Another Italian custom motorcycle won top honors in the Sturgis AMD World Championship Of Bike Building. This one was built in Italy’s northeast region of Veneto (yes, it’s where Venice is located) and brought a huge “Modified Harley-Davidson” 1st place trophy to its builder, Lorenzo “Boccin” from Boccin Custom Cycles.
Via photography I knew this bike since it was debuted in Europe in January of this year at the Italian Motor Expo. In any European bike show where it was displayed, then again in August in Sturgis, this small and simple 46 Knucklehead is always a spectators and media favorite. Proof of the strength of the “new old school” styling movement, currently as strong and popular in Europe & Asia as it is in America.
Knuckle 46 is a perfect representation of a trend that re-emerged from garages around the globe. In this case, an original frame from the WWII era, an Iconic Harley-Davidson engine perfectly rebuilt, a choice of parts, accessories and of styling details both current and nostalgic, brilliant chrome and dazzling metal flake paint.
Lorenzo bought the very poor shape original Harley Knucklehead from an old man in Germany, kept it in his shop a few years until he got a clear vision of the way it should be reborn. At the end of 2011 he had only 3 months to do a complete engine restoration and treatment, to clean the HD frame from its unwanted tabs and welds, to fabricate all the body parts and multiple brackets and accessories, to engrave and chrome many parts to be ready on time in January 2012 for the first important indoor show of the year. If you like retro, you can buy one of the brand new 2013 Hard Candy Harley-Davidson models, or you can rebirth an old Harley. Guess which way I would like you to go. And the most costly is not necessarily the one you think of. What about soul? Boccin Custom Cycles. (photography by Onno Wieringa copyright AMD World Championship)
Beautiful bike. Simple, to the point, clean….just beautiful!
Steve Carr
Lightning Rod Motorcycles
The Harley Knucklehead and the Vincent engines are the best looking engines ever built for motorcycles
THAT is what it is all about! What an awesome bike! Great styling, classic with modern elements, clean execution and nothing looks better than a Knuck!~
OH YES!
Nice work. Is the frame a ’48? I noticed the empty anchor pin boss on the steering head. I think the ’48 frames had the boss (Palmer’s confirms), although the Glide front end didn’t happen until 1949.
There is a fine exhaust system available from Paughco. A (4-piece) exhaust, I believe the part number is 740D, which consists of “stacked level” exhaust pipes (not pointed up, not down, but level at the tips), the flat-pipe (cross-over), and the rear header connector pipe.
The end result is two 2-1/4″ diameter cigar mufflers (smaller diameter than the OE jumbo’s) that are stacked on top of one another with about 4″ of air space between the muffler bodies (where they cover the rear axle plate).
The mufflers for this system are replica Sportster KH mufflers (Dennis Corso Co. [DCC]) – (ask for the Vintage Twin “mello-tone”, more baffle paddles are stamped into the inner sleeve).
What’s not made yet, is a rear muffler(s) support band “mount plate”, that will utilize the holes that are already in the (cast) left rear axle plate and the strap support .
Surely this “rear muffler support plate” can be thought-out before I need to make one for the ’46 knuckle-glide under construction, because I don’t have one yet and the picture I have of Carl Barnes 18″ wheel knuckle-glide is indistinguishable since the brackets in a shadow.
Actually the Paughco part number is 711-D, and it’s a 3-piece, which is just as well,
because getting the correct rear header “Y” pipe can be challenging – depending on who
made your frame. OE or V-Twin, the latter being the wild card.
Outstnding and very, very cool !!!!
Outstanding !!!
( Sorry, sometimes I type too fast for my own good) LOL !!!
Back to basics, step-n-back in time..
Question is, can today’s “biker” also make that transition….. ???
-nicker-
Very nice…simple and sweet. I would really like to see this bike in person.