Medieval French Panhead

June 30, 2016

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Article And Photos By: Grizzly

Originally Published In The July 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

You can find choppers anywhere in the world. Even in the middle of nowhere in France. On an old town’s square, where you would have expected colourful knights in shiny armour on big powerful horses to show up any minute, we saw James kickstarting his Pan. It was a strange sight; a metalflaked Panhead chopper surrounded by medieval buildings, thousands of years older then the bike itself. We walked up to the guy to admire his chop and start a conversation. Lucky for us he spoke a bit of English, a fact not very common in this part of Europe. James (name sounds pretty English for a French guy…) produced a big smile and didn’t mind us taking photos of his bike for an American magazine at all! He suggested we follow him home so he could tell us everything we wanted to know. James comes from a biking family, or so we heard. His father was riding café racers , the European equivalent of the bobber, when James was not even born. In 1970, his dad bought his first Harley and never owned anything else. James grew up on the back of that bike. His father took him everywhere. They even went to Sturgis in 1990.

James said, “It was impossible not to be influenced. I, of course, wanted a Harley too, but money was the problem. I had off-road bikes until I saved enough to buy my first Shovelhead. I stripped it and turned it into something special. But my biggest dream was building and owning a Swedish style longbike. I sold the Shovel and made some money while doing it. We had a shop in France called On the Road, owned by Yvon Hallegot. Yvon sold Swedish chopper parts. I bought all my parts there and started building from the ground up, using an early Shovel as a powerplant. I rode that long bike for years until I had to sell it because I was building a house for my family.” Being bike-less did not make James happy. He and his dad still owned an old Panhead chopper without a motor; a roller they had picked up for little money a long time ago.

James told me, “I couldn’t stop myself from checking out the bike mags, and one day I saw an ad with this S&S Panhead motor for sale. My house was finished and my wife Sandra who had noticed my obsession said, ‘Why don’t you just buy that motor and build yourself a bike again?’ And so it happened; I was the proud owner of a Panhead motor. I bolted the V-twin into the frame I already had. Then I bought a Cole Foster gas tank from JP Cycles and made that to fit the frame. I really dig all the parts Crime Scene Choppers has to offer. I ordered a CSC headlight, taillight and kicker. Not cheap, but worth it! I wanted to have an early chopper this time, so I started looking for a ribbed rear fender which I found at Chica’s. Another nice part is the brake lever from K-tech Italy. I ordered everything by mail. I did not have a gearbox yet and decided to go for a cheap one from Revtech. I made my own bars and painted them in a chrome look. It doesn’t look half bad; kinda special even. With the help of my buddy Franky, I made some cool midpegs bolting them onto the floorboard loops like in the old days. I just had to have a handshifter. We made the clutch pedal by hand, Dave Mann style, as simple as possible.” James still had some old Triumph mufflers of his dad’s lying around. He made his own pipes and welded the mufflers onto them. Then it was time for paint.

James explained, “I took the tins off the bike and brought them to the painter. While I waited for the paint to be finished, the building of the company who would do the work caught on fire. It took a long time for me to retrieve the parts and find another painter. It was Graffipob who finally delivered the job. Despite that incident, the entire build went pretty smooth. Because of the fire, it took me one and a half years to complete.” James is a hard working Frenchman; one of the few, (haha)! He w o r k e d on his bike w h e n he did not have to work for the boss; the late hours only and on Sundays. “I am very proud with the result and also happy with my wife who gave me that little push in the back that I needed. My family is the most important thing in the world for me. I asked the leather dude to put my wife’s initials in the seat and I have painted my family’s initials on the oil bag,” said James. James rides his bike to escape every day reality. He is the only chopper guy in town and rides alone, along the spectacular coast whenever he can, loving every minute of it.