We converted his classic chopped Pan from an antequated 6-volt system to 12 volts, futzed with details on the bike, tuned it and changed the oil. It needed it. It's a simple operation--yeah right. Nothing is simple on an old, well worn custom. If you want a stellar job done, you need to focus on the details, not just the job at hand. I'll explain or die trying.

Supplies used for detailing.

Making a six /twelve is simple. Replace the battery, generator, regulator, coil and lights. Done deal. If the bike was new, that would have been the extent of it, but it wasn't. It needed some new wiring, new battery cables and tenderness. The battery was a very different configuration so it needed to be repositioned. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

Ah, but the Bikernet staff is not complaining. We handle all projects as a team. Plus there was a couple of mighty reasons to go the extra mile with this putt. The bike is a classic, original custom built in 1975. It has never been changed since, except to slip Sugarbear's rockers on the Dick Allen Springer for lighter handling. (See the Sugarbear article on Springer handling.) The bike belongs to Bandit's Martial Arts instructor, a man who trained with Bruce Lee up until two weeks before Bruce passed on. He is a Martial Arts Hall of Famer, with too many other accolades to mention. But the bottom line is that he's good people and a friend. Another reason to do step across the line, is our code. We like to do an outstanding job. Motorcycles are our lives, and we were going to write it up for the Bikernet readership to view. How's that for enough reasons to handle the job with Geppetto aplomb?

All the parts were ordered from Custom Chrome. And we'll take you through ordering recommendations as we dive into the project. We started by ordering a 12 Volt generator, regulator, coil and battery.

We discovered that the new generator didn't come with hardware, so we had to dig out the old one and see what we had to work with.

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