•5:37 PM
The amount of recognition Matt McManus slathered over his 1947 FL Knuckle would shame a museum historian with Obsessive-compulsive disorder. He made the motorcycle precisely how a bobber would've appeared in the 50's. Every nut and bolt has the correct factory finish on it, even though situations and unique preference dictated a few diversions from time to time.
This was not his very first rodeo, though. He and his old man each love themselves some aged knuckle heads. They have individually raised from the dead a couple of the old girls in the whole duration of their lives. Matt built another 1947 just before the current project.
As he describes ityou would nearly consider the earliest bike as being a test bike for this.
"The first bike was okay but it surely was not precisely what I imagined. Another person had started building it and that I simply completed it from unfinished work by the previous builder," he says.
The earliest was sold by him in an antique motorcycle swap meet. Some person just fell in love with it and simply had to purchase it. Although McManus was reluctant at first, he finally caved and scooted out the swap meet without the knuckle head but with a fat pocket.
That ended up for the best. The problem with the first project was that Matt started when the bike was half clone to someone else's styles and he just completed the puzzle. Think of that one as being a form of starter house, it's not ideal, but the equity in it enables you to acquire what you want the very next time. Matt poured the money from the sold knuckle to make the bike you see before you now.
Matt's first order of business was research. McManus checked old pictures, bike mags and photos on the internet to get an idea of what changes and gear were done to these motorcycles back in the fifties. Matt knew the significant stuff. What he was looking for were the normal changes. Next, it was a question of setting up that knowledge into the project. Largely, that meant searching high and low to obtain all the parts. What if you decided to buy a vintage knuckle and every little thing was working well, there wouldn't be much of a restoration tale in it, right?
McManus completely rebuilt the motor. It's like looking for treasure. Matt acquired the cases from one place, barrels from another, and so on. Part by ancient part he put it all together, and then took the motor to Ben's V-twins where they did the machine task and put it all back together. The authentic guts were worn out. Because He was reconstructing this bobber as a motorcycle rider and not a museum curator, Matt planned good quality alternatives on the inside. That's why he opted for S&S pistons, rods, Rowe valves, and an Andrews S grind cam. At this point, Matt has already logged 13K miles on it without a hitch.
Presently there isn't much of fabrication on this bobber but what little there is comes completely from Matt himself. He bobbed the back fender and topped it with a taillight. Also the pipe has his handy work in it. He took a set of headers and crafted everything else himself. It had taken Matt seven months from part search to paint to reincarnate this motorcycle.
"I've considered changing the bike around later on by putting the original fenders and saddle back on it, for the time being I'm just going to let those parts and accessories like harley hand grips and the likes, lay around and enjoy the bike how it is now," he says.
This was not his very first rodeo, though. He and his old man each love themselves some aged knuckle heads. They have individually raised from the dead a couple of the old girls in the whole duration of their lives. Matt built another 1947 just before the current project.
As he describes ityou would nearly consider the earliest bike as being a test bike for this.
"The first bike was okay but it surely was not precisely what I imagined. Another person had started building it and that I simply completed it from unfinished work by the previous builder," he says.
The earliest was sold by him in an antique motorcycle swap meet. Some person just fell in love with it and simply had to purchase it. Although McManus was reluctant at first, he finally caved and scooted out the swap meet without the knuckle head but with a fat pocket.
That ended up for the best. The problem with the first project was that Matt started when the bike was half clone to someone else's styles and he just completed the puzzle. Think of that one as being a form of starter house, it's not ideal, but the equity in it enables you to acquire what you want the very next time. Matt poured the money from the sold knuckle to make the bike you see before you now.
Matt's first order of business was research. McManus checked old pictures, bike mags and photos on the internet to get an idea of what changes and gear were done to these motorcycles back in the fifties. Matt knew the significant stuff. What he was looking for were the normal changes. Next, it was a question of setting up that knowledge into the project. Largely, that meant searching high and low to obtain all the parts. What if you decided to buy a vintage knuckle and every little thing was working well, there wouldn't be much of a restoration tale in it, right?
McManus completely rebuilt the motor. It's like looking for treasure. Matt acquired the cases from one place, barrels from another, and so on. Part by ancient part he put it all together, and then took the motor to Ben's V-twins where they did the machine task and put it all back together. The authentic guts were worn out. Because He was reconstructing this bobber as a motorcycle rider and not a museum curator, Matt planned good quality alternatives on the inside. That's why he opted for S&S pistons, rods, Rowe valves, and an Andrews S grind cam. At this point, Matt has already logged 13K miles on it without a hitch.
Presently there isn't much of fabrication on this bobber but what little there is comes completely from Matt himself. He bobbed the back fender and topped it with a taillight. Also the pipe has his handy work in it. He took a set of headers and crafted everything else himself. It had taken Matt seven months from part search to paint to reincarnate this motorcycle.
"I've considered changing the bike around later on by putting the original fenders and saddle back on it, for the time being I'm just going to let those parts and accessories like harley hand grips and the likes, lay around and enjoy the bike how it is now," he says.
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