Статья про кастомный винтажный мотоцикл Скотта и про мастеров «Powerplant Motorcycles», которые его собирали, ценная фотографиями конячки и крупицами инфы из биографии Скотта:
| | | | Creative freedom is a double-edged sword. An unrestrained idea can grow into greatness, like Led Zeppelin, chocolate chip cookies, or the first Star Wars trilogy. Other thoughts, left unchecked, mutate into boy bands, fruit cake, or the second Star Wars trilogy. Luckily, when actor Scott Caan gave Powerplant Choppers the go-ahead to indulge themselves on his next custom bike, he knew they’d give him a Luke Skywalker and not a Jar Jar Binks.
читать дальшеOn second thought, luck didn’t have anything to do with it, though. Scott knew Powerplant owner Yaniv Evan since high school. That, and the Hollywood, California shop built a bike for him previous to this one. Yaniv’s creations are handmade and use genuine classic parts. He puts function slightly ahead of form; above all, it has to be fun to ride. Powerplant’s not concerned with chromed iron. It’s all paint and polish with these guys, with as much done in-house as possible. That’s why Caan gave Yaniv Evan free reign to indulge himself on this one. He liked the first enough that he had no problem giving them creative carte blanche on the sequel.
Powerplant didn’t disappoint him. They spent a year creating a `52 Panhead based on a 1920s/30s racer they had sitting around the shop. The reason it took so long? All the hand crafting. Any parts he can make in-house, Yaniv does. The reason being, he grew up around old hot rods and he comes from the school of Old World craftsmanship. His bikes feature a good deal of brass, be it the pegs or on accents throughout the machine. It’s not all about the trimmings, though. Yaniv’s shop also made the tanks and fenders by hand. We said earlier this ride’s based on an old racer of his but he took a little liberty with the peanut tank. It’s not quite what you’d find on a vintage race bike but it’s definitely classic chopper. Like the racers of old, he ditched the front fender as extra weight.
Yaniv created ninety percent of this bike in his shop and those parts he didn’t make are mostly the original article from back in the day. The shop rebuilt the `52 motor, adding in S&S pistons and cam for extra umph and restored the matching transmission. Insofar as the chassis goes, Powerplant stretched a 56 Harley frame 3 inches out to bring the stance in line with that of the old racer. They then mated it to a47 springer fork set and XX spoke wheels. They kept the tires at a modest 3x21- and 4x18-inch for deep leaning in California’s twisty canyons.
Twelve months after Scott gave Yaniv the green light, he got his finished ride. Evan took the spark of an idea and through his considerable skill, reincarnated some old parts as a new chopper. Sure it took a year, but I’m willing to bet Scott thinks it was worth the wait. |
Mark Masker | May 1, 2017