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evin Deschambeault from Maine had been searching for several years to find a simple, clean, no drama yet timeless styled bike; the kind of motorcycle that would begin a chapter in a book filled with many stories from its riding adventures. Kevin knew he wanted a mild custom vintage Harley-Davidson that had a modern chop but also knew it had to be rideable! Not wanting to settle on just anything, he spent years scouring and hunting until he came across a listing that Caleb at CroCustoms put out on the interweb. The motorbike listed for sale was named
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March ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
Article And Photos By: Josh Elzey ‘FrankenPan.’ FrankenPan was originally built for Born Free 5 back in 2013. After agreeing to a purchase, it was agreed that Caleb could display the bike at various shows until it reached the Brooklyn Invitational some months later. Fall finally came, and it was time to pick up FrankenPan. Kevin grabbed a buddy for the 5-hour drive to the Invitational. There, he finally saw the 1949 FL in person! It was gloss black with a distressed pinstripe from T. Markus. The frame and front end stayed true to the 1949 parts with use of OEM and reproduction parts and handmade risers.
A 21” WMI rim with an early Halcraft mini brake hub and stainless Buchanan spokes wrapped in Avon Speedmaster MKII were used in conjunction with the 16” Harley rear wheel and sectioned radiused rear OEM fender. The stand out parts are the hand engraving on the early Morris Magneto, modified early Cycle Engineering Rocker Covers, Imperial Primary which is modified with a large center rib, handmade rear tank mount, and other parts that were all hand done by Mark Cooper. Tanks were narrowed in the rear while the dash was chopped to sit one inch lower than stock.
