When it comes to customizing a bike, some people just add a little chrome here and there, maybe swap out the pipes, and they are good to go. Then there are those who love to tinker with just about every aspect of their ride from tire tip to tire tip. Randie Brookshire, owner of Primal Leathers, falls into the later category, as you can tell from his highly customized '79 Shovel.
While it once was in an FLH frame, Randie and the crew of Wizards Cycle completely tore the bike down and rebuilt it starting with the Shovelhead engine. They freshened up the mill with Wiseco Ppistons, lightened and balanced flywheels, heavy-duty S&S rods, an Andrews B cam, and a rebuilt Morris magneto. Then the engine was placed into a modified rigid Santee frame along with an '80 four-speed tranny with JIMS close ratio gears. Up front a 6-inch over, 41mm Wide Glide frontend with ball-milled lowers was added. Randie got some help on the custom-made triple trees from his father-in-law, the trees were cut from 1-inch steel. For rollers, Randie went with a set of stainless steel 40-spoke wheels, a 21 up front and 16x4.5in the rear. The front was wrapped in an Avon Speedmaster, while the rear sports a 150mm Pirelli.
Dressing the bike came in the form of a fiberglass Ness rear fender mounted backwards over the rear tire; a gold-plated FLH fender tip was added to give it some flare. Five-gallon Flatside tanks were used, however, the front mounts were relocated to the backbone for a cleaner look. The oil tank is spun aluminum and was plated in 24-karat gold, then engraved with a wizard on one side and "Rolling Stones" on the other side. The seat pan and aluminum shroud help hide an air ride unit under the seat. Painting consists of several layers of HOK China Blue with silver flake, topped off with some delicate pinstriping. Capping off the build is one of the most unusual seats we've seen yet, but shows Randie's appreciation of the Rolling Stones. It's the iconic tongue and lips design created by artist John Pasche for the band back in 1971.