5 Ball Dyna

November 2, 2020

Frank Ball Jr.'s Harley Davidson

Article By: Heather Callen

Photos By: Marcus Cuff

Originally Published In The January 2020 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

Frank Ball, Jr, the builder of the fine motorbike you see on these pages was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, which for those of us of that grew up in the country with hills, mountains and twisties between our house and the nearest store may not seem like the ideal place to sprout a love affair with motorcycles. But, when your grandfather is Keith “Bandit” Ball, the founder of Bikernet.com and former editor of the iconic old Easyriders, it seems as though that relationship between man and machine would be inevitable. Growing up, young Ball was surrounded by motorcycles and what we now consider incredible motorcycle history. He would spend hours in this shop with his granddad, watching one motorcycle project after another come to life. At age 12, the elder/ younger duo built a mini-chopper together using a lawnmower engine, and from there it was really on. This morphed into riding dirt bikes in the desert with his family and friends.

The years of watching his father and grandfather wrench and ride together had a tremendous impact on young Ball, Jr. During his teen years, he started squirreling money away so he could buy his first street bike, a 1974 Triumph Trident, that he dubbed “Triple Trouble.” Now, like most of you, Jr. didn’t just ride with his elders, he wrenched with them too. His first build was a project that his dad and granddad were working on, a stretched FXR Chopper. Just recently, Frank, Jr, and Keith rebuilt that chopper together, they freshened up the paint, swapped out the wiring and traded the girder for a 39mm narrow glide, and he says the set-up is top-notch now.

Alright, time move on to the matter at hand…the ripper we have featured here. Franks works as a tattoo artist throughout the LA area and needed something with the power and agility to run the rough highways and narrow city streets. He knew he wanted something that would have no problem dodging cagers and splitting lanes. Sounds easy enough, but there was one more feature that wasn’t optional, it had to be set up and comfortable enough to cruise the open roads for hundreds of miles too. When looking for inspiration for this project, Frank, Jr dug through his memory banks and remembered a Dyna Glide that his dad had owned. He fondly recalled Sr. letting him ride it around the block occasionally and being mesmerized by the machine. He knew then that he wanted to build something as close to that old Dyna as possible…he just had to make it better. Being an artist, he knew that the changes he would make would give this new bike some soul.

This only being the second bike that Frank Jr has put together. There were definitely some challenges. The most significant being the suspension, it took more time than anticipated to get it just right, but he’s sure glad he did. Frank and Keith upgraded pretty much everything that could assist in a smoother ride starting with the stock front end. The swapped that out with A 49mm dual disk set up with performance internals. From there they used a later model swing arm with CCE spherical bushings and a 1-inch axel with some 14’ shocks. Bennett’s performance fine-tuned the motor and a plethora of others including Saddleman, Brassballs Cycles , Custom Cycle Engineering , Metal Sport Wheels, 5 Ball Racing Leathers, Bartel’s Harley-Davidson all stepped up to ensure young Ball, Jr. would have a ride that proved form and function could go hand in hand.

When asked if it’s a rider, Franks says, “Hell, yeah. It’s been my daily since getting it dialed in.” He also shared some of his favorite spots to take her for a rip and recommends that if you’re out that way on two wheels you should hit the sunny Malibu canyons, the back roads of Santa Barbara, the 154 is epic out to Cachuma lake and of course the 101 up to the Bay (San Francisco). Frank Ball, Jr would like to thank his grandfather for lending a hand, sharing knowledge all along the way, and, most importantly, making time and providing the space in his shop to all make it possible.