Most custom motorcycle builders are pretty handy in other areas of life and work too. The ability to set up a lathe or tune an engine lends itself to many other areas of craftsmanship. And if you?ve got a knack for aesthetics, you can probably also design (and print) a t-shirt.
But one trend that?s caught us by surprise is the number of furniture designers who can also build very classy bikes. One such Renaissance man is Samuel Aguiar of Shiny Hammer, who created the elegant ?72 FLH shovelhead we?re looking at here.

The Frenchman is in good company: Stefano Venier and George Woodman both major in furniture design, and there are probably others we haven?t come across.
We first spoke with Samuel a year ago, when he dazzled us with his streamlined electric projectile ?Hope.? But this time, he?s swung the other way?choosing iconic Milwaukee metal as the base for his latest build.
?The idea was to make a low and narrow chopper with trials-type wheels,? says Samuel. It?s an unorthodox approach, but it looks stunning.
He?s modified the back of the Shovelhead frame to create a slim and straight profile: it?s now about two inches lower and 1.5 inches narrower than when it left the Milwaukee factory in 1972.

?I was looking for a solution to integrate the rear suspension into the frame,? Samuel explains. ?I wanted only the engine to ?pop? out of the frame, so I ended up using oleo-pneumatic shocks and a one-off geometry.?
The shocks use technology more often found on aircraft ...