The best knuckleheads

[38knuckle]

Originally Posted by Matthew Olsen

Leonard,
Your 38 looks so nice. I think that 38 was the perfect year for hd, and that it was all down hill 39 and later. Here is a pic of our 39 el, the bike has over 25k on it and has been to both oceans several times.
best,
Matt Olsen

thanks matt, i appreciate the kind words and all the help in the past and future.

[Danny F.]

Here's Yoshi's knuck (in front of his new shop in Inglewood)

[Chrisse]

the last one is truly awesome! But would that passenger seat function at that angle so close to the solo seat? I'm trying to figure out where to cut my rear fender but it have to be enough for a passenger seat (is there a more appropiate word?)

[danisdead]

P-pad ^^. Yeah, it'll function, would she rather sit on the bare metal fender or have a tiny bit of padding? also acts as a minnie back rest.

[TheManInBlack]

Originally Posted by danisdead

P-pad ^^. Yeah, it'll function, would she rather sit on the bare metal fender or have a tiny bit of padding? also acts as a minnie back rest.

Yeah I'm guessing mini back rest, thats what mine is for - I don't even have passenger pegs.

[38knuckle]

Originally Posted by Chrisse

the last one is truly awesome! But would that passenger seat function at that angle so close to the solo seat? I'm trying to figure out where to cut my rear fender but it have to be enough for a passenger seat (is there a more appropiate word?)

bitch pad

[MarkF]

Sweet pics, thanks for posting! I gotta get my hands on a knuckle to build up. Nothings better than those!

[Speedballer]

This knuck always brings a smile to my face, although nothing real special about it. (not mine btw)

[danisdead]

pretty big back tire..

[knuckleerin]

Wow! I really like the look of Yoshi's bike. After I spotted it in Street Chopper I was left with 2 thoughts. 1. "Man he did a sweet job there!" And 2. What the heck is it with guys on the west coast and their love of surfing the seat!!! ????

[Matthew Olsen]

Here are a couple pics of an early one that my dad and I just finished up. It is a pretty nice bike. I am happy with how it turned out.

[Cody Guthrie]

^^^ that is sweet.

[HD48FL]

Another beauty from the Olson's. Keep the fine work there guys.

[budoka]

beautiful Matt, beautiful.

-dan

[Killing Machine]

Not sure if this is 'allowed'. It is the easiest and fastest way I can share pics and info about my friend Algie's gorgeous Knucklehead. If I am breaking any rules, please just delete...Hope you are able to enjoy this..


http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=373

[Killing Machine]

here is 'the Duke' and it's owner, my pal, Algie... ( in case link above is illegal. )

[IMG]

From Drop Box

[/IMG]

This is the story behind it and the specs of the build...(copied & pasted from an article. is missing some pics)



Here’s a fine looking Knucklehead from an old school builder who dumped his ol’ lady and opened his own shop in Lake Elsinore, California. He now is here in Oldtown , Idaho.

“I got this motor in 1969,” Algie said of his roadworthy Knuck. “I haven’t run it all these years,” but he held onto it for the perfect chassis. “Front end is a one-off my brother, Sam Pirrello, built in ’69. It has no pinch bolts at all. Well, just two in the top of the legs to hold ‘em to the top tree. The rear legs are seamless hydraulic tubing. He ran it for 35 years on his bike, now mine.”


Check the hydraulic shifting mechanism off the clutch arm.
I started to ask him about his name, then he told me he did some time, so I left it alone. It nagged me, though. This bike had street class from the ‘70s and rare innovations. His shop resides in the mountains in the same town where the man who designed the Quick Silver Carb for Edlebrock Performance developed the Lake Injector Carb. Must be something in the water.


The brake/shifter.
You need to look closely at this bike. The trans is a cow pie rotary top with a long main shaft. “I made the trans plate out of aluminum to offset it and make it work.” It’s hard to see but he made a jockey shift with a dirt bike master cylinder attached and brake lever. “A hydraulic braided brake line runs to one of the two calipers on the rear rotor to hold bike on hills and help drag it down at speed.” Take a look at his brother’s front end again. There ain’t no front brake. That was smart thinkin’.


One caliper is connected to the lever on the shifter arm.
That’s not all. He found a COC floor mounted sand rail control set, turned it upside down, made the pegs and made it fit the frame. “I also made the hydraulic clutch set-up with a pull slave cylinder,” said Algie, “so I could run the same foot pegs on both sides.” He made the foot pedals and ran bicycle pegs.


Other side of the shifter arm.
“The carb is a old Weber with a manifold my brother, Sam, made out of three pieces to adapt it to the Knucklehead intake,” said Algie. There was that name again. I had to pump up the nerve to ask him where the hell it came from, the bottom of a stagnate pond?


The sand rail controls.
The rear brakes are Wilwood duals, but one caliper is linked to the right foot peg and the other to the Jockey shifter. He made the oil bag out of an oxygen cylinder tank, and the dual filter set-up came from a car. He also manufactured a billet dipstick from a car trans stick.


The Oxygen Tank oil bag.
“The headlight is off a 1940 wrecker and came with a blue glass bulb,” Algie said. “I removed it and set a sealed beam in the bucket. The taillight was givin' to me by a friend in Illinois. Guy found it in a barn, and I have yet to find out what it came off of. It says do-ray 466, and has a glass lense.


“I built this bike in a cramped garage, after I got out of prison, with very little cash flow,” Algie said. “I used only a drill, saws-all and files. I handled all the polishing by hand. The cases were the hardest. Ya see, when I came home, all I had left was a frame, front end and my motor. I did work for some parts and was able to finish it for less than 4 grand.”

Most of what he did you can’t see. The work went into the motor. It’s a stock 74 with 10.5:1 compression pistons, .020 over, and he rebuilt it with the very best Andrews cams. He ported the heads himself and cc’d the top end with Kibblewhite valves, Amco guides, springs and retainers.


The rear sprocket is a 42-tooth job for tall freeway gearing. “It’s not much out of the hole,” Algie said, “but pulls like a locomotive on the top.” He put ten long studs in the clutch and welded the suckers in place. “The wheels were freebees, H-D 9- spoke mags. I mounted the tires in reverse, and to this day only one person has noticed.

He’s won several shows with it. “I won best in show at the Big Red Machine Motor Cycle Show, August 21, 2004 sponsored by Riverside County Choppers,” Algie told me. But he rides the shit out of her. “I rode to Port Costa in the Bay Area over Halloween. “I came back nonstop at night. Last night I rode to Riverside and Pomona, so I don’t think she’s a bar hopper. Hell, I rode it to Illinois in ’81. It was in Choppers mag, January ’81 but looking a lot diff.”


Bandit wasn’t around so I downed a couple of Coronas and loosened up. I had to know the background behind the name. “What gives with the name,” I sputtered?


“My old lady called our bikes Killing Machines, so we named the shop Killing Machines Choppers,” Algie said. “It’s a full service barn. We have a certified, factory-trained machinist who rebuilds engines. We fab, machine and paint bikes.”

“No, no,” I said, “what’s the story behind your goddamn name.”

“You know,” Algie explained. “Your mom called ‘em death traps. Oh, the seat was made from a sheet of aluminum off the side of a bus, then covered with leather from an old jacket and carpet from a car trunk. The rear foot pegs are handmade. I built ‘em for the girls to enjoy…”


I swallowed the last gulp from my third beer and my bravery expanded. “I’m not asking about death traps, or the name of your dog. I want the fuckin’ story behind Algie.”

“Okay,” Algie said with a snap. “I know you’ve been drinkin’ Snake. If I were a snitch I’d call Bandit. My dad’s name was Peter and my folks grappled over what to call me. They were determined not to come up with a name like Jim Shoe Pirrello. So my mom came up with Algernon Thackerberry. No one has ever been able to get his or her tongue around that one, so it ended up as Algie. Got that?”

I knew I was in trouble. So I decided to back off. “Sure, sure,” I said. “I’ve got to get back to work, now.” “You bet, pal,” Algie said and hung up.

--Snake

[Killing Machine]

Your Knucklehead is really Sa Weet! Matt... I love those rivets on it. Really nice scoot. All these knuckleheads are gorgeous. I checked out all 29 pages and my tongue hurts from steppin on it!

[oldschoolsoldier]

[suprrat]

mat olsen, i got to see that 36 in person and got to talk to carl about it and i was beside myself looking at it, shear beauty to say the least, you guys do fine work and do a great job of recreating of what things were at one time,rock on