Tom's '56 HD Panhead

     If you've ever met Tommy, you'll never forget him. He's got a sixth sense for names and places and never runs out of great stories, not to mention a kick ass panhead. His bike is a perfect manifestation of his personality. The chronicle of the '56 Pan as told by "Funnel Head" Tom:

    
     "Where to start?...ex-wife called and said 'I know where theres a pan for sale', said it was all there. She knows enough that I took her word, so I went and looked. I met Woodie the owner, said his friend had willed it to him, the generous deceased dude, was one Tony Palermo. Woodie said 5k, said it needed work, didn't run. It was a mess, rattle can blue,and anything that had been aluminum or steel or chrome had been rattle canned silver. Well, gave him the 5Gs, a complete Pan is worth that. Got it home and charged the battery (still 6volt), checked wiring, dumped bad gas, filled with fresh, set points and kicked it 3 times,been ridin it ever since."
    "Did a face lift, hell of a make over. Frame was blasted, found out every weld on the frame was cracked so I welded it and gave it to the painter, did my thing and you see the results.You can still build a class custom bike,with out spending millions."
     "Ok some details, 1956 Harley panhead, ratchet top transmission, wishbone frame, someone cut the f'ucking sidecar loops off it. Paint is a collaborative effort between Dave Mayer and Kevin Moore. Dave did the heavy lifting,  prep, masking, sanding. Keven did the design and pinstriping. The paint is Shelby stripes blue on the frame, and some crazy sweet silver on tank and fender, the metal flake is a Hawaiian blue (think Detroit Lions) the size of the flake is bass boat. Dave literally sprayed clear and blew the flake off of a spoon, the flake is so high there is 24 coats of clear to get  it level! When Kev did the pinstriping (he is an artisan, really) it was after a ton of clear ,you can see shadows under the striping in the sun. I run a mechanical brake on the rear, got a '99 vintage sporty front end and brake. It is 2" under with a 21" sporty front wheel. Love the front end, looks great and performs like it looks. It still has the 6 volt setup with a 3 brush generator. It still runs the linkert M74B (brass body), still runs points, solid lifters, cam of unknown origin."
     "I'm asked all the time, 'Why not run 12 volt, and an S&S?' The reason is: I would have a clacky Evo. Its 4" Z bars and 2.5 gallon king sporty my bro Richie gave me. All cloth wiring, got high & low beam and horn. Pipes are frame followers w/turn out. Jockey shift, suicide clutch and floorboards. Very dependable."