The bike was for sale as a rolling chassis for 6k so, I jumped on the opportunity because I knew the guy. But at the time of the sale, I got it for 4200. I went looking for a bike shop, but not for them to fix it, but so they can tell me how can do it. They recommended Ismael and let me tell you….. For a good while I thought I had a bitchin bike. I would talk about the bike and guys would get excited and surprised in how cheap I got my Panhead for 4200. Yeah! You read it right… A Panhead! When I told Ismael I had a Panhead he was so excited to help me. But only to find out it was an Ironhead. I didn’t know anything about motorcycles, all I knew was that I really wanted one and I GOT ONE!
We put it together and got it running. The bike didn’t look appealing to anyone, just me. I just wanted to ride so I didn’t give a S#T.
I went for a ride by myself and at the red light I started to smell something burning, but not your normal motorcycle smell. The smell was more like fabric burning. I started checking around the front head and around to see if something got stuck there. It was until I began to feel a warm sensation on my right leg. Holy ST! My leg was on fire! My exhaust didn’t have shields and my pants caught on fire giving me a second-degree burn. It burns through my boot too. I was surprised at how fast fake stretching denim catches fire. I circled a couple of times before I went home and dealt with the pain.
On my first run on our way to Venice Beach, I rode a bit slow, but the guys I was riding with were speeding and breaking demons! Man! Back then I was making big rig turns. I wasn’t used to my bike or being on a bike. They made a quick right turn into the gas station. I panicked when I saw them so, I tried to turn quickly and didn’t see the “small” garden on their sidewalk. I squeezed the front brake; not realizing the puddle of water….Well…. I went flying off my bike sliding on my stomach into the gas station like I had made a homerun and got to the homebase SAFE! I jumped up and ran to look for my bike to see if I was ok…..It was ok! Deep sigh. I checked myself after and I was too. We continued to our destination when I began to feel my left (clutch) hand stiffing up. It swelled like I had been stung by a wasp! So I wrapped it with hand rag and continued riding. I wasn’t broken and it did hurt allot. So many things has happened….
Rear wheel LOCKED on a downhill because the chain got stuck. Bike turned completely off in the middle of the Freeway during heavy traffic. Ran out of gas on the freeway. The oil line broke on the way to Laughlin. And I was covered in gasoline because the gas cap didn’t work. I got electrocuted on the freeway because I tried to push the coil cable back inside, while I was still riding because it was making popping noises and shooting flames of the exhaust. With all these adventures, it would only take a few minutes to fix and I still rode my motorcycle soon after and continued towards my destination. Honestly, I do get tired, but I really do mind as long as I have my Harley by my side.
Looking forward to more!
A very big thanks to Ismael Ruan from 2PistonPsycles.
