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Oh Lucille – Cycle Boyz

Published In The November 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source

Article By: Milwaukee Mike Photos By: Tracy Conrad & Quinn Roberts

Feature 1a Kerri Nov 13

This is a story that is being told with a bit of déjà vu for the loyal Cycle Source readers. If you remember, last year I did a story about a skinny, little, sexy Shovelhead that Brent and Derek Law over at Cycle Boyz Customs did. It was a slick machine with a plaid paintjob that had interchangeable skins. It turns out that that particular bike was the first Shovel that Brent ever owned. He had to sell it all those many years ago to get some capital together to start the shop. But as life has a habit of coming full circle, it ended up back in his possession. That bike eventually became Jazz, the one I previously mentioned.

The man who gave it up — Mike Ball — is a friend of Brent’s, and after seeing its transformation from FLH to sexy beast, all he wanted was to get the bike back. There was no way Brent was losing that bike again. However, the Cycle Boyz had just taken a ‘79 FXE in on trade, and so the idea was hatched that this bike could be even better for the work that this team had in mind. As you can see, that goal was achieved.

One good aspect of starting from scratch with a running original bike w a s that the frame, engine, and trans were all matching so there would be zero hassles when it came time to title the it. So Mike paid the piper, and it was commence au festival!

The entire bike was torn down and a complete rebuild and redo were the words of the day. As Brent had done such a good job with Jazz, a similar treatment was used for Lucille. The frame was given a workover, and a hand built hardtail was done in-house with some castings and a frame jig. Once finished, it was treated to the rich nickel plating and polishing that sets it apart just that much more. Meanwhile, over in the engine room, Derek got busy doing a total rebuild. He bumped up the displacement to 93” using all S&S internals on the stock Harley cases, and set the transmission straight and ready for the added oomph and 4 speed handshift configuration that was coming. After the frame was done, Brent got a repop VL frontend from WW Cycles in Holland. He proceeded to fit it up. He did have to do some slight modifications; of course there was the drilling.

If you haven’t already noticed, there is a bit of a theme on this bike as there are speed holes drilled on every surface that could take them. The crowning touch on the frontend is of course the wheel. The skinny 23” x 1.6” aluminum speedway rim laced up to the slimmed down JR Cycle Products’ hub makes quite the visual statement. What better to say, “Here I am,” than with a thin blade out front. The icing on the cake is the TT Company headlight that sits just right and looks even better. Sitting like a halo over that is the 3-piece, solid 6061 billet handlebars. They are the combined brainchild of Chad over at Pearson Customs and Brent. They are counter bored and bolted to look like 1 solid piece. Pretty trick, boys! Perched on those bars are matching Kustom Tech grips and a throttle body as well as their master cylinder. Now if you look close you will probably say, “Why a master cylinder? There is no front brake.” The reason was that Brent had an idea that would make life easier for Mike. See, Mike is new to the foot clutch/hand shift world and anyone who owns one knows what a bitch it is to start on a hill, particularly when it is new to you. So, the front brake actually works on the front caliper on the rear wheel, and the rear on the rear caliper. I dig that because it is a modification for the purpose of riding this bike, not just to create a certain look. Of course, being that Brent can’t have just any brake lines, he modified them to be thin and hide behind the frame rails, becoming almost invisible. Now comes the pièce de résistance — the gas tank. It is a bit of Canadian voodoo, but Brent pressed a 10 gauge piece of stainless, and then welded an altered pressed mild steel tank . He mated them to show off the polished bottom and topped it with a cap from Krafty Bee.

Feature 1b Kerri Nov 13

Next came the decision on what to do with the paint. Rather than do something busy and eye distracting, he chose a simple black and white pattern. It has incredible accents such as the 3D cubes and rays in the pearl and the new shop logo designed in- house by Brent and Courtney to make the bold statement that it does. The base colors were laid down by Jamie Hertzog. Brian Fidler did all the hand painting of the logos and also the airbrush accents as well as the air brushing on the 1.5” BDL/ Primo belt. I asked the reasoning behind this and Brent said, “The bike has so many details, why hide them under a busy paint job? Aren’t Shovels only supposed to be painted black?” To keep the magic flowing, behind that tank is some more oneof- a-kind Cycle Boyz parts — namely the seat. Again, the base was made in-house using 10 gauge polished stainless. The seat pivot started life as a piece of stainless pipe. After some heavy modification, it was attached to the frame via two sealed ball bearings that will last forever and not twist or deform because they are way over built. Another little hidden gem on this part of the bike is the air bag seat. But how d o y o u use an air bag on a bike with no battery or power source, you ask? You pump it by hand of course! Being that the Cycle Boyz are Canadian, they are not strangers to snowmobiles which is where those parts were sourced from along with the Goodyear bag that is normally used to isolate vibration on industrial machines. On top of all that, Jordan from Union Speed upholstered the custom leather saddle to pull it all together. He finished it just in time, as Brent picked it up and installed it in Union Speed’s parking lot on his way to the Donny Smith show in Minneapolis last March.

Under all this lays another piece of beauty: the oil tank. Originally, it was to be the gas tank, but it was way too small, holding less than a gallon of fuel. Being that this bike is not a show queen, that tank got a new purpose after some further rework. Brent added a pie strip to the sand cast halves to get the shape right. Then he reworked the back end to house the air bag unit and the spin-in oil filter that resides on the bottom side.

Behind that lies the stock V-Rod take-off front wheel. After some machining to fit the Rebel Gear custom sprocket in place of the left rotor, the in-house stainless axles and the rear brake mount, this machine became a roller. Over top of that was the reworked Seven Metal West fender which they drilled and set to the right angle to match up with the seat. The Belmit taillight was attached to the bike with a custom Cycle Boyz mount, and all was set and ready for the engine.

As I mentioned earlier, Brent’s brother Derek (the other half of the company), did all the amazing work to kit out this engine with the twin Morris magneto system and to make the bike run without the aid of a battery, capacitor or battery eliminator. The charging system was altered to only put out just enough juice so t h a t the snowmobile o n e piece regulator/ rectifier could handle just enough juice to power the lights, because that is all it is needed for. After that, the S&S Super E was given one of the Cycle Boyz signature Praying Hands’ air cleaners.

Now comes the extra special part; all the engraving on every inch of this motor was done by Heather New at New Line Engraving. All I can say is wow! It knocked my eyes out! Even now, after being a bit familiar with the bike, I still find so much new stuff in that artwork. I especially like the travelers prayer on the air filter and the work on the Brent Graham double skull shift knob that surrounds the “Our Lady of the Highway” medallion.

The transmission was treated to a full set of Andrews’ gears and the ratchet top was modified to clean it up and make the shifting a bit tighter. The only thing left was to run all the stainless lines and Swagelok fittings after they were ground and polished along with every bolt on the entire bike. All of these factors are what makes this bike the amazing piece that it is, and it goes like snot too. I know, I’ve seen it!

The Cycle Boyz would like to say thanks again to Courtney for doing the art and the 4 brazillion hours of polishing and cleaning; Heather for her unbelievable engraving work; Myles and Ryan for all the work they did; and Jamie and Brian for the paintwork. Of course they can’t forget Mike Ball for being the ideal customer, for chipping in on the last minute scramble and for being the guy who will ride the wheels off this bike, and that makes Cycle Boyz smile!

Feature 1c Kerri Nov 13

Lucille Tech Sheet
Owner: Mike Ball
City: Grand Prarie, AB – Canada
Fabrication By: Cycle Boyz Customs, Inc.
Year: 1979
Model: FLH
Time: 2 Years
Value: Your Life If You F**k With It
ENGINE
Year: 1979
Model: Shovelhead
Builder: Cycle Boyz
Ignition: Dual Morris Magnetos
Displacement: 93”
Pistons: S&S
Heads: S&S
Cam(s): S&S
Carb: S&S Super E
Air Cleaner: Cycle Boyz
Exhaust: Cycle Boyz
Primary: BDL/Primo
TRANSMISSION
Year: 1979
Make: H-D
Shifting: 4 By Hand
FRAME
Year: 1979
Make: H-D/Cycle Boyz
Rake: Stock
Stretch: Stock
FRONT END
Type: Springer
Builder: WW Cycles/Cycle Boyz
extension: 2.375” Under
Triple Trees: WW
WHEELS
Front Wheel: 40 Spoke
Size: 23”
Tire: Bridgestone For Now
Brakes: Nope
Rear Wheel: Front V-Rod
Size: 19”
Tire: Coker
Brakes: Dual PM 4 Pistons
PAINT
Painter: Brian Fidler
Color: Black
Type: PPG
Graphics: Fid
Molding: Jamie Hertzog
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Chad Pearson / Cycle Boyz
Risers: Chad Pearson / Cycle Boyz
Hand Controls: Kustom Tech
Gas Tank(s): Cycle Boyz
Front Fender: Nope
Rear Fender: Cycle Boyz
Seat: Union Speed / Cycle Boyz
Foot Controls: Cycle Boyz
Oil Tank: Cycle Boyz
Headlight: TT Company
Taillight: Belmit / Cycle Boyz
Photographer: Tracy Conrad / Quinn Roberts

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