Flash in the Pan < EFab < August 2010

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Flash in the Pan
I had never built a swingarm bike when I decided to build the Flash in the Pan, but I was ready to try. I am not usually interested in building “easy” bikes. In other words, bikes that are “socially acceptable” are not really my style. If I pull up to the pump at a gas station and someone says “wow, my dad used to have one like that,” then I failed. That being said, a swingarm chopper is right up my alley. Obviously, too, are the benefits of a swingarm: added control and comfort—not typical chopper attributes but, what the hell, it was different. Besides the swingarm, I had made up a list of things I wanted for this bike. I needed a jacked up tank that held around 3 gallons, a wide glide with no cowl and cowbells, and high pegs. The rest of the bike came to me as it went together. For instance, I’d never understood why the original swingarm frames had such a tiny, wimpy pivot design. In the factory service manual, it actually recommends you use a “fisherman’s scale” to “set the preload” on the bearings! WTF? That had to change. I also studied a variety of late model crotch rockets and dirt bikes, and noticed that all of them had a serious swingarm pivot assembly. I used huge double-row sealed bearings on a hollow shaft, and made the entire swingarm hub area to accept them. Not only was there no more flex, “setting,” or fisherman’s scales, but the swingarm is smooth as ice. That taken care of, I moved on to other problem solving. Whack axle adjusters were taken care of, ugly forward controls… nope, fender struts—gone. The bike turned out just the way I wanted it and it’s very comfortable. The great Robert Pradke applied the paint. The only thing I told him was that I wanted purple—I had never done a bright color like that before.
- Lock Baker

images: stephen berner