Panhead People's Champ Build

[SundownSlinger]

Next came the bottom panels of the tank to be formed, fitted, and welded into place. I used a piece of thin cardboard paper to trace my outline and get a template piece to work with.

I cut both panel pieces out and finished shaping them where needed to fit perfectly, cleaning both sides/edges for welding. I also marked both side either R "right" or L "left" since both weren't exactly the same and needed to go on a certain side.

On the bottom left panel, I needed to cut a hole for the ignition switch wire tube. Since the existing tube wasn't long enough to reach the new bottom panel, I ran a narrower tube(just narrow enough to slide down the existing tube) through the existing one to the bottom panel. I traced around the tube on the inside of the bottom panel, took the panel off, and cut the necessary hole in the panel with a hole saw bit. I then cleaned around the hole with a cleaning wheel to clear burs and get it ready to weld. I left the inserted tube/extension, of the ignition wire tube, long so I could trim it down later. With the tube sticking through the bottom panel to hold it in place, I then tacked the inserted inner tube to the existing ignition wire tube with silicon bronze. Once it cooled, I pulled the bottom panel off and finished silicon bronzing around the rest of the tubes to complete the weld/connection/extension.

As you can see here, both panels fit and I have the extended tube welded in and sticking out from the bottom more than what's needed. Silicon bronzing it to the bottom of the panel and trimming the tube down will come later.

[SundownSlinger]

As I mentioned before, I left about 1/4" of extra trim around the outer edge when I cut out the old tank bottom(as you can see in this first picture where the outer edge isn't covered by the 2nd panel). Since I did that, I had a small amount of surface area to not only weld the new bottom panels to, but also clamp them to while tacking/welding. I used a bunch of vise grips to clamp the panel in place along the outer edge. Problem was, after starting to tig, welding it wasn't going so well. As well as I cleaned the panels and tank surfaces, there must have been contamination in the tank metal. This tank is over 60 years old, so I sort of expected some issues when welding it.

It got bad enough while welding it that I had to resort to silicon bronzing the outer edge of the panels to the tank. It melted and filled the seams much easier/better than typical welding did. It wasn't too pretty, but it worked and it'll hold just fine.

With the panels in, my next post will be the forming, fitting, and welding in of the new tunnel. Also, silicon bronzing the ignition wire tube to the bottom of the panel and cutting it down closer to the surface. Then, grinding and smoothing out everything that needs to be...

[montuckymatt]

Dig it! Keep it coming im learning alot from this thread. Thanks

[Dragstews]

As always .... Fantastic work from the shop of "SHAMROCK FABRICATION"

[Hoghead]

Beautiful work!

[SundownSlinger]

With the tunnel formed and ready for install, I fit it into the tank leaving both ends long, running a mark along the bottom edge where the tunnel meets the tank's bottom panels.

I then pulled it out and cut along the mark. Again, leaving more meat on the tunnel so I could slowly make my way closer to the bottom panels.

I grinded what was left of the tunnel down closer to the bottom of the tank little by little so I didn't cut too low to begin with. I grinded just above(or below, depending how you look at it) the bottom panels, leaving about 1/16" extra tunnel metal sticking out. I did this to have extra metal surface for ease when welding.

I started welding the tunnel and panel edges together. I moved around with my welds, doing a little here and then a little there until both edges were completely welded, to keep heat down and warping less likely.

[SundownSlinger]

I cut and grinded down both ends of the tunnel. Just as I did with the edge that met the bottom panels, I left a little extra sticking out. I did this on the ends not only to have extra surface for welding, but also to form the tunnel more to the end openings. As you can see, maybe not from this first photo but especially the second photo, the tunnel ends did not fit tightly against the tank end openings. With the radius of the tunnel ends not matching exactly on the front and back with the tank openings, I needed to tack weld the tightly fitted areas, then used a solid bar to pound the tunnel edges closer to the tank opening edge while it was hot. I would weld a few puddles, getting it hot, then I would immediately hold the tank while Irish Rich took the bar and pounded lightly on the tunnel to get it closer to the tank opening. Getting the tunnel and tank opening edges closer together, I was able to weld them together much easier.


I then cut the ignition wire tube down closer to the bottom tank panel, and silicon bronzed it in place. I also smoothed out all edges and welds as best as possible. My painter will fill whatever little is left with mud/bondo.

It was a lot of work, and there's more to do(mounts and petcock bung), but the tank came out pretty well in my opinion.

[SundownSlinger]

Here are a few different angles of the tank as it sits on my frame. 2.2 gallons of power juice sitting on a Paughco frame that has almost 100k miles on it, and running. 100k rigid miles in the form of my last 2 choppers that I built. As I posted earlier in this thread, I recently changed the frame from a wishbone to a straight-leg with 2.25" added to the downtubes, 0 to the backbone, and raked the neck from stock to 37.5 degrees. There's more to come...



This frame in my last 2 chops saw cross-country trips through cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn, Dallas, Sturgis, Portland, Minneapolis, Spokane, Austin, San Diego, Omaha, Helena, Des Moines, Roswell, San Francisco, all over my home state of Colorado, parts of the Baja(El Diablo Run 2013), and everywhere in between. A lot of these destinations multiple times... I strongly disagree with trailering bikes. No offense to those that do, but I feel that if I build a bike, I want to enjoy it. I also want to prove it's reliability. With almost 100k rigid miles on my last 2 chops, in a 7.5 year span, this chopper will be no different. Here's to the next 100k, this thing will be a ripper.

For those that like what I'm putting out here, this build is for the Showclass People's Champ Competition. It's also because I love doing this, and it was time for me to build another chopper. Regardless of what the outcome of this competition may be, this bike will be ridden, hard. I'm not much for social media, but I've been adding updated photos to instagram. I've left more detailed descriptions and step-by-step explanations for here in this thread though. If you'd like to follow on instagram as well, my account is @el_estebandolero.

Voting for the competition is coming up in a few weeks. I'll be posting more as it gets closer, letting you all know when and where you can vote if you'd like. This isn't a popularity contest, so vote for the bike you feel is most deserving.

I'd like to thank all who have commented or followed this thread. Before this build, it had been awhile since I posted or had been on Chopcult. It feels good to be back and I hope you all like what's to come on this build. Feel free to comment or make suggestions.

Thanks Again,
Glennon
Insta: @el_estebandolero

[HasherDavidson]

I follow you and Rich on IG, but I just ran across this thread. This is great, please keep up the writeups; if you're planning on doing more in-depth posts, I'd humbly request the following subjects in particular: oil bag (which I think maybe you just put on IG), hidden wire routing in the downtube, and sissy bar.

[SundownSlinger]

Sounds good. Thanks for following along

[SundownSlinger]

I had Fab Kevin special cut this round oil tank for me over a year and a half ago, leaving the ends open. The cuts I wanted were at angles so the tank would sit hidden under the seat/frame rails, like you see in this first photo. Kev sent me all the needed materials to finish it - including mounting bungs,return/feed/vent bungs, a drain bung, a filler neck, and extra stainless plate to trace and cut the ends out before welding them on.

Fab Kev sent me the tank split, as you see here. So, I cleaned the split edges as best as possible using a scuff/scouring pad and denatured alcohol.

Once I had it cleaned, I pressed the edges together and clamped them together using a variety of vise grips. The edges still formed somewhat of a "^", so while it was clamped, I had to work the edges over a piece of round bar with a body hammer to "round out" where the edges met. This made the tank more rounded, instead of a slight "pointed edge" along where the edges meet.

I then welded the two edges together. The stainless melted and welded really nicely, this being my first time welding such material. It's always a little nerve-racking to perform something new, so I practiced on other stainless beforehand. I used the two large stainless plates that Fab Kev sent me to cut the ends out from. I butted the two plates together and made a few practice welds before welding the actual tank edges together.

A few of the mounting bungs needed to be altered. So, I'm waiting on a machinist friend to get me those pieces back before moving forward.

More to come on this...

[SundownSlinger]

I put 35k miles on my first chop in just over 2 years. Those miles taught me a lot about what I needed to add, subract, or alter on my second build. Having a 2.2 gallon mustang tank mounted on my first chop for 2k-4k mile trips, with certain stretches of highway having little to no gas stops, I needed extra fuel every time I left to travel on my chop. I keep things very simple when I travel on my chopper. I take a few pair of old underwear, including the ones I'm wearing when I leave, and I throw them out as I go to save space. I take wife beaters as shirts since they roll up to nothing and take up no weight or space at all. Since they're cheap, and get nasty on long trips, they also serve as good shop rags if needed while fixing your bike on the road. Gear and extra fuel take up space, add weight, and ultimately alter the handling and gas mileage of your bike. The more shit you take, the more weight, the worse your fuel mileage gets. That also means more needs to be carefully strapped down so one side isn't weighed down more than the other, fucking up the handling of your bike. So, I buy quality, lightweight gear and take as little as possible(Tools, extra gas, and rain gear are priorities).

For trips on my first chop I had to pack 3 fuel filled MSR 30 0z. fuel canisters for extra gas. These things not only weighed a bunch when full, they were also a pain in the ass unpacking every time I needed them. Don't get me wrong, it's better to have them and have to unpack them every time than not having them at all, but I came up with a solution on my second Chopper build.

I borrowed the idea from the late, great Dick Allen. He use to strap an old pony keg to his sissy bar for added fuel. Dick Allen was a ruler in the chopper world, a guy who invented a lot of chopper products we take for granted today, a guy who also rode the shit out of his bikes and it showed. So, for my second chop, I fabricated an auxiliary fuel tank to mount on the right side of my chop in between my top and bottom frame rails right in front of my axle plate/rotor. I ran a fuel line from the extra tank, to a wired-in electronic fuel pump, then up to a "T" to both my carb and my main tank. I put a simple inline on/off petcock in so fuel couldn't drain down from my main tank into the auxiliary tank, then out the vent in the aux tank's cap. This way, I could either open the inline petcock on the fly and flip a switch to start the electronic fuel pump or I could pull over and do the same, but pump it all to my main tank before shutting off the pump and closing the petcock. Both were much more time efficient than unpacking extra gas canisters from my gear bag, it also saved me space in my gear bag.

So, instead of fabricating a tank to be mounted in the same spot as the last, in between my frame rails in front of my rotor, I decided to fabricate one to be mounted under my transmission. Hidden, and not covering up my back wheel or tire in any way. I had previously mounted my battery under my tranny for my last 2 chops, so I still had a battery tray that I had fabricated to protect what I had under there from debris and crap coming up from the road. So, I'll reuse my old battery tray to help protect this new auxiliary fuel tank also.

I started the tank by figuring dimensions and coming up with a paper template. Since we laugh and joke about our methods of doing/making things here at Shamrock Fabrication/Irish Rich Custom Cycles, our computer design program here consists of a pen, a steel carpenter's square, a pair of scissors, and a piece of paper.

Our CNC machine in this process is a pair of metal shears.

The piece/template cut out of steel, next to the paper template, with the edges cleaned off with a cleaning wheel

Our press-break machine consists of a dead-blow, some vise grips, and angle iron

[SundownSlinger]

Here's a photo of the auxiliary tank I fabricated on my last chop, the one I mentioned in my last post. It sat between my top and bottom frame rails on the right side of my chop in front of my axle/rotor. Since it covered up my wheel and tire, and since I wanted to change things up a bit and hide this next one, I decided to build this current one to fit under the tranny.

Here's the new tank, hammered to shape. Again, after cutting out my template, I used a simple combination of vise grips, a dead-blow, and angle iron to shape this. Easy, everyday tools that are cheap and available to anyone who wants to perform such a task.

Here's a photo of it in position under the tranny mounts/plate, inside the frame rails, mostly hidden outside of plain sight.

An idea of where the filler neck and cap will be mounted

This auxiliary tank will hold a half gallon of extra gas that I can pump up to my carb or main tank when needed. A half gallon of gas goes a long way way when you're rolling thru the southside of Chicago, going across the Mojave in 115 degree weather, racing away from a massive storm, or any other shitty situation.

[SundownSlinger]

As some of you may know, Showclass had to recently back out of running the People's Champ Competition. Luckily, Bill and the people at Biltwell took it over to keep it alive.

Bill and Mcgoo have been pretty crucial to the grassroots Chopper/Motorcycle scene, all over the planet. From hosting events, to sponsoring events, to contributing in other ways(including this very site, ChopCult). Especially when it comes to promoting ACTUALLY RIDING MOTORCYCLES.. They don't get enough credit.

First round of voting will be on March 8th, 9th, and 10th through Biltwell's Blog: WWW.BILTWELLINC.COM/WTF

If you like what I've been putting out here, go vote for me. Or vote for other bikes, just participate. The more people that vote, the less likely this will be a popularity contest.

My bike, like the ones I've built before this, will be ridden...hard. Whether I make the final 6 in voting or not, I'm riding this chopper from Denver to Born Free this coming June.

Thanks again for all who have followed along so far. There's more to come......

Instagram - @el_estebandolero

[Vinson]

The link you posted is broken. This one should work. BILTWELL VOTING LINK

Killer thread/build, you've got my vote.