W
hen Paul Bucher decided it was time to do something with his stock swingarm 1968 FL it was going to have to be a low buck build. Although he wanted a hardtail, using the stock frame would save a major expense and some time, so he moved forward in that direction. Enter Daniel “Dandemonium” Donley, proprietor of Pandemonium Custom Choppers, with whom Paul had collaborated on a few other builds previously. He was Paul’s ‘guy’ in the motorcycle business. He brought his idea to Daniel, and it was time to get this freak show on the road. The bike had been in the family for years, but the bike in its current form suffered from a violent shake at speed that would have to be addressed before they could proceed any further. On closer inspection when disassembling, they noticed the front end was an aftermarket which lead to the next conclusion after careful measurement that the bike had indeed been in a wreck destroying the original front end
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January ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
and, unfortunately, bending the original frame significantly. They were at a crossroads; they could fix the original frame or just set it aside and get the hardtail frame that Paul originally wanted.Considering that the original frame was bent in the front section hardtailing the original frame didn’t make sense and straightening it was going to be pricey anyway. So, Paul decided to go with his original plan, and they agreed on a 30° Paughco wishbone hard-tail frame as the starting point of this build. With the frame situation sorted, it was time to address the other aspects of the bike, and the ‘had to have’ parts. The motor and tranny were fully operational with no burnt oil or leaks so those two components would stay. The stock 74” is running an Andrews “A” grind cam and an S&S Super E was used for reliability as were the points ignition. The motor was left uncomplicated making the engine and the trans simple and as ‘user-friendly’ as possible.
