Finally got a rear tire today... Quickly built some stuff together today. But.... What else did we do today... I was in Eindhoven city to drop off some bike parts, do a little wrenching, etc, etc... When me and my buddy left town we said, "hey, let's go by Rob van Geffen's place!"... Rob van geffen is one of Holland's best dragracers. He races in the top fuel Harley class and has competed in races all over the world.. Also the World Championships in Australia, where he got 3rd, if I'm not mistaking.. He runs a Harley Davidson shop pretty close to the place where we live and we hadn't been there in a while. When we stopped in front of the shop, we already spotted a bitchin' Panhead bobber in the showroom, so we decided to go take a look inside. That ended up in an almost 2 hour visit, that started in the front of the store and ended up in a little backroom between, broken blower belts, huge Good Year slicks, homemade top fuel cylinders and heads and whatever coolness you can think of... The bike you see in the pic is entirely made by that guy!! Everything!! Frame, motor, bodywork... The whole shabang!! I asked him if he was gonna race in Gainesville in March, but he said not this time.. he rather worked on his airplane.!! He's building an aluminum glider plane which eventually will be powered by a jet starter motor from a Concorde Airplane!! How bitchin' is that... (Evel.. When you come out to Europe, for Mad Fab 4, don't forget to put this guy in it!! He's a true mad fabricator!) In the beginning we were talking about all the Harleys he owns... For example: '65, '66, '67, '68 and '69 Shovelheads... Several HD's and Indians from the 20's and 30's, which he rode all the way to Africa and the North Cape..!!! He also owns one of the original Renzo Pasolini XR 750 race bikes..!! (See pic) We checked out that very bike in the picture down below... Wow!! Getting more to the back of the shop, we ended up with the dragbike... A 2 liter blown Harley top fuel bike... 4.5 G's at the starting line... Over 60 MPH at the 60 ft. timing trap in 0.9 seconds... he has managed to do 220 MPH end speeds on that machine... All built right there in his own shop!! A pretty cool story was when he told us about what happened when he blew the front cylinder off... When the fuel/air mixture explodes in the chamber, there's 30cc's of nitro in there... When it doesn't ignite at one stroke, at the next stroke you'll have 60 cc's of nitro... Due to the compression, this amount will explode by itself... Which makes the cylinder explode and the head come off...!! This automatically results in the top frame tube coming off and the front end breaking off!! How sick is that.. And he told us that this didn't happen only once. Seems that this is common practis in top fuel Harley dragracing! He told us that he wears a kevlar bulletproof vest with titanium plates in it for protection. I can go on and on telling stories about this... I told him I'd drop by one day and make an appointment to do a photoshoot for my website and for whatever magazine I can sell an article about this guy to... really, super, super, cool stories... We just stood still and listened, with our mouths wide open from astonishment!!
Very cool I like the stance. Is the springer stock length or 2 under? Sounds like a cool dude....Danny
Hey Flyin', the 18 incher definitely is the way to go ! I like it a lot and the painted rim looks good too.Really like painted/powdercoated rims.I think about blasting the spokes of my Invader wheel but to keep the chrome on the rim.I believe the wheel will look even better than.Not sure though... Anyway, the 21" with that small drum brake looks good,the fender has the right length,gas tank sits right as well.Can't wait to see it finished ! I saw Rob van Geffen many times here in Germany at the quartermile in Hockenheim,the All American Days at the Nürburgring and at the Atlas Race Days in Ganderkesee.Those top fuel bikes are really hell on wheels.His bike is simply a work of art.Just look at that engine... My favorite "high-tech" top fuel bike is the one from Ulf Nylen.Some years ago he still used a Panhead when all others already had Evos.
It's a stock length springer.... Frenz... We defenitely have to meet up this summer... Is your Pan runnin' when the MOPAR meet is on...? M.
Lookin good like the springer really wanted one for my trump but went a different direction after be jacked around by a guy who builds custom springers and never got the forks. Later Shoe
I really hope so...There isn't "much left" to do on the Pan,BUT I already wanted to ride the bike to the meet last year...Let's stay in contact regarding this. P.S: REALLY like your bike ! Chopper ? Bobber ? I'd simply call it a Hot Rod.Hope to see some pics with a handlebar on.Would be nice.
Frenz... There's this big show in Bottrop on the 28th of May... We might roll out to that one too. We're present at the Show in Antwerp also, including 3 or 4 bikes... We'll be at the Scrapers booth. Then there's the Rockabilly Rumble in Landgraaf, at the end of July... Another event we'll probably attend. Depends all on the weather of course...!! TriumphTerror... I like your bike too... Who was that springer guy... You should've gotten one from Fred's in CA. Those forks rock!!
The forks were to come from Talon Kustoms.The one thing I was lucky about is that I would not pay him ill they were done so this maybe is why I never got them.There was quite a bit of talk about him on the web in that he had takin quite abit of money from people and no parts were ever recieved by them.When I ordered them he did not ask for money he said he would send out in 2 weeks cod.Well that did not happen after about 2 months I gave up. I think my next bike project is gonna be 650 beezer and I may try a springer on it. But before we start that project I got to get the A bomb roadster truck done as it is feeling neglected the last couple of weeks while I finish my bike. Whats your paint gonna be like? Later Shoe
I think my buddy in Vegas told me about the whole Talon deal... I can't really remember... Paint, you say... Well, the frame's gonna be simple, gloss black... My tank is kind of a little secret, but keep an eye out for this guy..:
yes i second the black frame and or a base color that would have matched close to the flake I layed down on the tank and fender.Flake is a bit tricky on the frame and its so thick.My bike has over 22 coats counting base and flake and clear.So what that means is it chips easy,but man it looks cool.This is the first frame I have done in flake we will see how it holds up. Later Shoe
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