Flashback: 1972 FLH Shovelhead by Shiny Hammer is a Dazzler

The French do cool things

Samuel Aguiar of Shiny Hammer creates furniture and in between projects he built this 1972 FLH Shovelhead. “The idea was to make a low and narrow chopper with trials-type wheels,” remarked Samuel. With that focus in mind, he took the back of the Shovelhead and modified it to have a slim and straight silhouette. It now sits around two inches lower and an inch and a half narrower. 

Photos courtesy of Bike Exif

See, I told ya

“I was looking for a solution to integrate the rear suspension into the frame,” Samuel explains. “I wanted only the engine to ‘pop’ out of the frame, so I ended up using oleo-pneumatic shocks and a one-off geometry.” For the shocks, there is tech that is used by aircraft in the landing gear that was sourced from an oleo specialist and made by Forunales. 

That's pretty creative

“I had in mind a triangular shape, which would fill the empty space between the engine and the chassis. I wanted around eight liters on this Shovelhead, so I came up with the idea to add another tank under the seat, next to the custom oil tank.” What resulted was a hefty eight liters for the fuel spread across three tanks and 4.2 liters of space for the oil. The three tanks are connected by lines so that they may "communicate as one, and breathe, to be able to work.”

Of course the engine got touched too

To improve throttle response and adding more power, Samuel went and fitted an S&S Super E carb to the engine. There is a custom air filter and split rocker boxes to give a nod to the classic mod that was done on many other Shovelheads years ago. “The inspiration (for the exhaust) was to imagine how the smoke would flow if riding the bike without any exhaust pipes. So the pipes ‘swirl’ out of the heads, and become more and more straight as they head towards the rear of the bike.” 

It really is worth the click

The work on the forks took over 300 hours of research and work in order to bring the narrow design to life. “I wanted it to be narrow, and I especially to integrate the arms inside the fork, and not outside—as it usually is. I went through sketching, measuring, testing with cardboard, 3D modeling, machining, and welding. I wanted the geometry to have less trail, with the wheel moving as vertically as possible. I kept the same wheelbase as stock.”

If the last build is any indication, there might be another bike build from Samuel for another year but after seeing this Shovelhead it'll be worth the wait. To read the full rundown on all the work that was done and to see more pictures, click here. 

>>Join the conversation about this classic 1972 FLH Shovelhead right here in HDForums.com.

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