ONE OF THE BEST. EVER

Day dreamin' ...
   

   I had the chance to see this bike in persom a few months ago @ the T Festival held in Bucharest / Romania. My bike was a few bikes away from this beauty...
In fact, ever since I saw it registered online for the show, a few weeks before the show itself, some kind of weird childish happiness flourished inside my little gearhead soul :)

  Maybe I was so pumped to see Viorel Jucu's handbuilt 42 WLA Harley Davidson from other reasons as well... Maybe because just a few weeks ago I had to honor to be present at the ''board track racing shootings'' for the upcoming Harley and the Davidsons movie. Man, how those bikes looked racing on the motodrome in those high tilted corners; the sounds, the smell, the ''thrill'' ... (Can't post pics or vids about that btw, sorry ! But I tell ya, for a few secs, I felt like being in the 10's and 20's at the Sunday's motordrome )
   Or maybe because I am a fan of vintage racing bikes, racing...or bikes; in general hahaha Or maybe because of all the above !

     I'm not a ''groupie'' kinda guy, going to the target and dog hump the man's leg. Instead, I kept my distance during the 2-day show. But I did lurked around the bike like a ninja ! Only after Viorel got his prize (2nd place best of Show) I went and said hi, congrats and shared a few words. Minutes after that I took the photos you see here. Was happy to find a real, down-to-earth guy in Viorel's person, a gearhead, just like me !

     Viorel started with a 45' HD Flathead engine from 1942 and a NOS gearbox. The frame was handbuilt, the beautiful oil tank and several major parts as well. The front end leafer was built after a Basty Bikes blueprint and friction disks were added. Handbuilt low boardtrack style bars. The gas tank comes from ''some hungarian 30's bike. And it fits the bike perfectly ! The suicide shifter is also ''from some 20's bike an old man gave me'' -Viorel says. The holding bracket was a tricky part to build, considering that it had to fit the gear ratios of the bike.
   The WLA primary was decked and chopped for a more visual impact and for loosing weight.
As you can see throught the whole bike there are several parts with drilled holes inside, for the same two reasons.
 The wheels are modded, both 21' front and rear from ''some 80's cross bike'' . The seat comes from an Wanderer Sachs and Viorel took me to school with the Wanderer name over the phone, me never hearing of that name before (heard about Sachs though !)

     It took Viorel six months to build this beauty in his own shed; no special equipment, no high tech power tools or anything like that. Just a man and a vision. Dedication and a lot of work.

      I simply love the bike. How it stands and how it  looks. It has character, it has soul. Plus I love the small little superb art deco-racing touch-ups. Viorel plans to paint the whole bike in the 30's olive HD green. I know it was a hassle to find the correct paint code but finally he got it. That task will be carried out by a talented painter (and a really cool guy I had the pleasure to chat and consider now a friend), Adrian Farkas aka Hacky Aerography .
    In a few weeks the bike will be displayed fully painted  at Sibiu Bike Show.
And that's a/nother good damn reason for me to try and make it there !

 Ps : I left the videos pure and raw just like I took'em because ... just because :) Enjoy !