American Iron Garage – July-August 2019

ISSUE 419 • GARAGE BUILD • 23

TECH SHEET

Owner ..........................Zak Gallo, Catskill, NY

Builder.....................................Zak Gallo

Year/model......................... 1985 H-D XLH1000

Powdercoater ............................Chris Secor

Painter.....................................Zak Gallo

Colors ..............................Gray and orange

POWERPLANT

Engine .............................1985 H-D Ironhead

Builder.....................................Zak Gallo

Displacement.................................1000cc

Cases..................................Stock, welded

Flywheels ............Stock, with stroke V-twin wheels

Connecting rods ..............................V-twin

Cylinders........................H-D, honed .40”-over

Pistons .................. Weisco 10:1, ceramic-coated

Cams ...................... Andrews Y grind .425”-lift

Valves ................................Black Diamond

Rockers........................................JIMS

Lifters.....................................Hydraulic

Pushrods.................................. S&S Cycle

Carb...............................S&S Cycle Super E

Exhaust.....................Twisted Choppers Hookah

Ignition ...............................Motor Factory

Coils..........................................ACCEL

Wires......................................... ACCEL

Charging system ............................Custom

Oil pump ............ Harley-Davidson remanufactured

Cam cover..............................Stock, cut up

Primary cover.................... Stock, scratched up

Transmission ...............Stock with early Evo gears

Gears............................Andrews/ Evo short

Clutch ......................................Barnett

Final drive................................Two chains

CHASSIS

Frame...................................1985 H-D XLH

Rake.....................................35 degrees

Stretch ..........................................12”

Front forks................................... Showa

Front wheel ...............................21” spoked

Rear wheel..................................16” wide

Rear brake ..................................... GMA

Front tire .......................... Dunlop 90/90-21”

Rear tire .......................... Shinko 60/200-16”

Rear fender ..............................Homemade

Fender struts.............................Homemade

ACCESSORIES

Headlight ...............................Aftermarket

Taillight ............................. Drag Specialties

Fuel tank.......................... Lowbrow Customs

Oil tank .................................Aftermarket

Handlebars..............................Aftermarket

Risers .............................. Drag Specialties

Seat.. Bitter End Old School Choppers dropseat weld on

Pegs...........................Performance Machine

License bracket...................... Drag Specialties

Foot controls.....................Performance Machine

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should probably use something a little
bigger than a Harbor Freight buzz
box,” Zak recalls.
That was when The Moose lum-
bered into Bernie’s garage. There,
Bernie and Zak’s other friend Ray
welded the hardtail to the frame’s halo.
“I didn’t even attempt this because I
didn’t want my bike snapping in half
while cooking down the highway,” ex-
plains Zak. That’s a legitimate reason.
Plus, everything he’d welded until that
point had broken off. Zak originally
thought it was because he sucked, but
it was actually because he used a cheap
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Luckily, the dropseat that Zak
welded hasn’t fallen off despite being
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to jump right into the deep end,” Zak
says, though he basically just jumped
into a kiddie pool since the tail section
“lined up perfectly.” (Zak did, however,
have to weld a bracket for the seat-stay
brake caliper and a self-made plate for
mounting the rear fender and struts.)
He struggled quite a bit more when
searching for compatible parts in gen-
eral. (Zak described it as a nightmare.)
“I shredded a bunch of gears and
splines in my tranny,” he adds.
Zak also shredded his bank ac-
count when looking for an offset drive
sprocket. (Zak either literally purchased
“a hundred different” sprockets or it
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spaced enough to get my chain straight,”
he continues. “And 99 percent of the
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sprocket over the stock piece allowed
him to use the necessary parts off each.
“This thing makes no sense,” Zak says.
He also spaced out the intake mani-
fold and his curved intake so the latter
would work with the carb and veloc-
ity stack. “That thing is like a piece of
artwork to me,” Zak says of the intake.
“When I’m riding, it gets ice cold and
covered in condensation.”
While Zak may like his intake get-
ting icy, he doesn’t feel this way about
where he builds. When winter came,
The Moose plodded over not into
Chris’ spare bedroom, but into Zack’s
living room.

“I was living the high life then,”

Zak says, what with the TV, carpet,

and kitchen being right there within

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next to my couch.”

There, Zak got to work on his mo-

tor. Mikey V at Twin Tech may have

built the heads, but Zak tackled the

bottom end. He might as well have

been tackling the entire New York

Giants’ offensive line though. “The

parts are not all interchangeable, so

it took a lot of guessing and checking

with everything,” he reveals. “I did a lot

of angle grinding to make $#!+ work.”

He’s also done a lot of spray paint-

ing—with a lot more on the way. But,

for now, he’ll stick with his Krylon and

pinstripes, which getting straight “was

a pain.”

And for all The Moose has been

through, it rides “surprisingly awe-

some.” Let’s just hope it stays that way.

The bike hasn’t crashed since becom-

ing The Moose, he told us, before

proceeding to knock on wood.

We’re gonna knock on some wood,

too. Ride safe! GB