Given the amount of grey on the bodywork, Tom
was thinking of some detailing to break it up, and
also to draw attention away from a couple of flaws
in the paint on the tank. This was the point that he
discovered the highly-talented Simon ‘Nefarious’
Pollock, perhaps the UK’s best-known pinstriper.
Having told Simon that he wanted to call the bike
‘Anti Hero’, a name inspired by Tom’s skateboarding
background (and the fact that sounds cool), and
mentioning the dodgy bit on the tank, Simon
suggested using aluminium leaf along with some
pinstriping on the tank and rear mudguard. Tom
speaks very highly of Simon, but sadly this was
the only chance that he got to work with him, as
Nefarious suddenly passed away in July.
So, the bike was finished and it looked great, but
Tom didn’t get a chance to revel in the joy of a finished
project, not just yet... The motor had been freshly-
built to a decent standard, but a dodgy oil pump, in
his own words, “had a bit of a shitfit”, resulting in
the top end semi-seizing and totally destroying the
pistons and barrels! As the engine—built around
Delkron cases and with a lot of S&S parts—is of 89
cubic inches capacity (roughly 1460cc), the pistons are
actually the smaller pistons in the S&S range and aren’t particularly easy
to find. With a great deal of help and endless knowledge about building
a V-twin powerplant from Nick Larkin at V-Twin Custom Cycles, Tom
managed to source the parts required for the rebuild.
The end result was, as Tom says “Very cool to ride, good for posing
as well!”, although it was actually sold a few months ago and now lives
with its new owner who has not only won a few shows with it, but also
fitted a 23-inch front wheel. Tom has no regrets in selling it—after all,
the plan was always to build it and then sell it at a small profit—but, like
all his builds, it was built to suit him and his desires, and nothing was
missed out: “It is not an option to cut corners when finishing or building
a bike!” Never a truer word said!“VERY COOL TO RIDE, GOOD
FOR POSING AS WELL!”
http://www.100-biker.co.uk | issue 250 | 100% Biker | 81