reader rides | jan sallings leaf spring honda cl350 bobber

jan is a member of the bikerMetric wastebook world domination club. when he posted a photo of this bike, i had to know more about it. so here you go, mofos:

he started the bike build in october of 2009 after purchasing the an antique military spotlight on ebay in 2007. the spotlight became the headlight and the beginning of this pretty machine.

the frame was built by jan from 1½” and 1¼” dom tubing using a bender with a set radius die. jan had to mark the tubing on the backbone and downtube of the frame in 1″ increments and keep it aligned as he bent it. this produced a “unique kind of ripple effect” in the tubing that he thinks looks cool.

jan is like me, and likes leaf spring front ends. unfortunately, they’re pricey and he found they were about $2,800 bucks in catalogs. not being a man to compromise, he purchased 1¼” tubing with 3/16″ wall, a leaf spring from an old boat trailer, fired up his lathe and mill, and made his own.

he used the stock honda cl350 wheels and powder coated the spokes and brake backing plates. then jan got some .065″ aluminum sheet, annealed it, and hammered it into a custom fuel tank. it was his first try at making a tank, and he put more hours than he could count into it. he made the electrics box under the seat and the battery box out of the same aluminum sheet metal.

the rear fender is left over from the first harley jan owned, a 1976 superglide, and modified to fit the frame. he assembled the engine from parts he had collected over the years with the only modifications being a balanced crank, a cam chain, and cam chain tensioner from bore tech. the kickstand is a craftsman open end 13/16-19/32 combination wrench he had for 35 years and never used. he asked “who uses open end wrenches unless you just have to, and who ever uses a 19/32?”

the taillight is an antique schwinn bicycle front fender light which jan modified to fit the fender and to accept a dual element bulb. the hand grips were made by a friend he works with who makes ink pens from all kinds of wood. the wood used on these grips is called “purple heart wood,” which turns a dark purple color when heated. the kickstart, brake, and shifter pedals are machined of brass, as is the fuel cap.

it seems it’s “shiny bike week” on bikerMetric but i dig this bike and respect a man who does most everything himself. home made, first time leaf springs? cool.

thanks for all the photos and info, jan. have you ever thought of manufacturing leaf spring front ends for the metric madmen?

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