Long Haul Shovel

March 7, 2016

Article By: Ian Smith

Photos By: Kustom Jeff

Originally Published In The August 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

I was bitten by the custom motorcycle bug in 2006 and have been seriously ill ever since! I had a Honda built by a local builder, but life happened (job change, relocation, marriage) and I never got to really enjoy it. I chalked it up to bad timing and knew I would not be without a bike long. An EVO. custom, a hardtail unit Triumph and an Ironhead Sportster all spent time in my garage. I spent the most time and effort with the Ironhead. Riding and wrenching (mostly wrenching) with my buddies for a little over two years and it was time to start another build. This project was my first experience with a true “basket case” motor. I bought the motor locally and immediately took it to Rickey Lewis of Rick’s Cycle Parts hoping for the best. Rick had it a few days and called me with an initial diagnosis. It wasn’t good. I had basically bought a boat anchor: mismatched 74” and 80” parts clapped together that “looked” like a complete motor. I was at the crossroads of either dumping a large amount of cash to rebuild the motor or bailing and looking for a complete bike. Luckily, Rickey had another customer that brought in his Shovel to go from a 74” to an 80″ so I was able to get his take-off parts and keep the rebuild within my budget.

my budget. With the motor in Rickey’s hands, it was time to find…well, everything else to make a running motorcycle! A stock Shovel front loop was included with the engine “deal” so I found a Panhead round swingarm to achieve the stance I was after. I knew I wanted the final look to be completely different from my Ironhead. It was a skinny hardtail with a 23” front wheel. I wanted a short, stubby, swingarm Shovel that could chew up some miles. I sourced the 16” spool front wheel from Bob’s Cycle in Phoenix, AZ. I found a 16” juice drum rear wheel, 3.5 gallon split tanks, and hinged rear fender at the Barber’s Vintage Festival Swap Meet. Now I had a roller. My two favorite parts of the bike are the frontend and seat, mostly because they came out exactly how I envisioned, but also because of who made them happen for me.

The frontend is the handy work of my brother Ross Lenoir, of Southpaw Machine here in Birmingham. Ross and I turned down my fork legs and added the ribbing pattern. He also turned down some ribbed stainless steel front wheel spacers. Once the frontend was on the bike, the stock triple trees just looked terrible next to the great work Ross had done on the lowers. I asked him to machine some triple trees and he completely killed it! He even added the name of my Leatherworking brand, Americana Speed Shop, to the top tree around the stem nut. The seat is an original Harley- Davidson accessory from the ‘70s, gifted to me (along with the sissy bar) by another great friend — Roadside Marty. Marty took me under his wing when he saw how frustrated I was becoming about halfway through the project. I would order parts from a local shop, only to find they weren’t correct, and it really slowed the momentum. Marty helped me get back on track and I’m really grateful for all of his help.

I got the bike running in October in time to make a 500 mile weekend trip with my riding club — Inbreds RC. It handled the trip like a champ, but there were still a few changes I wanted to make. I asked Michael Lewis of Violent Choppers to fab up some stainless exhaust pipes and he did an awesome job! I sent the gas tanks to Shawn Long of Imperial House for a killer paint job. The gloss black is accented by Celeste Green pinstripes and I couldn’t be happier with the results. Shawn has painted several helmets for me and I’m a huge admirer of his work. The final piece to the puzzle came from, whom else, Roadside Marty. He found some Shovelhead era fiberglass saddlebags in great shape and gave them to me for my birthday! I wanted some storage capacity for longer runs and they finished off the bike perfectly! Thanks first and foremost to my wife, Kristin, for understanding just how serious my motorcycle addiction is; Rickey Lewis of Rick’s Cycle Parts for the engine work and final assembly; Michael Lewis of Violent Choppers for the killer exhaust; Ross Lenoir of Southpaw Machine for the custom frontend, wheel spacers and points cover; Roadside Marty for the seat/sissy bar, saddlebags and guidance; and finally, my brothers of the Inbreds RC for all the good times!