Cycle Source Magazine – Custom Motorcycle Culture, News & Builds

RK’s 61

Chris Callen

Some builds start with a sketch. This one started with a lifetime of memories and a phone call that hit straight in the chest. When S&S Cycle handpicked six builders for the 2025 S&S Vintage Tour, Brian Klock didn’t hesitate. He said yes before the sentence was finished. For a guy who grew up staring at photos of his dad on a 1961 Panhead—Birch white, Hi-Fi red, and cool as a summer evening—it felt like the kind of opportunity you only get once. So, he set out to build a bike that wasn’t just custom, but personal. A tribute machine that honored the lines of his father’s Pan while carrying the sharp, tight, scalpel-clean style Brian has built his name on.

The tour came with one catch: total secrecy. No Instagram teasers, no mid-build flexing, no leaked paint shots. It felt like the old magazine days, where a bike stayed hidden until the reveal. Brian loved it. With 28 years of experience under his belt, it added pressure—the good kind—and forced every decision to matter. 

Brian’s guiding star was his dad’s ’61 Panhead, the one-year-only tank layout that wrapped a stripe around the front in a strange, beautiful way Harley never repeated. With help from friends like Greg Lew and Tom Banks, he tracked down accurate measurements and references so he could recreate the layout—not on big stock tanks, but on small 45 tanks from Lowbrow. He shrunk the lines, tightened the footprint, and played with the original ’61 idea of reversible color schemes. His dad’s bike looked like the reverse option — White body with Hi-Fi red panels—so he leaned into that vibe while sharpening everything to match his own full-custom style. The paint was laid down by Shannon Pranschke and Jeff Gjerde of Spirit Lake, Iowa, polished to perfection and delivered on time.

A single photo from August 1966 anchored the heart of the project: Brian’s dad riding to Sturgis, one month before Brian was born. That snapshot—ink scribbled on the back, sun at his dad’s shoulder—carried the emotional weight of the build. In Brian’s mind, this was the Panhead he would have built if his dad handed him the keys today.

The engine is a 93-inch S&S Panhead, torn down and polished by Steve Langston at Elite Polishing in Nebraska until every cover looked like jewelry. Brian added an RK61 detail into the pushrod collars —a nod to “RK’s ’61”—designed by Noel Connelly from Flame Art Designs in Ireland. The seat and tank panel were stitched by long-time friend Duane Ballard, adding warmth and comfort to a machine with otherwise tight, minimalist bones. The collaborative design was a nod to RK’s western style.

Up front, Brian originally had a perfect Panhead fork assembly—but cutting vintage parts didn’t sit right. So, he sold it and started fresh with new castings from Ted’s V-Twin. The crew designed a small PM single-piston caliper bracket. Josh Lutter and Todd Dewitt designed it, Justin Page machined it, and thanks to Ian Sherburn and Rick Preuss for digging into the archives. The wheels came from Pat at Led Sled Customs—narrow, simple, fast-looking—wrapped in Metzeler rubber because as Brian stated, “when you’ve run 180 mph at Bonneville, you stick with what’s never let you down.”

Drag Specialties shocks set the tail height low. The stock swingarm got trimmed, reshaped, and chromed for a tight rear fender that Shelton Einerwold hung with handmade struts. The taillight came from one of Brian’s late-night eBay treasure hunts. The oil tank is from SpeedKing Racing, hiding a tiny Anti-Gravity lithium battery and keeping the mid-section clean. No seat springs. No fat. Nothing extra.

The exhaust almost blew the schedule—that is, until Brian dropped it off with Rob Roehl on a Saturday for some weekend custom fab and picked it up on Monday. Clean, tucked, perfect. Jimmy Light, from HPI built a one-off stainless muffler.

The transmission is a Baker 6-in-4, finished off with a custom-detailed lever hand painted by Gene Slater. Even the primary has a story. He wanted to go with a billet Baker Tin Type primary, Michelle and Lisa Baker tracked one down—a piece that had gone sideways in a machine years ago. Justin Page massaged it back into shape until it looked flawless. If you see the bike in person, try to spot what was repaired. Likely, you won’t.

For the ignition, Brian called on Morris Magneto—billet covers, mechanical kill switch, and that unmistakable old-shop style. Controls came from Kustom Tech, sourced quickly thanks to Antonio Blanco at Motorcycle Storehouse. Barnett made the custom cables with help from Chance Darling to finalize lengths and fittings.

The frame? That was a $300 Facebook Marketplace wreck—square tubing, hacked neck, ugly welds. Shelton cut everything rotten out, John at Hardtail Choppers sent over a cast Panhead neck, and the team with an assist from Rob Roehl, rebuilt it into a true drop-seat frame with clean geometry and correct lines. Those details matter, and the bike carries them proudly.

Halfway through the project, Brian had rotator cuff surgery. The crew—Danielle Pray, Ryan Anderson, and Shelton—carried the torch. They mocked it up, tore it down, ran lines, fit parts, and kept the project marching toward the finish line. That’s why the Klock Pan isn’t just a tribute—it’s a team-built memory machine.

When it rolled out for the S&S Vintage Tour, Brian looked at it the way a son looks at an old family photo. Tight stance. Clean lines. A 93-inch heart. A lifetime of friendships in the details. And the spirit of a dad who rode to Sturgis one month before meeting his newborn son.

RK’s 61 Tech Sheet

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