Overall Rating ++ We've decided to construct a new bike from parts. We're aware of the many offerings of bikes, like rolling chassis along with the myriad of parts and pieces from our advertisers and other companies that have yet to see the light, that these magazine pages shed on the readership. But then again, we're special. We know there are some of you who can't whip out The Card and pile a bunch of components in the bed of your truck and head home for a build session.
Many years ago when we wanted something custom or just plain different, we had to hunt down certain parts that we thought would work together and then make them fit our needs. This article (and the ones to follow) are born of that need, so to speak. Our first example will be the rear wheel. OK, you're probably thinking, they can get any wheel they want just with the click of a mouse or by flipping open the cell phone, and yes, we can. However, we wanted to see if we could build a wheel for ourselves piece-by-piece.
Our new bike is going to reflect current trends and styles we have observed around the country at the different events we have attended. It's called a short chop. Not a bobber, nor a full-blown chopper with extended frame and forks, but a short custom with a pretty much stock-style frame and no additional rake or stretch. The frontend will be stock length (or a couple of inches under), the engine will be somewhat warmed-up, and the rear wheel will be considered skinny by today's measurements. How skinny? How about a 120/90x18-inch Dunlop 404 rear tire that will kind of match the 100/90x19 Dunlop front tire we procured with our new H-D front wheel. Anyway, the frame we are using is a Santee Big Twin Wishbone rigid, into which we plan to stuff an H-D Evo crate motor and five-speed transmission. The frontend will be a cut-down 2006 and later H-D 49mm Dyna. Why? Because we like the looks of the big tubes and the narrow trees, which brings us back to the look from a many years ago, when the first custom narrow trees for wide glide tubes came on the scene.
OK, now that you know where we're headed with this bike, we'll tell you the story about the rear wheel. We had our minds set on a skinny, 18-inch rear rim laced to a dual flange rear hub so we could run disc rear brakes. First we found the rear hub at the swap meet for $10. It had a quickie black paint job, but it was complete with bearings and seals-good start. Next, we went by Four Aces Cycle Shop and asked Wes to find us an 18-inch rear rim off of a Triumph. Wes is the Triumph man in the hood and came through with a rim to suit our needs for $40. Back home in the workshop, we stripped the hub bare and found that the bearings were junk and needed replacement. We cleaned the hub with solvent and turned our attention to the rim.
Here is what we started our wheel off with: The hub from the swap meet and the rim from Wes at Four Aces Cycle. | 
The finished wheel in the same location at home in the San Fernando Valley. | 
The hub is an H-D steel, dual flange, rear. You can identify a rear hub easily by the size of the bolt-holes on the flanges. Rear hubs have 7/16-inch diameter holes on one side (sprocket or pulley) and 3/8-inch diameter holes on the opposite side (rear brake rotor). The dual flange front hubs have 5/16-inch diameter mounting holes on both sides. |