BREAKING

Feature Bikes

Ten Years Gone – A Hot Rod Evo

Published In The July 2015 Issue Of Cycle Source

Article By: Mitch “Magoo” Bodine Photos By: Dan Venditto

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This will be the second story I’ve written about Todd Cassler’s builds on these pages of Cycle Source, Dustin’s #1 Shovel was the first. Actually the month Dustin’s bike was featured in Cycle Source he had a ‘34 Ford hotrod pick up featured in Car Culture Deluxe. This little Evo is Todd’s own personal hotrod Harley. While I was going through the photos of Dustin’s bike with Dan Venditto, the photographer who shot Dustin’s bike and this one, I asked him if he knew of any other cool bike when he pulled up the images of this ride it was a done deal for me, I knew had to do a feature T on it. Todd Cassler has been at this motorcycle thing since he bought his first Harley when he was 16 years old. The customizing bug bit him back then and he has been at it since. While in Todd served our country in the Air Force he learned the fundamentals of painting when he was spraying airplanes. After he got out he taught himself the art of doing custom work by reading all the books he could find and the old hands on trial by error deal. He was working a day job as a welder and after work he was in his home garage honing his skills. Todd focused on paint, welding and metal work at first before he started doing full builds through the years. In 2003 Todd bought himself a paint booth and some other big equipment and Flames Unlimited was born in beautiful Reading, Pa. A few years later he moved into a bigger location so he could branch out to do hotrods and custom cars. Todd built this bike for himself ten years ago. Although the color on the frame has changed the rest of the bike remains the same. Trust me this bike is not a trailer queen, Todd puts the miles on it riding it all over. He started the build with a modified Paughco frame. He wanted a different look the neck was pulled in and the rear of the frame was extended. The frame is painted black and Todd hand painted the flames with House of Color red and then striped it in white. Buell X1 forks where shaved down clean and a 21” dirt bike wheel is mounted, Todd told me the wheel weighs about five pounds! Out back a Black Bike 18” wheel with Akront aluminum rim is used with a Performance Machine rotor and 4 piston caliper. Todd went with a stock 80” Evo motor with a trusty S&S Super E carb and a Joe Hunt magneto for spark. Todd fabricated the exhaust himself and sent it out to get Jet Hot ceramic coated. The Harley Softtail 5 speed trans has a Rivera kicker installed and a Primo belt drive gets the power to the tranny. To give it a clean look the starter mounts where shaved off both the tranny and the primary.

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Todd hand built the tail section and fuel tank out of aluminum; they are my favorite part of the bike. Originally he was going to paint them but some of his friends said he should leave it raw so everyone could see the craftsmanship…good call for sure. If you haven’t picked up on it, this bike is very light, by cutting off the starter, going with light wheels and lots of aluminum parts he got the weight down to 400 pounds ready to go! Even with the stock 80” motor Todd says it rips and it is crazy reliable! So maybe in another ten years we will see a different color on the frame! In the mean time Todd will be riding the hell out of it and working like crazy pumping out quality bikes and hotrods. Todd told me he has a bunch of projects in the shop now. I’m sure you will be reading about some of his future builds right here. You can check him out at www.flamesunlimited.com Todd gives Dan Venditto special thanks for taking such great photos that showcase this beautiful machine and says you should check out his photos at www.dv8sport.com

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TEN YEARS GONE TECH SHEET
Owner: Todd Cassler
City: Reading, PA
Fabrication By: Flames Ultd./Todd Cassler
Year: 2006
Model: FU Customs
Time: A lot
ENGINE
Year: 1999
Model: EVO/ Big Twin
Builder: H-D
Ignition: Joe Hunt Magneto
Displacement: 80”
Pistons: Stock
Heads: Stock
Cam(s): Stock
Carb: S&S Super E
Air Cleaner: Modified Velocity Stack
Exhaust: Flames Unlimited
Primary: Modified Primo
TRANSMISSION
Year: 2006
Make: JIMS 5speed/ Starter Mount Removed
Shifting: Hand
FRAME
Make: Paughco
Rake: 30 deg
Stretch: Destretched Neck moved 1″ back
FORKS
Type: Inverted
Builder: Buell
Extension: None
Triple Trees: Polished
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Excel Aluminum Motocross
Size: 21”
Front Tire: Pirelli
Front brake: None
Rear Wheel: Black Bike Hub/ Akront rim
Size: 18”
Rear Tire: Metzeler
Rear Brake: Performance Machine
PAINT
Painter: Todd Cassler/ Flames Ultd.
Color: Black/ HOK Candy Apple Red
Type: House Of Kolor
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Renthal 7/8” Aluminum Super Bike
Bars
Risers: Buell
Gas Tank(s): Flames Ultd./ Aluminum
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Flames Ultd./ Aluminum
Seat: Ha! Aluminum!
Foot Controls: Flames Ultd./ Mids
Oil Tank: Flames Ultd.
Headlight: 4.5”
Taillight: LED
Speedo: None
Photographer: Dan Venditto

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