Custom Knucklehead Chopper Brought Back to Life After 17 Years

By Richard Sachek - June 18, 2024

Famed custom bike builder Billy Lane revisits an old friend: ‘The King of Sleaze’

Fans of The Discovery Channel will recognize custom bike builder extraordinaire Billy Lane from long-ago shows like Biker Build-Off, Monster Garage, and others. Unfortunately, Lane is also well remembered for a 2006 drunk-driving incident that left a fellow motorcyclist dead and landed Lane in prison for several years.

Nowadays, Lane is the man behind the eponymous YouTube Channel Billy Lane. In a recent video, he revisits one of his custom builds: a knucklehead-powered chopper named “King of Sleaze.” That’s presumably a reference to the song of the same name by the glam/punk/metal fusion band Dennis Most & The Instigators.

According to Lane, this stunning chopper was built in the 2006-2007 timeframe. That would have put it after Lane’s collision, but prior to sentencing. Though the bike was commissioned by a friend, presumably that friend never took delivery. Lane rode King of Sleaze to Daytona Bike Week in 2007, after which it was parked permanently. Until now, that is.

Both the frame and engine are over 70 years old

The foundation for the build is an authentic 1947 Harley-Davidson frame wrapped around a 1941 vintage knucklehead engine. For the uninitiated, the knucklehead, which is even earlier than the panhead, earned its nickname from its distinctive-looking rocker covers.

Per Lane, he only paid in the $ 7,000 range for the bike nearly 20 years ago. Plus, he was able to recoup some of that initial investment by selling off original parts that would no longer be required. That list of nixed original parts includes the front end, which was replaced by an Indian-style leaf spring inspired by an article in “Iron Horse” magazine.

Firing up the dormant knucklehead wasn’t too difficult

To bring the beast back to life following a 17-year nap, Lane wisely starts with a fresh battery. Next is an inspection of the fuel tank for any old gas or excessive rust living inside. On King of Sleaze, looking inside the fuel tank is an interesting job. That’s because the raised filler neck faces dead forward. Rather uniquely, it’s nestled right between the handlebars.

With clean gas flowing, it’s time for a newly rebuilt carburetor and some fresh gaskets and o-rings. Notably, some of the o-rings had tears. That can lead to air leaks on the intake side and poor running characteristics. After you’ve got fuel delivery, you need to have spark. Indeed, we can see a fat spark jumping between a removed spark plug and the cylinder head.

Noticeable in the frame during the spark check is an oil cap with a logo from Phil Peterson’s Harley-Davidson in Miami, Florida. That’s a real flashback for your author, who purchased his first Harley at that very dealership back in the late 1990’s. Reminiscing aside, the next step is to remove that familiar oil cap to add some lubricant to the tank, which looks empty. Still, the builder starts off with just a quart, not knowing how much might be already lurking in the crankcase.

Lane confesses that as soon as the old knucklehead fires, he’s going to rip away down the street. So it makes sense that he decides to put the license plate on ahead of time to avoid (another) interaction with the law. As anticipated, King of Sleeze rumbled to life on the seventh attempt at kickstarting.

Lane keeps one part from every bike sold

In closing comments, we learn that the beautifully custom-painted ignition coil burned out on 2007 the journey to Bike Week. Though it cost style points, the only solution was replacing it with a plain black unit. It’s yet unclear whether the revitalized King of Sleaze will remain in Lane’s collection or put up for sale. However, he definitely plans to keep that bespoke, yet dead, ignition coil as a souvenir.