A client in France left the door wide open for Walt Siegl when he asked the New Hampshire-based craftsman to build him “a Harley.” Over three years, Siegl turned a 1952 Harley-Davidson Panhead bobber into a masterpiece.
While he’s best known for his high-end, Kevlar-clad Italian exotics, Siegl has a fondness for hot rod bikes of the 30s and 40s—and a particular soft-spot for Panheads. “There’s something about the small cylinder heads and castings,” he says. “The design speaks to me.”
The fact that this particular Harley would be a daily-ridden émigré in France meant Siegl wanted to have full confidence in the bike before shipping it across the Atlantic. He found a solid 52 1,200 cc Panhead engine and sent it to his go-to Harley mechanic, Andrew Rosa of Rosa Cycles in Long Island, New York.…