Hailing from Marietta, GA, Hank Young is a man with few limitations-well, at least when it comes to anything involving metal, wheels, and motors. Besides his talents as a hot rod and custom bike builder, he's one of the most affable men in the motorcycle industry-always approachable with his trademark smile and Southern drawl. We don't know if that's what Southern hospitality is all about, but it's welcomed and appreciated. There are certainly many out there with lesser skills and bigger attitudes.
Hank's been around metal for as long as he can remember, since his dad was an aerospace machinist by trade. In fact, his grandfather was also a metal man, so maybe the skills are in Hank's genes. Working in his dad's basement machine shop, Hank taught himself how to weld when he was eight years old. By the time he was 10, he was an expert welder, and the path was laid, so to speak. One of his first "real" jobs was restoring old Ford street rods. Many years of hard work garnered Hank a large national following for his four-wheeled creations. At that point, motorcycles were just Hank's hobby. In the early '90s he built custom Indians, knuckles, pans, and shovels for himself, his son Taylor, and his dad Lewis. Fifteen or so years ago, Hank turned his motorcycle hobby into a full-time gig.
One of Hank's building codes is making as much of the bike by hand as possible while having it still remain functional. You will rarely find off-the-shelf bolt-on parts on his bikes, as he prefers to shape, cut, and weld by hand. This pride in workmanship can be seen in every Hank Young creation, and you have to look no further than the welds. He never uses any molding to clean up his welds. They're visible for the world to see, and they're beautiful. This frame is no different, as Hank TIG-welded together all the steel bits to make this sleek rigid. The downtube and the two backbone sections started out as square stock that was machined to resemble an I-beam. Besides the obvious aesthetics of this arrangement, the setup serves as the anchor point for the unique gas tank that is bolted to the threaded top tubes.
The two-piece fuel tank was made possible with his father's help. Its two halves were made from cast aluminum that started life as pieces of wood. Yes, wood! Lewis formed the wood into the shape of the tank, which was then taken to a metal foundry to have a sand-cast form made from the carved wood. Molten aluminum was poured into the molds, and the final product was machined to the form you see here. The two halves of the tank were bolted directly to the frame, with gaskets in between to keep the gas contained. Aside from the prominent gas tank, the only other sheetmetal is the combination oil tank/rear fender. The two actually started out as separate pieces. The oil bag's bottom is the top of the fender, with the two being welded together after they were made. The shape and location of the oil tank is reminiscent of the back of a Sprint Car.