No Skool

Story by Glenn Roberts// Photos by Glenn Roberts
July 19 2010

Angelo DeAngelis entered into the ring of motorcycle racing motocross and dirt track at the tender age of five years old. Since then, he has not been able to get his fill of motorcycles. He has modified a few bikes over the years, including the very versatile Yamaha XS650 Special that he built into a street tracker. “That was my only free bike that cost me $5500,” he said with a chuckle, regarding the money he put into finishing the project.

His career in metalwork has taken him from a job as a welder/fitter to that of sheet metal technician when he entered the heating/AC industry.

Angelo used to have a Sportster that he liked. It was great for short quick trips but not much good for taking his wife for a ride, so he bought a Street Glide. Although that bike fit the bill nicely, he missed the agility of the Sportster. This fact helped in his decision to build a ground-up custom.

Because of his metal-fabricating abilities, he was looking for a bare frame devoid of any mounts, brackets or tabs. This way, he could truly make the bike fit his body and riding position. Luckily for Angelo, a friend, veteran builder and go-to guy for advice, Dave Germaine, just happened to have the goods sitting in his garage. He was keeping it for a future build, but decided to help Angelo out and sell him the frame.

Angelo admits that his inspiration for this garage build was the hot rods of days gone by—a ’39 Ford was mentioned once in the conversation. Something about those cars that stood out in Angelo’s mind was how the headers would gather into a single large, angled megaphone muffler, creating the car’s focal point. In keeping with that thinking, he said the look of the bike began with the muffler and the rest was sort of built around it. Angelo bought a 113ci Ultima engine to attach the SuperTrapp muffler to, and in an attempt to even out the other side, he used an open belt primary.

To keep the clean hot-rod appearance, Angelo wanted the homemade handlebars to be uncluttered; instead of having clutch and brake levers, he decided to mount those controls elsewhere. The front brake is controlled with the back brake via the rear-brake foot pedal, while the clutch is controlled with a left-side foot pedal – the shifter is hand-operated. The unique EFM centrifugal clutch negates the need to always keep the clutch pedal engaged when at a stoplight, and engages the clutch plates when the engine is revved to around 1100 rpm. He still uses clutch to shift up and down, but provided he doesn’t rev it up when stopped, there is no need to find neutral or to keep the clutch depressed when stopped. This is the main reason that the neutral light sits up high on the headlight pot so it’s easy to see. “You don’t want to rev it up by accident when it’s in gear,” Angelo warned.

Also in keeping with the clean, uncluttered appearance, the headlight pot has a small toggle switch for high beam, and beside the small neutral light are oil and high-beam lights. The only remaining switches are on the handlebar’s left side – a kill switch and the horn button, and the internally run throttle cable, which exits close to the handlebar riser.

Angelo felt a huge amount of pure satisfaction when he finished his bike; however, he may wish for the fuel mileage from his previous Sportster. That peanut tank and big-bore engine doesn’t do much for travelling any distance. Angelo figures he gets about 13 mpg, or more accurately, 40.8 km per tank. He thinks it is running a bit rich, so when the carb is fine-tuned, that number might improve.

Now, if anyone has a flat black ’39 Ford hot rod to accompany this bike in a photo shoot, Angelo can start now to find a good location to shoot the pictures – as long as he can also plot out gas-station stops along the way.

 

Owner: Angelo DeAngelis
Make: Maximum Motorcycles
Model: Bobber
Builder: Owner
Time to Build: 8 Months
Name of Bike: No Skool

Engine
Year: 2009
Builder: Ultima
Displacement: 113 C.I.
Cases: Ultima
Heads: Ultima
Lower End: Ultima
Carburetor: Mikuni 45mm
Air Cleaner: Ultima
Exhaust: Owner

Transmission
Year: 2009
Builder: Ultima
Type: 6 speed Left side drive
Case: Ultima
Clutch: EFI Auto Clutch
Primary Drive: Ultima 2” old school open belt drive

Frame
Year: 2009
Builder: Maximum Motorcycle
Type: Bobber
Rake: 30 Degrees
Shocks: Hard Tail

Front End
Year: 2009
Builder: DNA
Type: Springer 4” under
Triple Trees: DNA
Painting: Chase Auto Body & Restoration, UCA Branding newimages (Teresa Vincent) MC Laser Werks (Powder Coating)

Wheels
Front Size:
Builder/Manufacturer: DNA 60 spoke 2.75”
Tire Make and size: Avon Venom, 21 x 2.75
Rear Size:
Builder/Manufacturer: DNA 60 spoke 18 x 5.5”
Tire Make and size: Avon Venom 18 x 200mm

Essentials
Gas Tank: Harley-Davidson Sportster (Peanut)
Oil Tank: “Bomb” Owner
Fenders: Rear, Maximum Metal Works/Owner
Seat: Red Tail Leather, California
Handlebars: Owner
Headlight: Custom Chrome/eBay/Owner
Taillight: Reproduction 34 Ford

Additional Mentions

All brackets hand fabricated one-off, head light mount, oil tank mounts, fender mounts, hand shifter foot pegs/mounts (brake and foot clutch H.D. V-Rod ). Oil filter relocate from V-8 hot rod (speed Shop). Exhaust hand fabricated to mimic old Hot Rod cars, c/w heat wrap. Internal throttle, breaks are run off of one foot actuator (no hand controls). P.M. Chopper front caliper, Excile “Sprotor” rear brake system, Garage Leathers Saddle Bag.

Special thanks to my friend Dave Germaine for all his patience, professional guidance, and his many hours of help with final assemble. Without Dave’s help this build would have taken two years.

Also special thanks to my 76 year old uncle for all his help from his hobby machine shop, and of course his skills.

Also to my friends at Barrie Harley-Davidson, truly the best group of people of any dealership.

Also For the great pride and care taken by Bruce at MC Laser Werks for his extra care taken with the powder coating.

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