Buddy Collins’ 1976 Shovelhead
Before I even start to talk about my Shovelhead, I have to first thank my good friend Justin Powers. He has taught and helped me with so much in the last few years. Without him this bike would probably still just be one of those never-ending works in progress.
I came across this bike while on a fishing trip with a friend. It was owned by a friend of a friend who intended to rebuild it for himself but hadn’t touched it in a few years. It was really just a frame and a motor. He told me he got the bike from the original owner and that the motor had not been run in many years. Needless to say, that meant it would have to be gone through thoroughly and most likely completely rebuilt. After making a trade that we were both happy with, I ended up taking the bike home with me! By the next weekend I had the motor apart and very slowly, week by week, I bought the needed parts and began to put together the bike you see today. The end result you see here is the second version of this project. The first version was just the “primer” stage, meant to ride it down the road.
My only intention was to build and enjoy a scoot that I was proud to ride. I think there is a driving force in all of us to create. The feelings and sense of accomplishment one can get out of starting with an idea and working hard to reach a goal is incredible. And for me that outlet came in the form of this bike. I just built my vision of a cool simple bike. I understand that not everyone is going to agree, and that’s fine. I don’t believe you can find a more diverse “group” of people who can all come together around a common theme or lifestyle as motorcycle enthusiasts! And due to that fact I am completely flattered that anyone would like or be interested in my individual idea of “cool.”
The entire bike, with the exception of a few things, was all powdercoated by Justin Powers. The frame, wheels, tank, rear fender, oil bag, springer, bars, and the rocker boxes—they all got coated. The Harley-Davidson logo was airbrushed onto the tank. We also split the rocker boxes and jumped the oil lines from one to the next. Also, I made some pushrod covers out of brass to keep with the combination of brass and chrome.