Phil Hoffman and Black Magic
Phil Hoffman was fresh from boot camp when he fell under the influence of some cool Panhead riders and their chicks at a watering hole. This veteran builder now runs a noisy little shop of wonders in Sandwich, Illinois called Black Magic Customs and was among the very first to be selected as an authorized Lucas Motorcycle Oil Pit Stop. The entrance of Black Magic Customs is a very nice retail store, but the enchantment takes place out back in the shop. Phil loves what he does so much that he does not draw a paycheck. He taught his wife, Lynn, to ride back in 1980. Riding and building Panheads together is what Phil and Lynn do. Jesse James calls Phil the “Panhead freak”. Ya might say Phil favors pans. The secret is that he built this bike in his head hundreds of times in the past 15 years. Here’s rolling proof of the amazing things American bikers can do in a cornfield, 60 miles east of Chicago.
Phil always wanted a Missouri-style de-raked radical scoot and he tells us this is the one everyone said no one could build. Inspired by the works of Dick Allen, Jesse James and Billy Lane, Phil calls it “Kill Thrill.”
It began life back in 1952 when most bikes were rigid by design. Looking to smooth out the ride, Harley-Davidson incorporated a new technology known as the vibration bar. Phil put a modern day twist on the bar by using it as a frame stiffener, and that didn’t make the project easy. Check the way these pipes snake around beneath, through and beyond. It took seven sections of pipe to build the rear exhaust pipe and 13 sections for the front. The heads on Phil’s Pan have a story taken from the early pages of motorcycle drag racing history. George Smith of S & S fame made only 50 sets of these special racing heads and they were designed for dual carburetors, or individual induction. Each cylinder can breathe and live independently of the other since things like torque cones, specialized filtration, or even equal length pipes were not always available in those days. These highly sought after heads are desirable not just because they perform like no others on earth, but because only seven sets are currently accounted for as remaining in existence. S & S Cycle will celebrate their 50th anniversary in June, and Phil says George Smith’s old-school speed charm is still in full effect.
The motor had a cracked case so it was taken to Advanced Cycle Machine in Superior, Wisconsin, where Phil Runser converted the bottom end of the 1952 EL to a ‘58-’64 model Timken ball bearing crank set-up. Bringing something like this roaring back to life is a big part of what makes Phil tick. This stroked-out Panhead breathes through a set of “bird deflector” air intakes, fabricated by Randy Smith of Custom Cycle Engineering, and the ratchet-top 4-speed handshift suicide clutch combination ain’t for beginners.
Roger Eldred is the genius behind the pegs and internal controls. Rotating the left grip pulls a lever actuating the crossover mechanism that pushes a
Performance Machine master cylinder used for a front parking brake. Phil says it takes someone who lives, breathes, eats, sleeps, and dreams bikes 24-7 to come up with shit like this. While Phil is happy with the attention, he is most proud of using all American parts, American sweat, and American heart to breathe new life into an old piece of American history.
Blue Cheese
www.blackmagiccustoms.com |
