Article & Photos By: Grizzly
Originally Published In The September 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
The Netherlands in Europe are often called the Lowlands because most of the country lies below sea level. Men made dikes to protect bikers like Cees against drowning, enabling him to ride his Pan as often as he wanted without having to worry about floods. Cees, the owner of this Pan, has been riding bikes for quite some time. He started on a 750cc Flathead back in 1988. Not much later, he bought a ‘55 Panhead. He Cycle Source September ‘13 37 Article & Photos By: Grizzly T rode it around for a while, but then blew the engine; it had to be completely overhauled. One day he went for a ride to test the new motor. After a quick stop, he kick started it and guess what — the damn thing caught on fire, destroying half of the bike! Again, the Pan had to be rebuilt. Six months later, Cees was riding in an industrial area when some shithead in a car turned in front of him, making him and his Pan slam into the side of the car. Cees said, “That bike had just too much bad karma around it and had to go. I had enough of all the old Milwaukee Iron and wanted something more dependable, so I bought an Evo Sportster. I turned it into a cool bobber by changing frames, hand building pipes, bobbing my fender, making a tank shifter, and more.”
Cees admitted he loved it but could not get the vintage bikes out of his system. After having seen Chopper Dave on his during one of the Jesse James’ specials on Discovery, Cees decided to get a Panhead chopper again. He sold the Sporty and started building his second Pan. That was nine years ago. The Dutch chopper nerd collected all the parts he wanted for his new Pan project. Cees told me, “I loved looking on eBay and Marktplaats (the Dutch version of eBay) for parts nobody else had. I found a bronze handle off a small scoop that was part of a fireplace toolkit. I thought that would make the perfect shifting knob. I ordered a cool bronze gas cap online and had Chopper Dave make me a set of one-off pegs with the words: H8-me and D8-me. I found a neat vintage Norton H19 front fender at a swap meet here in Holland, and I stumbled onto the cool gold metal flake seat. Then my friend Dennis Goodson gave me a signature version of his air filter. The bronze risers came from Misumi, Japan and took forever to get here. I had some friends’ help me with the build, and I insisted on doing as much as possible myself. I did not have loads of time, but each free hour was spent working on the Pan. Not being the best of mechanics, it took me many hours, much longer than a shop would have done it in.
Therefore, I decided to use my last savings to buy a Knuckle as well, which I bobbed a bit. This way I could ride that one while working on the Pan.” Several parts for this bike were handmade. One thing that has a big influence on the appearance of the chopper are the left-side pipes. Cees told me, “I made them together with a friend. They follow the line of the belt, giving the bike a fast look. I even took a welding course to be able to weld them myself.” Cees asked Ecke, a chopper builder he had met at a bike show, to make him his oil bag. Ecke said yes and turned it into a real piece of art, using stainless as material. The oil bag has these cool ribs and has gaps on both sides. On the left, Ecke made room for the coil and on the right he did the same for a vintage gas filter with a beer bottle cap. The bag sports other cool details too, like the intricate drilled brackets on top, the staged hose nipples and the filling spout with little Allen bolts. When the oil bag was finished, another friend made Cees a battery box with the same looks. “I first had a small gel battery from a scooter fitted between the primary belt, but the battery was too small and it did not work right,” said Cees. Other handmade parts are the forward controls, the apehanger handlebars and the license plate mount, to name but a few. The motor is a so-called Pandemonium. “When we started it and I rode it around for a while, we found out it needed some extra work. My friend Ronny from Iron Pit made the motor run like it should by adding some minor but significant changes,” explained Cees.
Our Dutch cat bought an eighteen inch rear wheel with vintage tire and combined it with a Swedish Tolle sprocket brake. He also mounted a 21 inch front wheel with a spool hub between the legs of the VL type Springer from W&W. While building the bike, Cees test rode it in several stages. He actually rode the hell out of it and just told me the last version will have an extra swappable front wheel with drum brake. The very last thing that had to be done was the painting of the self supporting rear fender. Good friend Sven from Belgium, better known as El Cheapo, already did a terrific job by painting the gas tank and completed that by doing the fender as well. The retro Edlund frame was powdercoated for practical reasons. After a long, long time of fiddle f**king with it, the bike now runs like a raped ape. Cees ended up selling his Knuckle to make room in his tiny garage. He loves to ride his new Panhead chopper hard and fast, as if his life depends on it. Right on brother, but be safe!
Lowlands Panhead Tech Sheet
Owner: Cees van der Weele
City: Woerden, Holland
Fabrication By: Friends
Year: 2004-2013
Model: Chopper
Value: You Tell Me!
Time: 5 Years
ENGINE
Year: 2007
Model: Panhead
Builder: Pandemonium / Iron Pit
Ignition: Points
Displacement: 1480 cc
Pistons: Two
Heads: STD
Cam(s): One Cam This Time
Carb: S&S Shorty
Air Cleaner: Goodson Signature
Exhaust: Hnadmade w/ Friends
Primary: 1 1/2” Belt
TRANSMISSION
Year: 1976
Make: H-D
Shifting: 4 Speed by Hand
FRAME
Year: 1989
Make: Edlund Retro Hardtail
Rake: 33 Degrees
Stretch: None
FRONT END
Type: VL Springer
Builder: W&W
Extension: Stock
Triple Trees:
WHEELS
Front Wheel: L&L / Spool From AS Industries
Size: 21”
Tire: Avon Speedmaster
Brakes: None
Rear Wheel: L&L
Size: 18”
Tire: Dunlop
Brakes: Tolle Sprocket Brake
PAINT
Painter: El Cheapo – Belgium
Color: Black – Striping and Flake
Type: Sticky Stuff
Chroming: Galvano
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Iron Pit
Hand controls: Misumi
Gas Tank(s): Modified Sporty
Front Fender: Made Into Self-Supporting Rear
Rear Fender: Swap Meet Norton H19
Seat: Gold Metal Flake
Foot Controls: Handmade w/ Friends
Oil Tank: Ecke Welding
Headlight: L&L Bobber Light
Taillight: Bronzed Stoplight From L&L
Photographer: Grizzly