Article and Photos By: Joshua Elzey
Originally Published In The August 2016 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
Bob Long obtained the fairly stock chopped 1962 XLCH HD with a +4 bolt on hard tail from a friend of his, Ross Martin, in May 1976 as a trade for a 1948 pan motor. After several months of hard miles, the “hey isn’t that Ross’s old bike” comments began to take a toll and that is when the real story began. Ever since Bob was a kid, he has loved to tinker. One of his first builds was a crazy chopped Schwinn with extended forks. His love for customizing was in his veins as he got older and with his first chopped triumph, it is just as strong now as it was back then. After several incarnations of ‘The 62’, Bob finally found a Corbin Gentry frame that now provides the foundation for this bike, however, it was not a match made in heaven. Due to the lack of a neck gusset, the frame was badly bent and cracked. Around 1992 Bob began the process of straightening out the frame and de-raking the neck. He also rebuilt and custom made motor mounts to match the newly reworked frame. Then he added custom passenger peg mounts, fork stops, seat mounts, etc. With the motor freshly rebuilt, polished gearbox and close ratio gears, cams, major internals overhauled, carb – Bob rode the hell out of it!
Flashback!!! A few decades earlier…by then his son Brandon was into motocross and flat track and his love for two wheels was obvious. ‘The 62’ not only shaped Bobs life for many decades but it also shaped Brandon’s as well. As Brandon grew so did his passion for motorcycles but more importantly THIS motorcycle. When the time came to hand the bike down, the decision was easy. Brandon’s first motorcycle ride was on this bike when he was 1.5 years old making this build all the more personal. For these two it was not about shows, meets, rides, or social media acceptance it was more about the bond between father and son. Now that ‘The 62’ was in Brandon’s hands the next step was to make it his, just as his father did when he first acquired ‘The 62’. The build however, started a little rough and for about two years there were many head butting sessions with his father before the expected vision was actually created. There is quite a bit of fab work that went into the bike and Brandon’s worn down scarred knuckles bare the proof. More than anything he wanted the bike to be different from its last incarnation and wanted it to suit his style. Brandon has always been super drawn to the “skinny” bike style. It seems like these bikes are going 100mph when standing still. This is especially true of the bare bones lane splitting bikes of Cali. This meant all the parts and fabrication needed to lend for this look to work and he would have to toss all the items that would take away the cool factor such as the front fender. Only the 16” and 19” Invaders mags were a must keep. While the frame was de-raked from 45 degrees to 33.5, they also added 1.5 inches to the backbone making it an even three and kept the 6” on down tubes. The exhaust was kept shorter vs the longer pipes typically seen on these bikes. Other details followed like the custom modified Model A taillight and reworked shifter plate.
Now Brandon was ready to get the fuel tank modified and was really digging some he had seen popping up on some of the Shovelheads and later model choppers but as much as he loved them, they just wouldn’t fit the lines of the frame. As a kid in the seventies he would constantly steal his dad’s easy rider mags. This is where he saw his first Frisco mounted sporty tank and fell in love with it. It just happened that the bike had this tank mounted on it but the rake limited the amount of fuel it could hold. So Brandon went with a stock sportster tank, had the bottom flattened with a lowered tunnel as well as adding a sight tube, vintage aluminum fuel flip cap with custom flange, and repositioned petcock that Rob Anger of Anger Welding Hudson wrapped up. It turned out that choosing the paint and trying to figure out a paint scheme would be the hardest decision of the build. After years of sitting in pieces Brandon’s best friend Matty Day (painter from Krazy Kustoms) stepped in and asked what he had in mind; to which Brandon responded “Super rad, Super 70s!”. Matty suggested playing off Brandon’s BadFishKustoms shop name with some fish scales and his favorite color red. Matty reeled it in and knocked it out of the park with a side of chips. Once the bike was back on the assembly block Brandon settled on a set of off the shelf “keystone” style bars that did the trick for a while but just didn’t fit the vision he sought. Just a few days before the shoot Brandon tossed them aside and began fabricating up a new set that had a little narrower and more aggressive look. He was beyond excited with the way they turned out. With new bars in place, Brandon was eager to put miles on the re-styled chopper knowing in a short nine months he will be sharing this same passion with a new addition. Brandon and now a Grandfather will be excited to share the road most traveled creating a new bond within the family carrying on their tradition!
The 62 Tech Sheet
Owner: Brandon Long/Bob Long
City/State: Hudson, NH
Fabrication By: BadFishKustoms
Year: 1962
Model: XLCH
Value: Priceless
Time: 39 Years
ENGINE
Year: 1962
Model: XLCH Sportster
Builder: Bob Long
Ignition: Morris Magneto
Displacement: 900cc
Pistons: MC 10.5:1
Heads: Ported & Polished W/ R Valves
Cam(s): Andrews R 5
Carb: S&S Super B
Air Cleaner: Goodson
Exhaust: Brandon Long
Primary: Barnett Wet Dry Clutch
Transmission
Year: 1962
Make: Harley-Davidson/Andrews
Shifting: Re-Worked Shift Plate
FRAME
Year: 1970’s
Make: Corbin Gentry
Rake: De-Raked to 33.5”
Stretch: 3” Backbone 6” Downtubes
Forks
Type: 35mm Shaved Lowers
Builder: Harley/Showa
Extension: +8”
Triple trees: Modified Stock Fork Stop
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Invader
Size: 19”
Front Tire: Avon
Front brake: Dual Disk Drilled
Rear Wheel: Invader
Size: 16”
Rear Tire: Firestone
Rear Brake: Stock Drum
Paint
Painter: Krazy Kustoms, Wilmington MA
Color: Red/White
Type:
Graphics: Fish Scales
Molding: Brandon Long
Chroming: Weathered
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Brandon Long
Risers: Brandon Long
Oil Tank: Spun Aluminum
Fuel Tank: Brandon / Anger Welding
Hand controls: Sport Bike Master Cylinder
Front fender: Why?
Rear fender: Swap Meet Special
Seat: Roberti Customs
Foot controls: Stock
Headlight: 5.5” Aluminum Bucket
Taillight: Modified Model A
Speedo: None
Photographer: Joshua Elzey