Bill ' s 1941 Harley-Davidson Flat Tracker
A few months ago , we featured an 883 Sportster that Biltwell co-founder Bill Bryant had spec ’ d for the notoriously harsh NORRA Mexican 1000 allterrain race in Ensenada , Mexico . While the ‘ Frijole 883 ” took shape , an unfinished project languished in Bill ’ s garage – a self-confessed “ not great ” flat track racer . Bill had decided to try racing a re-built 45 ” Harley having gotten nowhere on his venerable TT500 : “ I wanted to give the whole tank shift thing a shot . I built a 45 ” Harley for the street years ago , but was never that into it . I loved working on it because of the simplicity and the aesthetic , but riding it in modern traffic just wasn ’ t much fun . “ However , for racing other nerds around in a small circle , an old flathead is a great choice . I picked up this WLA engine as a mostly complete basket case with an original frame that was slightly raked . I took the engine to Rico Fodrey ( Hi-Bond Modified , in Pomona , California ) for a full rebuild , and we went out to 45 ’ s Unlimited in Anza , California , for a transmission and a bunch of other small parts . “ The frame went to the wizard who is Mike Palazzo at 47 Industries in New Jersey and he de-raked the neck back to stock geometry , added the rear WRstyle braces , bored holes in the frame
castings and straightened everything out . “ The wheels , WR gas and oil tanks and rear fender were all sourced from W & W in Germany . The foot controls are sourced from Jeff Leighton out of SLC , Utah - less vulnerable than stock controls . The bars were custom bent to my specs by Jason Ball over at S & M in Santa Ana , California . “ With the ‘ Frijole ’ project consuming most of my “ extra ” time over the winter , the beautifully rebuilt flatty engine and frame sat lonely in the shop just mocking me and my poor time management skills . Once I realized I just wasn ’ t going to get it done , I dropped it all back off at Rico ’ s shop and asked him if he could get it wrapped up by Born Free . He did , and the bike ran great at the Stampede race the Thursday before the show . “ Pete at Hot Dog Kustoms sprayed the 1966 VW Sea Blue and bright white single stage paint , just in time for the race . It definitely looks even better than I imagined , but I ’ ll probably cry when I lay it down for the first time ! As for my performance at the Stampede ? I sucked , but I didn ’ t crash and didn ’ t finish last – I ’ ll take that all day long !” www . biltwellinc . com
20 AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - OCTOBER 2018 www . AMDchampionship . com