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Feature Bikes

Panster Survives

Article And Photos By: Chris Callen

Originally Published In The August 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

Feature 1 July 13

So it’s hard to believe sometimes the kind of incredible bikes we find coming out to our very own shows. Cycle Source bike shows have produced some real treasures over the years that we have featured and many have even made the cover. Our big annual show in conjunction with Mt. Fest in West Virginia has given us so many of these quality machines that I’ve lost track of the number. Nothing, and I mean n o t h i n g , was as cool for me as the day a guy and his wife rolled in with what I spotted as a Panster from across the parking lot. The man and woman were the husband and wife team of Jim and Angel Sturges. They had come to Mt. Fest from Purcellville, Virginia just so we could see this incredible bike. In the process, it took home “Best of Show” honors for the day as well. Angel’s husband found the bike on Craigslist in Leesburg, VA. He was out of town on business and sent her to look at it. It was all black and the guy that had it never rode it.

He didn’t really know what he had. She picked it up and brought it home, and started researching what a Panster was supposed to be. While searching the Web, she came across the bike she had just purchased on a poster, only it was pink. Angel began to think that it may have been something special, but couldn’t quite figure it out. So, she started doing some more research on Choppertown Nation and found out that in August of 1987 it had been featured in Easyriders. It was the only one they ever did so she ordered the back issue and tracked down the people in the article who were located in Clay City, KY. From them she learned that the real owner, who it was originally built for, was MaryJayne Casey. She and her husband owned Casey’s Custom Cycles from 1969 to 2001. He originally built it for her as a tribute after their son was born, but he passed away from a brain tumor and the bike was never ridden. The man’s name was Larue Casey, they called him Bug, and he was told by his friends when he started dreaming the Panster up that it would never work and just couldn’t be done.

Feature 1b July 13

Now of course there are two things to clear up here. First, if you don’t know what a Panster is, it’s a hybrid motor of sorts that combines the top end of a Panhead and the bottom end of a Sportster. Secondly, the two friends that were telling him this, and why we believe this is the world’s first ever Panster, were Elmer Trett and Ron Trock, both supreme royalty in the world of Sportsters. Since Bug was told that he couldn’t, of course he forged ahead, and because of his stubbornness, Ron Trock decided to help him with the engineering in Bug’s garage. The bike was a 1957 Sportster and originally finished in 1972. Now, fast forward to after Bug had passed away. MaryJayne married another one of the guys at the shop and he eventually took the bike to Daytona where Easyriders did the feature on it. He took full credit for the build although he had nothing to do with it. The cat ended up getting busted for cocaine charges and had to sell the bike to pay the legal bills. The guy that bought it ended up giving it to his kid; of course neither of them knew what they had. The kid decided to spray paint the bike with a rattle can, and eventually it ended up on Craigslist where Jim found it and saved the bike. It obviously had been ridden some since the clutch and electrical system were shot, but the engine was completely sound and a real gem. The two went about the work of putting the old girl back to her former glory. Even though it would get a spankin’ new paint job, they decided to have a lily painted on the back fender just as it was originally. This was in honor of MaryJayne, who after meeting, they became good friends with during the whole process of resurrecting the Panster.

So what does it take to build a Panster, you might ask? Well, the engine is a cross between early Sportster lower cases, which had to be beefed up and machined to accept the Pan heads and cylinders. The crank shaft, rods, cylinders and heads are all Panhead components. It’s not a cheap trick bolt-on to make it look like a real motorcycle. It does use a four cam Sportster set-up vs. the Panhead single cam. Note that the timing hole on the left case is gone. With the hole welded up, the timing of this engine is achieved by measuring piston height off of TDC. I wonder how many cats out there today can still do that? Mary-Jayne had mentioned to Angel and Jim that Bug had a sixth grade education, and could not do the math for balancing the crank. So when MaryJayne came to the shop in the evening, she would do the math from the weights he had taken and tell him what to do, which is an incredible feat for a man with no real education and no CNC equipment to boot. The engine, with a Super E on it now: “It can’t be done,” only a sixth grade education, no computer, no CNC, and 40 years later it still goes like a bat out of hell. Pretty cool!! I would like to thank Angel and Jim who had me out to their home for a day to shoot the Panster as well as a wicked ass Triumph Bonneville that they also had at Mt. Fest that day, but for that one dear reader, you will have to wait another day.

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The Panster Tech Sheet

Owner: Angel Sturges

City: Purcellville, VA

Fabrication By: Larue Casey / Casey’s Custom Cycles

Year: 1957

Model: Panster

Value: Possibly the First Panster – Priceless

Time: 40 Years

ENGINE

Year: 1957

Model: Sportster/Panhead

Builder: Larue “Bug” Casey

Ignition: Points

Displacement: 74 ci

Pistons: S&S

Heads: H-D Modified

Cam(s): Stock

Carb: S&S Super E

Air Cleaner: S&S

Exhaust: Casey’s Customs – Handmade

Primary: Cafe’ Company

TRANSMISSION

Year: 1974

Make: Sportster

Shifting: Foot

FRAME

Year: 1974

Make: H-D Sportster

Rake: Stock

Stretch: None

FRONT END

Type: Narrow Glide

Builder: Larue Casey

Extension: 1” Under

Triple Trees: H-D Chromed

WHEELS

Front Wheel: Akront

Size: 19”

Tire: Avon Roadrunner

Brakes: H-D

Rear Wheel: Akront

Size: 16”

Tire: Avon Roadrunner

Brakes: H-D Modified

PAINT

Painter: Travis “Tuki” Hess

Type: Urethane

Color: Black/Silverleaf/Purple

Graphics: Tuki

Molding: Original/Aardvark

ACCESSORIES

Bars: K&N Drag Bars

Risers: H-D

Hand Controls: H-D

Gas Tank(s): King Sportster

Front Fender: H-D Sprint

Rear Fender: Super Glide

Seat: Original / Country Cobbler

Foot Controls: H-D

Oil Tank: H-D Chromed

Speedo: Tach Only

Taillight: Tombstone

Headlight: H-D

Photographer: Chris Callen

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