Featured in The November 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
Article & Photos By: Milwaukee Mike
This is one of the amazing bikes that showed up at the Cycle Source Chopper Show in Sturgis this year. It belongs to my friend John Aleckson of Wahougal, WA, just outside of Portlandia, and in the spirit of the great Northwest’s never say die attitude, is a Heritage Softail that is better looking than most I have ever seen. It is also a great example of what can be done with a bike that was restyled by the owner with some help from friends and good old American ingenuity. The origin of this bike is a funny story, John rides with a crew of guys from his neck of the woods call the Lords of Destruction. Within this large group there is the H9 crew and one of those guys is his very good riding partner Jeff ”POPS” Chirgwin. This bike used to belong to Pops and on the way home from Sturgis in the not so distant past, he was rolling thru Coeur d’Alene, ID and lost a fight with a curve in the road after an evening of lets say wrestling bears? Any how the bike ended up in about 10 feet of water in Coeur D’Alene Lake…being that he was soooo exhausted from bear wrestling he called it a night and a benevolent stranger from down the road gave him a place to dry off and in the morning rolled him back to the motel that everyone was at. After a change of clothes the boys went looking for the bike and they only were able to locate it because it was a sunny day and just enough chrome was shining from the depths to locate the bike, after it was extracted from the lake and put on a trailer to home, the task of rebuilding could begin. The rebuild consisted of a total teardown of course and then every part was given the once over and the engine was re-done from top to bottom. A Legends 1st Generation Air Ride was added for curb and ride appeal. It was a no brainer that when it came time to reassemble that the style chosen was the lowrider. The thing was just dripping in chrome and heavy paint. Jeff rode it this way for a couple of years and then got the itch to get his hardtail going so the “Cholo” hit the block. Fortunately it didn’t go far and after John sold his 76’ shovelhead BMC framed chopper it gave him the opportunity to acquire a road bike while working on his Apocalyptic Evo. Let’s fast forward a bit to when the Evo is all set and John wanted to keep the Softail because it rode so nice, but he needed to make it his own so it was time for a restyle once again. There was only one small problem with the plan, not liking anything he was seeing he decided rather than throw a bunch of money at it a less is more approach was implemented. It started by removing the sheet metal, removing the fuel gauge from the tank and then stripping it all to bare metal, going after it with a grinder padded with red scotch brite pads. It gave the metal that great swirled effect and deep finish, it was then clear coated to hold the look and hold it did. Next the scotch brite was let loose on the plethora of Kuryakn covers that were all over the frame to remove all the shiny. Then the speedholing could begin. It is in Johns own words “kind of my go to thing, speedholes and hockey tape on the crashbars, Hell I even speedholed the damn wingnuts.” After all the bright bits were treated it was time for reassembly, not happy with the way the wheels looked under the bike the spokes were changed out for two sets of fat stainless spokes for a great impact in the look. The rims, sliders, triple trees, fender bumpers and Nash Gimp Hangers were sent out for powder coat at Class Act Powder. The rear fender was stripped of all but essential bolts and the holes filled with brass acorn nuts and stainless allens to fill out the look.
The old LePera seat was given to Uncle Jed and recovered with the Lords logo so there is no mistaking who should be sitting on it. The tail end is finished out with a 32’ replica ford tail light and plate assembly from Old School Choppers, after it too was speedholed of course. With the old Legends air ride working well there was no reason to update it. The oil tank was changed out and Pops stripped a big chunk out of the wiring harness to slim it down and the battery box portion now contains all the needed electronics including the switches to fill and dump the hidden air bags. A set of floor boards were acquired after a call to John Shope looking for some messed up, used or un-chromed sets because John A. wanted real flat finish. Shope had some anodized ones that came out a weird color so John spent a bunch of time with some oven cleaner and another scotch brite pad and got the look he needed. He further customized them by sharpening them with a chain saw file because he is generally riding in Vans or Chucks and this helps to keep his feet from slipping off. John is very good with one of these because he cuts and sells firewood for extra dough to go on road trips. The foot controls on the bike are a Joker Machine for the shifter and home brewed moto x foot peg extensions were added to the brake pedal thanks to some help from Les for just the right look. The one thing that John knew he had to have for this bike to complete the look was a set of the cleanest hand controls out there. So a call was made to LA County Chop Rods and a set of ISR Hand Controls were ordered. After removing all of the excess switches and relocating the starter button with a Nash direct plunger the bars were complete and you get the bike that is seen on these pages. John would like to say thanks to Pops for all of his invaluable help and watch out for them bears, to Les from the Lords, Noel from Dutch Trash and Northwest Tubes and Hoses for all their help as well. I would like to add that this is straight up one of the nicest examples of a Heritage I have ever seen and with what John did here and with his other two bikes I cant wait to see what he does next…….. I heard a nasty rumor about a car? WTF?????
Heavy Metal Tech Ssheet
Owner: John Aleckson
City: Washougal, WA
Fabrication By: John Aleckson
Year: 2000
Model: Heritage Softail
Time: 5 months
ENGINE
Year: 2000
Model: Heritage Softail
Builder: Baisley Performance
Ignition: Stock
Displacement: 95”
Pistons:
Heads:
Cam(s):
Carb: S&S Super E
Air Cleaner: Chopper Dave
Exhaust: Samson w/ Fish tips/guards removed
Primary: Stock
TRANSMISSION
Year: 2000
Make: Harley Davidson
Shifting: Stock
FRAME
Year: 2000
Make: Stock
Rake: Stock
Stretch: Stock
FORKS
Type: Telescopic
Builder: Jeff Chirgwin
Triple Trees: Stock
WHEELS
Front Wheel:
Size: 21”
Front Tire: Metzeler
Front brake: PM
Rear Wheel: Front Rim Laced to Rear Ironhead “drum” Hub
Size: 16”
Rear Tire: Metzeler
Rear Brake: PM
PAINT
Painter:
Color: Clear over bare metal
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Nash Gimps
Hand Controls: ISR
Risers: Stock
Gas Tank(s): Stock
Rear fender: Stock
Seat: LePera -recovered by Uncle Jed
Foot Controls: Les Covington
Oil Tank: E-Bay Find
Headlight: Stock
Taillight: Combo Old School Choppers Tail Light
License & Speedways 32” Ford
Speedo:Stock
Photographer: Milwaukee Mike
