Hidemo Style: A 1970s Shovelhead from one of Japan’s best
The Japanese custom scene sets rather than follows trends. Japan’s top builders each have a unique and instantly recognizable style, and the machines they produce are usually hard to pigeonhole.
This 1970 Harley-Davidson FLH Shovelhead from Hideya Togashi of Hide Motorcycle (that’s ‘Hee-day’) illustrates my point beautifully. Togashi-san’s client simply asked him to build a bobber, leaving the rest to the builder’s discretion. A wise move.
Taking loose inspiration from the boardtrackers of the 1930s, he blended together bobber and vintage tracker cues to build what can only be described as a Hidemo special.
Also known as the ‘Hydra-Glide,’ the Harley-Davidson FLH was a tourer with a fairing, panniers and a comically large seat. Little is now left of the original bike, save for its wheels, motor and frame?and none of those have been left untouched.
Hideya edited the frame, although he’s coy about exactly which parts have been changed. Then he narrowed the triples, and grafted on a 41 mm Shovelhead front end. The forks have been modified, and now wear a pair of drilled-out fork covers.
A pair of 13.5? Progressive shocks holds up the rear.
The front wheel rim was re-laced to a mechanical drum brake from a BSA, using a custom spoke set. The rear wheel is original, right down to the OEM sprocket-side hydraulic drum brake. Both ends wear vintage-style Treadwell Waveway tires: 4.00×19″ in front, and 5.00×...
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28-04-2024 08:38 - (
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