Cool Candy Sportster Chopper Mixes Motors

Quirky Orbit

If choppers are meant to be far out, then 'Memphis Magnum' is galactic. Ignore for a moment the swooped frame and spaceship paint job, it is the motor that puts this build into orbit. A quirky mix of a Flathead bottom end and an Ironhead top end, the engine is a timepiece from the fringes of the 1970s custom scene.

Photos courtesy of Michael Lichter Photography.

Show Events

Memphis Magnum is a masterful work from accomplished builder Freddie Arnold—formerly of Hickory Flat Hot Rods in Canton, Georgia. Well known for paring machines down to their essentials, his builds have appeared in numerous shows, including the highly-curated Sturgis Buffalo Chip's Motorcycles As Art, What’s the Skinny: Motorcycling Without the Fat, to more populist events like World of Wheels.

Gap Work

The show-stealing, two-part motor consists of a 1969 Ironhead Sportster top end that is firmly bolted to a 1947 Flathead bottom end. Credit for the generational gap engineering goes to Randy Smith, who conjured up the design in 1970. Smith stated in retrospect, “Here was something that nobody had tried, but it looked like it would work, and by gosh it did.”

Surplus Economics

Randy Smith established Custom Cycle Engineering in 1967. He was a unique pioneer in the aftermarket industry, developing some of the first custom parts for Harley-Davidsons. Smith was also an avid Flathead fan and racer. Part of the logic in combining the old with the new was economics. Wartime surplus W-series Flatheads were plentiful and relatively inexpensive, but they were slow. 

Big Proof

Smith's quest was to build a lightweight drag racing bike by combining a WR bottom end with a 900cc overhead valve Ironhead top end. Documented in an undated Big Bike article, Smith is seen holding up his 250-pound machine as proof of concept. Dubbed the '45 Magnum,' after the Flathead's displacement, his one-of-a-kind racer now resides in the Harley-Davidson Museum collection.

Loop Stretch

Channeling similar energy, Arnold choose a parallel path for his Memphis Magnum build. The unique motor resides in a modified, Paughco Single Loop rigid frame, fitted with a set of Paughco Springer forks. Arnold employed the expertise of Hank Young, former owner of Young Choppers & Hot Rods, in Marietta, Georgia to massage the frame and put a nine-inch stretch into the frontend.

Developed Standard

Young also fabricated all the tins for Memphis Magnum. His handmade prism tank flows effortlessly into the goosenecked frame. Arnold then fitted Invader wheels to his build. A chopper standard, the five-spoke wheels were first developed by Frank Gaffney—a  pipeline welder turned Harley-Davidson enthusiast in 1966. The white leather seat was stitched-up by Jordan Dickinson of Union Speed & Style in Osseo, Minnesota.

Niche Engineering

Driving home the Memphis Magnum's uniqueness is a one-off air cleaner that looks right at home on the hybrid build. Bobby Bordeaux of French Kiss Kustoms laid down the pearl and candy paint job to complete the 1970s custom-cool look. Memphis Magnum successfully combines disparate parts, history, and niche engineering, and to paraphrase Randy Smith, “by gosh does it ever.”

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