Hillbilly Mafia’s Double D Custom Shovelhead Steals the Show
From a boxed-up basketcase to a badass beauty, this is one awesome custom Shovelhead.
For some of us, motorcycles are a hobby. For others, they’re a lifestyle. Luke Atkinson of Parkersburg, West Virginia, definitely falls into the latter category. Now 37, he’s been building custom bikes since he was 19. In 2005, he attended the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. From there he had a career working for two Harley-Davidson dealerships before starting his own shop, Hillbilly Mafia Motorcycle and Hot Rod Services, in 2015.
This bike, a 1981 FLH Shovelhead, is dedicated to the current owner’s uncle, Don Dixon. It originally came to Hillbilly Mafia in a series of boxes, having laid dormant for the past two decades. Not only did Atkinson and his team breathe new life into the old Shovelhead, they completely rebuilt if from the ground up.
That’s not to say those boxes of parts were left unopened. In an interview with his hometown paper, the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, Atkinson says that “Some of the original small parts were incorporated into this build. We felt it necessary to keep them with the bike.”
You wouldn’t know it, looking at the bike. Every detail has been carefully considered, both in terms of function as well as aesthetics. All of the small details fit incredibly well. Even the Harley-Davidson tank badges are custom one-offs.
The style of the bike perfectly combines the old and the new without sacrificing the past. Rust gives way to beautiful metallic caramel paint. S&S internals live inside the original cases. Modified, classic-style fenders by Hillbilly Mafia sit perched atop a pair of Street Glide front wheels. It’s the ideal blend of retro and modern, and is one of the best Shovelhead builds we’ve ever seen.
To cap off the build, the bike, dubbed “Double D,” was entered in the J&P Cycles Ultimate Builder Contest at the Cleveland International Motorcycle Show in Cleveland Ohio, where it finished in the top ten. We can’t think of a better legacy for Uncle Don’s old Shovelhead.
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