Space Is the Place: 1949 Harley-Davidson Panhead Chopper
Wild chopper features a 1949 Panhead engine, and comes straight from Legends Motorcycle Museum.
If you’ve been looking for a proper 1970s-style chopper, this machine might be right up your alley. Personally? The prospect of riding something like this 1949 Harlely Davidson Panhead fills me will cold, gnarly terror. But that’s because I tend to prefer bikes that turn and stop, as well as go, and the wildly extended springer fork, along with the lack of a front brake, make me suspect it’d meet my standards.
The only thing this chopper is lacking —at least in my opinion — to make it a total nightmare to pilot would be a suicide shift. Obviously, your mileage may vary.
That said? I will say it looks boss, and the intimidation factor is part of the whole appeal. Other than the fact that it comes from the collection at the Legends Motorcycle Museum in Utah, there’s not a lot of info on this space-themed machine, but it’s set to cross the block in Las Vegas later this month. It’s part of a collection of 36 bikes that the museum is letting go to free up floor space, and like everything else from the menagerie of motorcycles, there’s no reserve set. You can check out the official Mecum Auctions listing here.
There aren’t a ton of pictures posted on the site, but there are more than enough to get a sense of this beast’s presence. My favorite angle is probably the one from the back — it’s just crazy how skinny this baby is. Seriously, if you parked it perpendicular, you could probably hide it behind a telephone pole! Other than the sound, how slim V-Twin bikes looks when you’re astride them is amazing, and the tight bends of the pull-back bars definitely accentuate that here.
Since my daily driver is a fixed gear bicycle, and I’ve had the misfortune of getting a shoelace caught in the chain? The old-school open primary gives me serious pause, because I’ve managed almost 50 years without managing to lose any appendages — and I’m inclined to break that record just yet. Feel free to punch a hole in my badass card, I guess. It already looks like swiss cheese.
Aside from the fact that it’s running a 1949 Panhead motor, the interstellar paintwork is the defining characteristic here, and it appears to have been done to a high standard. Every inch of the stretched and molded frame has been hit with the airbrush, and while it doesn’t look fresh, everything has held up extraordinarily well in the four decades or so since it was painted. Also, the NASA sticker is a nice touch.
The condition of the paint actually makes me wonder about how much road time this machine saw? Like was it a show pony? Or does it have some miles under its belt? My guess is that small tank would make for plenty of gas stops, but maybe I’m wrong.
The question now is what this super-custom Panhead chopper will fetch when the bidding opens in Sin City. The pedigree of coming out of a museum is certain to help, as does a climate that’s currently valuing originality, and period customs, over restorations. I do think it’d help if there was a little more info about the story behind the bike in the listing. Maybe somebody famous built it or did the paintwork? There must be some cool details we aren’t privy to yet if it wound up on display somewhere.
Given its history at the museum, maybe a member of the forum actually saw it there and remembers some details? If so, hit me up and let me know. Otherwise, I’ll just keep my eyes on the auction, and see if any other details pop up during the bidding…
Photos: Mecum Auctions
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