South Africa boasts the present UFC middleweight champion and the world’s top-ranked rugby crew—neither of which we’d need to go toe-to-toe with. There have to be one thing within the water, as a result of this Harley Shovelhead from Cape City’s Stoos Customs bristles with the identical ferocity.
Based mostly in one of many metropolis’s industrial areas, Stoos Customs was established 13 years in the past by Alex Stoos after an internship at Exile Cycles within the US. The workshop’s deal with hasn’t modified, however the crew has grown to seven and earned a strong status regionally and overseas.
The Shovelhead undertaking was conceived ultimately 12 months’s Bike Shed Moto Present in London. There, Alex crossed paths with Joe from El Lobo Cycles in Suffolk, and a boyish sense of competitiveness took over. Earlier than lengthy, they agreed to a personal intercontinental build-off—with nothing on the road however bragging rights.
“The one guidelines have been that each bikes needed to be Shovelheads run BST carbon fiber wheels,” Alex explains. “Past that, it was left as much as every builder to implement their distinctive imaginative and prescient.”
Issues blossomed shortly. The Harley-Davidson efficiency elements specialists at Pace and Science Inc. in Canada got here on board with a beneficiant low cost on engine parts, whereas BST provided wheels of their brand-new solid carbon end.
The undertaking additionally set the stage for an surprising collaboration. “A number of years again, on the Handbuilt Present in Austin, Texas, I met Colt Wranglerand we talked about the potential for working collectively sometime,” Alex recollects. “Instantly the timing was proper—Colt had a ticket to South Africa, and Joe and I had simply confirmed the build-off.”
Stoos Customs took a 1981 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead that had seen higher days and tore it right down to its bones. In the long run, all that remained of the donor bike was the engine instances and elements of the body.
The concept was to construct one thing aggressive, but rideable. The body was massaged into avenue tracker proportions and propped up on Öhlins suspension, with all-black right-side-up forks from the Swedish firm’s Retro collection driving up entrance. The burly fork yokes and swingarm have been machined in-house.
The Shovelhead stands tall on 19F/18R BST wheels, wrapped in Michelin Commander III Touring tires. Arlen Ness brake calipersmounted on custom-made brackets, deal with stopping duties. “We needed to tie in a little bit of an old-fashioned really feel, so we saved the rear brake setup alongside the strains of a conventional anchor-style mount,” provides Alex.
Stoos additionally fabricated stainless-steel wheel axles and a service for the rear sprocket. A bespoke side-stand retains the Shovelhead upright when parked.
With a contemporary field of Pace and Science goodies in hand, Stoos went to city on the ageing Shovelhead motor. The V-twin was rebuilt with Pace and Science heads, rocker packing containers, and barrels, plus an S&S Cycle oil pump and upgraded cams. The four-speed transmission wasn’t going to chop it, so a five-speed field was put in too.
“We additionally upgraded the rocker arms to roller-style rockers, and the oiling is now inner, like an Evo,” says Alex. “We mainly turned it into an Evolution motor on the within, with the seems of a Shovelhead on the surface.”
The CNC-machined consumption is one other Pace and Science half, the carb is from S&S Cycle, and the air cleaner housing is a {custom} addition. The left-hand facet of the engine sports activities a monstrous open major from Belt Drives, LTD., adorned with a Stoos-branded cowl.
Whereas the Stoos crew was neck deep within the engine, Texan {custom} bike builder Colt Wrangler lent his fabrication abilities to the undertaking. Working from the Stoos workshop throughout his South African sabbatical, he hammered out the Shovelhead’s waspish aluminum bodywork.
These aware of Colt’s work will acknowledge his signature fashion. The metalwork seems natural from some angles and sculpted from others, with a slim taper within the center. Painted in alternating matte and gloss black finishes, the bodywork includes a flush-mounted fuel cap, upholstery by Lifeless Crow, and a pair of Kellermann LED taillights that sit at the back of the tail.
Tucked away within the junction between the tank and tail is a small cap that gives entry to the oil tank. The tank itself sits beneath the transmission, with the body downtube appearing as an extended filler neck.
The cockpit options stainless-steel tracker bars, fitted with knurled aluminum grips from Arlen Ness, and Efficiency Machine levers. The LED headlight is from Kuryakyn, however the housing is a Stoos half. Adjustable foot management assemblies from Gilles Tooling do obligation decrease down.
The bike at the moment doesn’t have a speedometer, flip alerts, or area to mount a license plate—however Alex plans so as to add these as and after they’re wanted. What it does have is an unapologetic stainless-steel exhaust system that guarantees to upset your neighbors.
Stoos Customs’ Harley Shovelhead avenue tracker defies the conventions of classic Harley customization. This isn’t your grandfather’s Shovel—like South Africa’s champions, it’s a fierce competitor able to throw down.
Your transfer, Joe.
Stoos Customs | Instagram | Pictures by West Reyneke
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