the bike, the next thing that catches your eye is the front “guard.” It is comprised of the old oil cooler/regulator mount which picks up the dirt bike theme again. Behind that is the mini alternator that looks like an oil filter because of its size. The exhaust was a bit of a tricky pull as it took 13 welds to make the bends to miss both the distributor and air cleaner; the old Maytag badge doubles as a heat shield. The only shine on this bike is on the ends and the middle in the form of a polished aluminum headlight shell, a polished rear fender and the dished, stainless steel oil tank. The coil is hidden under the tank and the fuses live under the coil cover just to baffle the squares. Double chain tensioners hold the ever spinning drive chain from beating the hell out of the frame. The rear fender is finished off with a hot rod shifter top that is hollowed out to house the taillight. That theme is picked up again as Larry had his friend Paul Mirisola from Red Head Fabrication, machined the top caps for the Springer to match.

Larry then sent the seat over to John Huff to have it engraved. John does this with sharpened, homemade tools mostly comprising of old repurposed screwdrivers and awls. Tommy from Good Hues Powdercoat did the frame coating which was later altered slightly because it was too shiny. In Laconia, a piece of Scotch Brite and some used chain grease gave it the desired look that Larry wanted.

Of course, the ‘48 Pan motor and ’79 turtle top tranny for moving it down the road adds to the age of this bike and keeps with the “relicing.” In an unusual move, Larry installed a rocker clutch, that along with some of the already mentioned components, help to make this bike a bit tricky to ride and not for beginners. Larry said, “…and it also keeps the thieves honest because it would be harder to steal!” The final topper on this Pan was the clean wiring job that uses no wire ties but pieces of chain link to guide it and only exposes the things Larry wants you to see. And as everyone knows, this build follows the old adage that simple and clean is a very hard thing to do because there is no makeup to cover the skins!

Larry would like to thank Paul from Red Head Fabricators, John Huff, Tommy from Good Hues Powdercoat, and his right hand man, Adam Fryer, as well as all the folks who lent a hand in Laconia in 2010. I can’t wait to see the shop in June when we go to visit after Laconia 2012, so watch for that in an upcoming issue!

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