1970 California Custom Chopper Motorcycle Gets Our Vote - 3-Page Vintage Article

Description

1970 California Custom Chopper Motorcycle Gets Our Vote - 3-Page Vintage Article
Original, vintage magazine article.
Page Size: Approx. 8" x 11" (21 cm x 28 cm) each page
Condition: Good
It's really funny how things happen —
sometimes you can scour the bike
shows, custom car shows, motorcycle
shops, you name it, in an effort to come
up with new and fresh motorcycles to
use in this magazine every month, and
then what happens? Somebody comes
along and drops a plum like this one
right in your lap. And that's exactly how
it happened.
Gordon Robinson rode (yes, rode) this
beautiful bike down to San Diego from
Hanford, California, a distance of several
hundred miles, and on his way back he
stopped in at our offices to see whether
or not we possibly might be interested
in taking some pictures. Would we? It
was like asking a drowning man if he
wanted a life preserver.
The incredible part was that Gordon
had ridden the bike and not hauled it in
the back of a truck. There wasn't a spot
of dirt, grease or oil anywhere on the
machine. When asked how he got the
bike so oil-tight, the answer was quite
simple Every time he found a leak he
would take the engine apart and fix it
until it stopped leaking. It's a rather
simple remedy, but one that takes many
hours and much devotion. The whole
motorcycle is put together exactly the
way the engine is. It is one of the few
motorcycles we have ever seen where it
was impossible to find even one flaw. It
was absolutely incredible.
At first glance, it is fairly contempo-
rary, but closer examination will reveal
many small interesting and distinctive
touches What is even more unusual is
that Gordon did all of the work himself,
save for a few engine modifications.
Even the frame was hand-built out of
4130 (chrome moly) using a Triumph
steering head and swinging arm bracket.
All of the molding was done with brass
and chrome moly rod. The engine
started out as a TT special of 1963
vintage New camshafts, light pushrods,
a pair of MC forged 1 1 Yi: 1 pistons, plus
the oversized valves and valve springs
were installed by Wilson's Triumph in
Fresno. While this was being done, the
head received a good port job. The
exhaust system also was hand-made
except for the Bates Megaphones.
With the basic frame and engine
modification work completed, Gordon
turned his attention to the small tear-
drop tank. Many hours of hard work,
using steel and brass rod, plus some
fiberglass, produced the attractive fuel
holder seen here. At the same time he
built his own oil tank. One interesting
thing about the oil tank is that there are
tubes running through the tank itself to
provide a path for wires to the coils.
Once all of the metal work was fin-
ished. all metal parts were hand ground
and polished before plating by Mr. Rob-
inson, to help defray the cost, but what
was more important, to give him the
type of finish he was after.
If you're wondering where some of
those neat little trick details came from,
like the gas cap, kick stand, foot rest in
front, and the fender mounting brackets,
they all came from antiques, also the
ornaments on the sissy bar. It just goes...
15793 RL- 16399