The Pan-American Project.

[Tyler]

Being in the motorcycle industry has it's perks. When S&S asks if you want to build a custom bike around one of their power plants, you don't even have to think about it. Last month a brand new 93" S&S Panhead motor showed up at Lowbrow Customs. Unpacking a spotless, dialed motor out of a box is a great feeling!



The plan is in my head, and we are working on gathering some of the main components for this build. The basic idea is a long-haul, bulletproof bike to make the ride cross-country in June 2016 to be parked in S&S Cycle's booth at Born Free. Fast, agile, the ability to haul two people along with their gear, and easy to service along the road are the criteria.





Follow along over the next few months as we build up the Pan-American from a combination of H-D OEM parts, the S&S motor, fabricated and hand-made parts, as well as a good mix of others from a bunch of cool motorcycle brands world-wide. I am really excited about this bike and have some really cool parts new and old that will be in the mix, stay tuned!

[47str8leg]

Well there are worse ways to start your day. Good Luck.

[SafetyFifth]

Cant wait to see how this turns out.

[pig]

Dang that is purdy. I'll try and remember to check it out at the booth.

[Tyler]

We are really getting close to having gathered most all of the parts we need for the Pan-American project. Soon we can assemble the front end, and once we get the suspension components we are waiting on we can make it a proper roller. Until then, we had to settle for at least getting to stare at the frame with the newly mounted Allstate Tires (the Diamond 5.00-16 motorcycle tire both front and rear) on the uber cool Cannonball MAG-12 wheels made by W&W Cycles in Germany. W&W cast these 12-spoke wheels out of aluminum, and styled them after the magnesium drag racing wheels of the 1960's that were quickly co-opted by motorcycle weirdos for use on their custom motos. I am pretty excited about these meaty 16" tires front and rear. I will be even more excited once the fork is built and the rear shocks show up so we can get the real stance dialed in.



For those that are wondering, the frame is a 1978 H-D frame, I bought it off eBay along with a clear title. This will keep the finished bike titled as a '78 H-D despite the S&S motor, which I prefer to having a 2016 custom assembled title. PLUS this keeps me from having to take it to State Patrol to be safety inspected. Note that the swingarm is a 1958-1972 OEM H-D swingarm, round type, I prefer this because of the axle dropouts and such, more style, though it isn't that noticeable unless you are really a moto nerd spoke sniffer.

Also, fresh out of Italy come a set of raw cast controls from Kustomtech. We run Kustomtech controls on custom choppers as well as precision race bikes, not only do they look killer, the fit, finish and performance is second to none. They really clean up the look of the handlebars, especially compared to any stock components!



We also now have a pile of Colony Machine hardware for the Pan-American, everything from stock-style CAD-plated nuts and bolts to replacement chrome hardware with a little custom flair tossed in. Made right here in Ohio, USA, you can never go wrong with Colony, as most motorcycle shops world-wide can attest. It makes assembly go much smoother when hardware fits as it should. Stay tuned, next update we should have a roller with a motor in the frame!

[DollaBill]

This bike is going to be killer.

[nuklhd]

those rims will look good on it. i just read about the frame and it answered a question i had. i thought a drop seat would look better but the 78 frame has numbers for registration purposes. dam, i must be a moto nerd spoke sniffer as i notice little shit on builds like you mentioned on the swing arm. that is a compliment, better than asshole like i usually get. i'm not a big fan of reproduction motors but i really want to see how this turns out. keep up the parts gathering.

[SSCycle]

Those wheels are awesome!

[Dragstews]

Same wheels that are on Ann Margret's K-Model ....



They kicked ass in the 70's as well as they do today...

http://motorcycleart.blogspot.com/20...-12-spoke.html

[Tyler]

those rims will look good on it. i just read about the frame and it answered a question i had. i thought a drop seat would look better but the 78 frame has numbers for registration purposes. dam, i must be a moto nerd spoke sniffer as i notice little shit on builds like you mentioned on the swing arm. that is a compliment, better than asshole like i usually get. i'm not a big fan of reproduction motors but i really want to see how this turns out. keep up the parts gathering.

Haha! Yeah spoke sniffer isn't derogatory.. as far as I am concerned. Yeah the titled frame just makes everything so much easier, this way I just have the VIN number checked at the title bureau, and then build and ride. No safety inspections and piles of receipts to get a custom assembled title!

[billybiltit]

can't wait to watch this materialize!!

keep us posted,
leon

[billyolds]

saw this build starting on ig, very stoked to watch it.

couple questions if you dont mind.

Did you have a choice on which engine from s&s's line up? if so what made you choose the pan over say their knuckle?

What transmission are you going with?

[Tyler]

saw this build starting on ig, very stoked to watch it.

couple questions if you dont mind.

Did you have a choice on which engine from s&s's line up? if so what made you choose the pan over say their knuckle?

What transmission are you going with?

Billyolds yep, we were able to pick whatever motor we wanted. I was actually going to go with a generator Shovel motor to start, but decided on the Pan motor in part because the Pan-American name worked so well with the whole project

We got a 6-into-4 transmission from Baker Transmission, I am about to post some photos!

[Tyler]

OK so we had a long delay on any really good visual progress on the Pan-American project as we waited on suspension components. However, we have that sorted out and can post up some more progress pics!



She's a roller! Todd put together the 41mm fork, test fitting all the components, including the springs from Progressive Suspension. Progressive 13.5" shrouded shocks support the rear, longer than the stock shocks on this '78 frame, but this works with the earlier 1958 - 72 round swingarm I decided to use. You will also notice that we have our rotors and sprocket all dialed in. We had to open up the ID of the rotors from 1.9" to 2.1" as the W&W Cannonball wheels are set up for late-model discs, but we wanted to run some simpler looking rotors that weren't available for that year range. Plus, we needed a 10" rotor for the wideglide fork which wasn't available with that ID.





We are running a Gasbox Oil Tank which is a rubber-mounted, bolt on oil tank that fits '65 - '77 swingarm Big Twin frames. And it is hard to miss that Baker Transmission, a 6-into-4 that should outlast me with ease. The 6th gear is an overdrive that should lower about 500 RPM at highway speeds, which makes for comfortable long-haul riding!



The Gasbox Oil Tank also includes the front mount with integrated clutch cable stop, which is bulletproof and way beefier than any stock bracket.



Performance Machine recently came out with their Vintage 4 Piston Caliper. I called the up and was happy to find out that the mounting holes are the same center-to-center as their standard 4 piston calipers. This makes sense, but this info wasn't on their website so I had to check. This means that these calipers will fit their different caliper brackets, including this one that lets you replace the giant, stock banana caliper that doesn't work that well with a modern one with great styling and finish. They aren't cheap, but it is nice to have an alternative to that stock banana caliper on your wideglide front end.

Next up we need to throw a chain on and get that aligned so we can measure and make wheel spacers for both front and rear wheels. Keep your eyes open for a tech article from us showing the details. This will mean our bike will be ready to drop the motor in and keep moving forward!

[Motorradfahrer]

Wow! I know it's still early in the process but that bike is turning out great. I am enjoying watching this thing come together.

[Tyler]

Wow! I know it's still early in the process but that bike is turning out great. I am enjoying watching this thing come together.

Thanks! Lots of good stuff to come for sure!!

[lilmad]

Thanks for the play by play...I am learning and its very cool of you to share your knowledge...awesome thx man

[nuklhd]

darn tyler thats a disc caliper i like. good work and it should be a bullet proof rider to boot.

[Davestune]

That is gunna be one sexy bike!

[Twigg92]

I think I'm in love