With the frame as an inspiration John decided to go after a pure 1960s style chopper. "I never had a bike like this," John said, "I've always respected them and wanted one, but never got there. This was a rare opportunity."

That began the process including a trip to see Dick at Atlas Precision. "I didn't want to ruin the chopper concept with disc brakes," John explained, "but I had to improve on the old mechanical rear brakes with a 1968 juice unit." Dick modified the frame to accept the juice rear brake backing plate and eliminated the mechanical cross-over tube. John started to collect needed parts like the English rear fender from Tom at Damon's and megaphone mufflers. "We bought three commercially produced sets, but didn't like any of them," John told me. Rivera ended up manufacturing their own mufflers with larger studs for mounting and glass pack guts for the sound he was after. These mufflers are now for sale from Rivera Engineering.

Buchanan's Frame & Wheel laced both rims to stock star hubs. "We used a traditional English rim in the front (with Avon Speedmaster), and a narrow 16 on the rear," John explained, "no wide tires." In fact the lucky bastard found two original 5:00 X 16 rear Goodyear tires still in their original paper wrapping. "I broke the mold slightly with the engine," John confessed, "I went to STD for the Panhead powerplant." The STD cases have the original appearance but are stronger. The heads and cases are STD with three bolt exhaust flanges for a solid secure seal. The late Lou Trachtenburg, founder of STD, would have loved this bike. The barrels, pistons, lower end and oil pump came from S&S to form a 93-inch monster. All this was assembled, and made ready to run by master motor builder Bob Bianchi, of Bianchi Motors San Francisco.

Both the solo seat and P -pad are Bates originals, reupholstered by the Bob and the crew at Le Pera. "I even dug up some original cast aluminum Anderson foot pegs," John said. Many traditional choppers used Morris Magnetos for reliable ignition systems, since batteries weren't worth a damn in rigid frames in those days. But John went the extra step to install the modern version Morris Mag with auto-retard for easier kick-starting.

Of course the carburetor is a 2-inch SU, and the narrow belt hidden inside the stock tin primary is Primo. He hustled up the original brass dog bones from a swap meet, and Dick from Atlas made the bars after John tried more than 20 sets unsuccessfully. "They just didn't feel right," John explained. "Dick surprised me with these handmade, Z -bars, and they fit like a glove." The front end is bone stock. "The front legs, rockers, and springs still had the NOS stickers on them when I bought them," John said, "They were unused originals."

The process of assembling the bike involved Dick completely. He fitted the frame with needed tabs and brackets. Once all the components were accounted for, John hauled parts to the chrome shop and the sheet metal & frame to Art for paint. The color discussion was short lived. Fire engine red was the only answer for this classic.

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