2003 C&C Cycle Special Construction - Captain America

Our thoughts when we first spotted Doug Hansford's old-style chopper were, "Wow, back in the '60s this guy must have been listening to the Rolling Stones' '66 hit 'Paint It Black' on his way to the premiere of Peter Fonda's motorcycle epic, Easy Rider.

As it turned out, we weren't too far from being wrong. Of course, it doesn't take a nuclear proctologist to identify the iconic profile of Captain America's motorcycle. After all, almost every head shop and truck stop in America at one time or another had a psychedelic poster of it for sale.

To confirm our black Captain America theory, we made a phone call to the bike's builder at C&C Cycle in Severn, Maryland. The shop's owner, Roy Chamberlin, explained to us that Doug entered his business with a photo of the Captain America re-creation that Ron Paugh and his crew at Paughco had constructed. Doug expressed that he wanted everything on his version to be painted black instead of how the original was done. This meant that instead of Captain America's fully chrome-plated Harley-Davidson wishbone rigid frame, his frame needed to be done in black. Utilizing the very same frame the Paughco boys used on theirs, Roy ordered a Paughco wishbone rigid frame from the Paughco catalog and got to work.

In keeping with authenticity, Roy elected to grind all of the frame's welds and then build the low spots back up with a MIG welder. Much in the same manner the original Captain America's frame was prepared for chroming, Roy repeated this process until Doug's frame was ready for Advance Metals in Landover, Maryland, to powdercoat it in gloss black. Similar to the chrome-plating process, powdercoating relies on an electrical charge to attach itself to metal. Wet paint, on the other hand, can easily be applied over plastic fillers and live for a long time, provided it has been applied properly. This is where painter Mike Schuman's skills entered the equation. After Mike molded the Paughco tank and rear fender to contour into the frame, he shot them in a urethane black basecoat with a high-gloss polyurethane clearcoat top.

In search of a reliable motor and trans combo to propel Doug's ebony-hued Captain America bike, Roy specified a RevTech 100-inch Evo motor and a RevTech five-speed tranny. To simulate the look of the original Captain America's Pan powerplant, a set of Xzotic Panhead rocker boxes was installed. For exhaust pipes, a one-off set of low stacks was fabricated by C&C Cycle to follow along the frame's right-side contour.

Since the intent of Doug's bike was to replicate an old-style scooter, a pair of CCI chrome wire wheels was shod front and rear with Venom tires from Avon. With a larger, more powerful motor and one more gear to wind out, it was important that Doug's bike had brakes that could meet the challenge of slowing the black Captain down. With this in mind, Roy installed GMA calipers mated to Bay City polished rotors mounted on the front and rear hubs. Without a doubt Roy did a great job interpreting the look and feel of a 20th- century chopper. He stated that without shipping Doug's parts clear across the country to California for chrome-plating and upholstery, he couldn't have pulled it off. The props go to Rod at Meclec Chrome Plating in Fresno, California, and Bob Le Pera at, well, hell, you all know Le Pera seats. Bob opened Le Pera seats in 1972 after working three years for Tony Nancy. That was in 1969, the same year that Easy Rider was released.

Tech Specs