2001 Harley Davidson - The '60s Again

Jim Defew has been around choppers since the '60s when he was building and painting bikes with some seriously extended front ends. That was more than 30 years ago but Jim say's he remembers it like it was yesterday. So much for the saying, "If you remember the '60s you weren't really there." Thinking back to the great custom bikes he use to build and ride, Jim got an itch to build another one for himself. The bike would need to remind him of days gone by, yet it would take advantage of all the advances in technology available today.

There was no question in Defew's mind that the bike had to have the traditional look of a rigid, but have suspension in the rear to smooth the bumpy roads out. After looking at numerous frames, Jim made the short trip from his home in Benton, Kentucky, to visit the Gambler Motorcycle Company of Hendersonville, Tennessee. He decided a Gambler Innovation frame would give him everything he wanted. The Gambler, a rubber mount, built of 4130 chromemoly tubing is a Softail style frame. Its shocks are mounted above the swing arm pivot, to allow them to work more like a regular shock; by compressing over bumps rather than expanding, as with traditional Softail style frames.

To give Jim the tall front end he wanted, the frame was stretched 4 inches in the backbone and 6 inches in the downtubes. The neck was raked to 45 degrees and coupled with Perse triple trees and a set of their 10-inch over, chromed legs.

Defew got together with Colorado Customs and together they came up with a unique wheel design called a Handcock design. An Avon Venom X was mounted on a 21-inch wheel in the front, and out back an Avon 200 series was mated to a 16-inch Hancock. Both wheels received matching rotors and R.C. Components four piston calipers.

Defew was hoping to complete the project in just three months. Bike Week was approaching fast and he was determined to make the trip on the new chopper- with this in mind he handed off the motor building to Don Sills, of Sills Harley-Davidson.

Most of the choppers Defew worked on in the '60s were powered by motors from Honda, Triumph, and BSA, however in this day and age there was no question as to which kind of motor he would use - a Harley. Don started with a stock 2000 H-D 88-inch twin cam that was given a bit more muscle with the addition of a 95-inch kit. Sills flowed the heads to match the performance of the H-D 203 cams and Edelbrock carburetor. The cases, cylinders, and heads were treated to a finish of six-color chromalusion paint. Before the motor was reassembled, the heads and cylinders were sent to Diamond Heads to be cut with one of their distinctive diamond cut patterns. With the motor back together, all that remained was to install a set of Jesse James pipes.

Sills used a 2001 H-D 5-speed transmission that would be coupled to the motor by means of an H-D primary. The trans was treated to the same chromalusion paint as the motor.

With time running out, Defew was working at a fast pace trying to keep the project on schedule. He began the sheet metal work by hammering out a custom front and rear fender. A gas tank from Independent Gas Tank was stretched by Defew to fill the space from the neck to the seat. Jim was in a rhythm, so he built an air dam into which he would mount a pair of running lights. No sooner was Defew finished with the sheet metal, when his son Jeff grabbed a grinder and went to town molding the frame. When he was finished, all the lines of the frame would flow seamlessly into the bodywork.

Seeing that Jim owns a custom paint shop, he was rarin' to get to it with his spraygun. He gave the frame and sheet metal a liberal base coat of black and then used his expertise to apply flames of orange and purple, covering the entire bike.

Assembly went pretty quick, Jim mounted the driveline, wheels, and hung the sheet metal with no snares. A custom alligator seat by Darnall's Upholstery was installed, billet forward controls with Perse illuminated pegs, Gambler bars with custom risers, and a Headwinds headlight completed the front end. A license plate holder was fabricated by friends of Jim and finally a Paul Yaffe taillight was installed.

Jim ended up having the bike finished with plenty of time to spare. When he sat on it for the first time, he had a flashback, it was like the '60s all over again-only better.

Spec Sheet