Full-time tattoo artist and part-time chopper builder Chris Hatton wows with a Harley Shovelhead chopper that includes a home made body and molded bodywork.
Every new yr places the infamous COVID-19 pandemic additional within the rear-view. However whereas it was a darkish time for many, the mundanity of the worldwide lockdown motivated some individuals to discover their creativity. Thus, a brand new kind of {custom} motorbike challenge emerged: the ‘lockdown construct.’
This impossibly skinny Harley Shovelhead chopper was Chris Hatton’s lockdown construct. And though he buttoned it up virtually 5 years in the past, it is nonetheless a knockout.
Primarily based in Risca, Wales, Chris’s upbringing was a combined bag of BMX, motocross, and taking bikes aside within the hope that they’d nonetheless perform after reassembly. A number of accidents finally drove him away from motocross and ignited an curiosity in choppers, alongside an engineering apprenticeship that might construct on the abilities he acquired whereas sustaining his race bikes. However destiny had different plans.
Chris finally deserted the apprenticeship to pursue his different ardour: tattooing. He devoted most of his time to his new studio, Bodily Graffiti in Cardiff, however the want to construct {custom} choppers by no means fairly waned. So he spent his days off working free of charge at Trike Design in close by Caerphilly, the place he made tea, swept the flooring, and absorbed as a lot information as he may.
Earlier than lengthy, Chris had the boldness to start out constructing his personal bikes. Plus, he had Robin Davies at Trike Design and Ian Marshall at Marshall Pace and Customized in Newport on pace dial if he wanted assist. His aspect hustle blossomed—when Chris wasn’t tattooing, he was churning out {custom} builds and elements below the banner of Left Hand Choppers.
Chris had a number of choppers below his belt by the point the pandemic hit, together with a 1967 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead that he’d taken to myriad rallies and exhibits. Unable to run his tattoo store throughout the UK’s lockdown, he appeared on the Shovel and figured he may do higher.
“This challenge was the results of my overactive thoughts,” Chris explains. “I wasn’t proud of the bike in its earlier kind, and after many months procrastinating over what I’d do otherwise if I had the possibility to do all of it once more, I believed ‘fuck it,’ tore the bike aside, and began once more.”
In accordance with our pal and ace photographer Del Hickey, a lot of Chris’s inspiration got here from the Japanese chopper scene. A imaginative and prescient started to type of a thin, tall bike with a bespoke single down tube body, a clear entrance finish, one brake, and minimal controls and wiring. Chris’ lockdown construct was formally underway.
One benefit of beginning with an already-complete motorbike was that Chris had already rebuilt the engine. The early-model generator Shovel motor was outfitted with a Mallory digital ignition, a Cycle Electrical Inc. charging system, and an open belt main drive from Belt Drives, Ltd. The breadbox air cleaner got here from Trident Cycle Provide, and the serpentine chrome steel exhausts have been hand-made by Chris.
With the motor raring to go, Chris started working fabricating a {custom} hardtail body round an Arch Engineering headstock. “I made a single loop body with a number of additional particulars on the neck and down tube, so as to add one thing somewhat totally different to this chopper,” he says. “5” up, 0′ out, and a 24-degree rake made it a tall and brief bike with fairly legit cornering skills.”
For the operating gear, Chris began with 6-inch over forks and yokes from Visionary Cycle Merchandise. He smoothed the yokes and had them chromed earlier than fabricating a set of slim and tall T bars.
Seen squarely from the aspect, the forks and the bars hint a flawless line, from the classic H-D grips on the high to the brakeless entrance hub under. A tiny LED headlight from FnA Customized Cycles floats between the yokes, whereas the cockpit options nothing greater than a throttle, its cable routed neatly by means of a custom-made information welded to the bars.
The Shovelhead’s wheelset is equally properly judged. A 21” Morad rim sits up entrance, laced to a spool hub. The rear wheel makes use of a 19” Morad rim and a hydraulic drum brake hub, hooked as much as a Brembo grasp cylinder that was lifted from a sportbike.
It is a super-sano setup, made extra spectacular by the {custom} foot management setup that Chris put collectively. Mounted excessive and tight, the association encompasses a foot clutch and a heel-operated brake pedal, together with {custom} linkages and Charlie Hagan pegs. A gleaming hand-shifter pokes out from simply above the open main.
With time on his arms, Chris was motivated to push himself on this challenge. So when it got here time so as to add new bodywork to the combo, he pulled out all of the stops.
“I went for a completely molded tank and body,” he tells us. “Utilizing a Wassell gasoline tank, I reduce it up and mounted it across the high tube. Then, on the one-off oil tank, I wrapped it from the seat put up tube across the fender, leaving the cross body brace uncovered. This was the largest headache of the entire construct.”
Additional particulars embrace a curved ridge alongside the highest of the tank, a petite gasoline cap, and a thin seat sporting leather-based and domed studs. “The rear makes use of a Lowbrow ribbed fender that I narrowed by an inch,” Chris provides. “I added a flick on the rear to carry an outdated Lucas twin tail mild [now equipped with LED internals], which was gifted to me by pal, Ian Marshall.”
Making every little thing move seamlessly meant that Chris needed to do a ton of labor below the hood. The oil tank hides the oil filter, plus a sealed tube with wiring routed by means of it. Between that mod and the scratch-built wiring loom, there’s hardly any seen wiring on the bike.
Trying to amp up the Shovelhead’s minimalist vibe with an equally easy paint job, Chris selected to color the body and bodywork in Mercedes-Benz’s Indium Gray Metallic. The mix of the molded bodywork’s stormy hue and the stark traces of the chassis is intoxicating.
Chris is clearly proud of this second iteration of his 1967 Harley Shovelhead—he is had it for a number of years now, and hasn’t modified a factor.
Left Hand Choppers | Chris Hatton Instagram | Pictures by, and with our countless gratitude to, Del Hickey
Chris want to thank Ian Marshall of Marshall Pace and Customized, Robin Davies, Matt Engineering, Lee Carter for the paint, Nick at Celtic Motorhomes for the seat upholstery, and final, however on no account least, an enormous because of my lady Sami for all of the encouragement and help.
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