The Golden Pan

I first saw this bike in Daytona back in March at Chopper Time and it blew me away with its clean lines and attention to detail. As usual, I got distracted during the show, and I didn’t get to talk with Hugo Betzweiser the man who holds the paper to this fine chopper. As luck would have it, Chris and Heather marked it as a must-have feature, so I was finally able to get the lowdown from the man himself. As with many people with bikes like this, Hugo’s been riding for a while. He started riding back in 1974 on a ‘69 Triumph Thunderbird. After riding that for a bit, he moved up to a real beast of a bike for his first H-D, a ‘65 XLCH which he totally customized to the trends of that era. Hugo said that although bike was a lot of fun, he sold it to buy an engagement ring for his wife. For the next thirty years was a dedicated family man and husband.

When Betzweiser was ready he picked up a Yamaha V Star to get his feet wet again. After a few years of and a few other bikes he stepped up and got into Harleys again. Hugo will freely admit to having an eBay addiction, so when he found this bike online, he didn’t hesitate to pick it up. Now when I say bike, I’m using that term loosely because Hugo had to tear the bike down completely to correct the previous owner’s mistakes. Fortunately, there was a silver lining, some of the parts like the frame, tank and rear fender that were flawless as they had already painted by Danny “Chawps” Garcia out in Phoenix AZ. The Paughco frame was kept in place, it had a great stance with the stock dimensions. Unfortunately, some other pieces needed some attention like the Mid USA chrome springer; it was mounted incorrectly and needed a total rebuild. The ape hangers also came with the original purchase and Hugo says they are a perfect fit and bend to his riding position, so he left them alone and he swears by the Biltwell grips. The spool front wheel looked good to go except when Hugo went to tighten it down it put the wheel into a bind because someone had removed the wheel spacer. He made the correct one and locked it in place. The motor was a titled 1959 FLH with a cherry set of OEM cases and a cracked set of heads which he replaced with a set of reproductions from V-Twin.

Hugo turned to his engine man, Willie Hershberger, for the full rebuild on the motor and transmission. Willie didn’t hot rod the motor as per Hugo’s specs, so it was basically a stock rebuild except for the S&S rods that came with the motor. He did replace the S&S oil pump with a Sifton from V-Twin because of over oiling. An auto advance distributor was used to upgrade the timing duties. A Super E carb was used along with an air cleaner from Lowbrow Customs and handles acceleration duties just fine. The transmission looked great, so it was freshened up, and a speedometer drive was added for the mini speedometer that’s mounted on the stainless apes. The oil tank came with the bike, and Hugo believes it to be a V-Twin piece as well. He ended up having to remount the rear fender to give it a closer fit to the rear wheel. Hugo didn’t want a primary chain setup, so he ended up using a BDL 1 1/2’ belt drive inside the tin primaries. He also ended up using a set of BDL forward controls after he tried mounting the forwards that came with the original purchase. Hugo said the BDL parts were affordable and fit well. The solo seat is a production La Rosa model that Hugo swears by. The headlight and taillight are both eBay items that Betzweiser ended up using after the previous headlight took a hike while he was out riding. The funky upsweep pipes came with the bike, and as much as Hugo liked the cocktail shaker mufflers, they were interfering with the way the bike ran so he took them off and realized the baffles were inadequate so he replaced them with some longer ones and now it runs like it’s supposed to according to Hugo.

The build time was around 3 to 4 months, and Hugo couldn’t be happier with his Pan. Thanks for sharing it with our readers!!!

- Roadside Marty

The Golden Pan Shovel Tech Sheet

Owner: Hugo Betzwieser City/State: Sebring, Fl Builder: Owner Year: 1959 Model: FLH Value: $20k Time: 4 Months

Engine Year: 1959 Model: FLH Builder: Willie Herschberger Ignition: Auto Advance Point Displacement: 74 Cu In Pistons: Stock Heads: V-Twin Stock Reproduction Carb: S&S Super E Cam: Stock Air Cleaner: S&S Exhaust: Cocktail Shaker Mufflers Primary: BDL Belt Drive

Transmission Year: 1959 Make: Harley-Davidson Shifting: 4 Speed

Frame Year: Rigid Model: Paughco Rake: Stock Stretch:

Forks Builder: Mid Usa Type: Springer Triple Trees: Extension: Stock

Wheels Front Wheel: Black Wheel Size: 21” Tire: Avon 3.00-21 Front Brake: None Rear Wheel: Stock Size: 16” Tire: Shinko Rear Brake: GMA

Paint Painter: Danny “Chawps” Garcia Color: Gold Flame/Pearl White Type: Graphics: Danny “Chawps” Garcia Chroming:

Accessories Bars: Stainless Mini Apes Risers: Cycle Standard Hand Controls: Foot Controls: GMA Gas Tank(S): Alien Egg Axed “Wasp” Oil Tank: V-Twin Stock Type Front Fender: None Rear Fender: Custom Triumph Style Seat: Larosa Headlight: Custom Tail Light: Custom Speedo: Mini Custom Chrome

Photographer: Melissa Shoemaker

Article By: Roadside Marty