Shovelhead + red'n black paint = LOVE
I fell in love with this chopp ever since I saw the finished tins on Scott's Chemical Candy blog, with it's first paint scheme. After I saw the video of the finished bike, I was hooked. Mainly because this is not a rad project, in proportions sort of speaking. It has a decent rake, not too streched and not too wild. But the bike sits on the ground so cool... it's more than rad. Building a chopp might not be NASA science but nailing that certain perfect ''chopper'' look it's rare. In my eyes, at least.
So I kept coming back replaying ''Rab's Shovel'' video on and on.
A few weeks ago, as I was surfin through Facebook, I came across the second photo posted on top. I felt like f#ck yeah a shovel + blank'n red paint (my favourite combo) ... I had to friend the guy. Seconds after... hmmmm, this bike looks familiar to me... It looks like Rab's Shovel. Scroll, scroll, oh hell yeah; I just friended Mike Rabideau himself. How's that about karma or whatever ?!
The bike has a nice and yet troubled story on itself. The 1976 shovelhead FX Super Glide belonged to his uncle, Mark Rabideau. Who was involved in a weird and tragic bike accident;leaving Mark without his wife and his left leg.
Mike got what was left of the wreck and started working on bringing the bike to life.
Two weeks later, Mike got a phone call from LD Davidson in Ostego, Michigan to see if he was interested in building a bike for Chopperfest. “Perfect timing, I just picked up a shovelhead I can use”.
Mike extended the neck with 2.5 inches and added a weld-on hard tail. ''Modified the hard tail by lowering the seat rails 2.5 inches and slugging extensions to reach the backbone. The goose neck is the most significant part of the frame. It gave the bike the nice low stance that I was looking for. Once the frame was welded, I took the measurements for the springer frontend. I called Chad at Pearson Customs in Minnesota and asked him if he could make a narrow frontend.''
The 13 spoke front wheel is from Craigslist.
''The gas tank was a sporty tank I narrowed the same width as the frontend. I wanted the tank to sit high on the backbone, so I cut the bottom flat with a shallow tunnel, and welded mounting tabs in front and rear of the tank. My favorite part of the tank is the curved top piece I made to give the tank a raised section towards the gas cap. My fender came from Paul over at Bare Knuckle Choppers which I just had to trim to fit.'' Motor mounts, oil filter mount, headlight mount, coil mount, regulator mount, ignition mount, battery box, exhaust pipes and struts all done by Mike as well.
In 2012, the molded and primed tins were sent to Scott over at Chemical Candy Customs to do his magic.
And the finished bike you can admire in these pictures. Although the green paint scheme is/was wonderfull, Mike still felt the need of a change. So he went with a red-black paint. Making Rab's Shovel even cooler in my eyes, in a more badass/darker way. If that makes any sense (...). Casey from Headcase Kustoms in California did the second paint job.
Rab's Shovel with the first paint scheme :
Mike would like to say thanks to : My Uncle Mark, Mom and Jack, Dad and Crystal, Dean Jones, Kevin Klemick, Herman the German, Chopper Steve, Chad Pearson and Scott Hopeker.
Mike Rabideau on Faceb00k
Majik Mike's Blog
Chemical Candy Customs
simply they are the best!!! I bought a stromer ebike from them last year. I live in Irvine therefore I went to the ebike shop at laguna beach at first which is much close my home. but the owner was a jerk. electric bikes
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