Based in 1958, S&S Cycle is without doubt one of the most revered names in American V-twin efficiency. From their carburetors and iconic teardrop air cleaners to their exhausts, engine components, and full drop-in motors, their stuff is in every single place. However their ardour for the scene goes past simply their manufacturing pursuits.
Final yr, the corporate invited six American customized motorbike builders to compete within the S&S Cycle Classic Tour. Then they added a Japanese leg, commissioning three craftsmen from the Land of the Rising Solar to construct S&S-powered bikes for the celebrated Yokohama Scorching Rod Customized Present.
Masumi Tsuchino of Infinity Inc. was one of many builders who acquired the decision. Given a alternative of both a Knucklehead, Panhead, or Shovelhead engine from S&S Cycle, Tsuchino-san picked the Knuckle; an engine he had by no means labored with.
“I needed to precise my gratitude to S&S for giving me this chance by constructing a machine that may make them blissful,” he tells us. “From the start, I had the need to create a board tracker—which is our specialty. So the idea of this machine got here from imagining, ‘If S&S had existed within the Nineteen Twenties, what sort of machine would they’ve constructed and raced?’”
Intent on taking this challenge to the subsequent stage, Masumi took the brand-new S&S Cycle KN93 engine that he’d been provided and despatched it straight to Tamamura Motors for an overhaul. The upgraded engine was matched to a six-speed Baker transmission and a pair of S&S Tremendous B carbs. The crew additionally used the chance to shine the circumstances whereas all the things was in items.
Masumi ordered a 1936 Knucklehead reproduction body from V-Twin Manufacturing to host the contemporary engine, however his imaginative and prescient for the challenge referred to as for a number of tweaks. “Of all the real massive twin frames, the Knuckle is probably the most compact,” he explains. “So I needed to create probably the most compact bike that we might ever constructed.”
“Through the use of a girder fork with a 28-degree neck angle, we had been capable of shrink the hole between the entrance tire and the body, and push the wheelbase to its restrict. I additionally tried to make use of components from numerous producers that hadn’t been used earlier than—so I discovered and rebuilt the entrance forks from a British Nineteen Forties Ambassador 250.”
For the wheels, Masumi matched 28” entrance and 26” rear reproduction board observe rims to a pair of drum brake hubs. The entrance makes use of a reproduction of a Ceriani twin drum brake hub, whereas the rear rim is laced to a traditional Harley-style rear sprocket brake unit. The entrance forks had been so slim, although, that Masumi needed to take away some materials from the entrance hub to make it match.
He additionally had the brakes refurbished by S Proud—a store that makes a speciality of “ultra-reconditioning” drum brakes. “By changing the linings with Japanese-made ones and reassembling them, the brakes, whereas old style, nonetheless work nicely,” he tells us.
With the wheels in place and wrapped in classic treads, Masumi noticed extra room for enchancment. The rear tire was a lot narrower than the house between the rear rails, so he rebuilt the right-hand aspect to run nearer to the wheel. Due to the chain and sprocket, the left-hand aspect could not be narrowed, so the rear triangle is asymmetrical—a element hidden by the Knucklehead’s cleverly-placed mufflers.
The exhaust system additionally hides the majority of the Baker transmission, whereas tipping its hat to classic Harley race bikes. “The mix of plated pipes and black silencers was impressed by images from the Nineteen Twenties,” says Masumi, “and the outlet design was impressed by classic aftermarket Knucklehead mufflers.”
With all the things coming collectively, Masumi turned his consideration to the Knucklehead’s bodywork. He fabricated an ultra-slim gas tank that riffs on conventional cut up tank designs, after which embedded a tiny Motogadget speedo within the body tube that runs down the center. A home made field sits underneath the seat, containing each the oil reservoir and the electronics tray.
A reproduction Nineteen Twenties saddle and an abbreviated rear fender full the setup. Handmade handlebars sit up prime, fitted with modified Kuryakyn grips, whereas a triangular headlight from CT Newman reveals the best way.
Most builds of this ilk function foot clutches and hand shifters—however eager eyes will discover an everyday see-saw foot shifter flanking the 2-inch Belt Drives Ltd. major. “I needed a motorbike that was straightforward to function and that I might journey with none worries,” says Masumi.
“In actual fact, within the Thirties and Nineteen Forties, a racing half was added that turned a foot clutch right into a hand clutch. The design of see-saw pedals was impressed by that half.”
New Traditional Portray dealt with the paint job, with conventional signal painter Rio Studio including tasteful particulars. Between the timeless hues and ideal proportions, Infinity’s S&S Cycle Knucklehead just isn’t solely the slimmest machine the store has ever produced, but it surely’s additionally probably the most good-looking board trackers to ever grace these pages.
Infinity Inc. | Facebook | Instagram | Photos by, and with heartfelt gratitude to, Kazuo Matsumoto
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