We met with Bryan Ames of Flat Bastard Racing on Wildwood beach just shortly after this year's Race of Gentlemen to discuss his classic 1942 Harley Davidson WLA 45" Flathead tank shift race bike. After seeing the bike go through several changes over the past few years at the race this final form of the build was to us just a perfect example of the classic 45 WL.
I (Harmony Don) started my first shop in 1986 and have been building customs since forever. From 86 to 93 I did only restorations mostly all Harleys. Some British, some old Indians but mostly Harleys from 1969 down, I would only work on generator models. Nothing 70 and up.
When Peter Chase, of Rhode Island's Cafe Cycles, was tasked with completing a project that had sat idle for the last decade, per the customer's initial requests, he thought he was in for a quick and easy street tracker build.
Dean Scharzenbach first laid eyes on this mysterious 1965 Norton survivor in his buddy Greg McFadden's garage almost twelve years ago. The moment he saw it, he fell in love with the molded square tube frame and the quirky hand-painted graphics and knew he had to get his hands on it.
I was introduced to Sam at the Hard Times Show in Worcester, Massachusetts. As soon as he pulled up and parked his bike, it immediately started getting peoples attention. When asked, he had no problem wheeling his 1950 Harley Davidson Panhead around to the side of Ralph’s Rock Diner to get away from the crowd so we could chat and shoot a few pictures.
