Huffy Panama Jack/Harley Davidson bike

Here's the latest build that I put together. I started with a Huffy Panama Jack, and ended up with this - really without many modifications. I've seen a few of these on here, but with silver motors and with the woodgrain still on the bike. I wanted to build one where everything really fit together well.

The Harley Davidson lettering was just an afterthought to make everything look finished. It's just vinyl lettering - I could peel it off and put whatever I want there. I'm thrilled with the look of the bike, though. People keep stopping me and asking how old it is.

I like that this bike comes with a sturdy, extendable rear rack. Much nicer than the flimsy bold-on ones.

Here's what I did, besides the normal install stuff:
-Painted all the plastic woodgrain stuff flat black to match the bike
-Painted the tank flat black, also. Once light coat did it, since it was already black.
-Machined out the center of the sprocket to give clearance for dust cap and coaster brake arm
-Added heat shrink tubing to the fender mounts and inside the extending part of the rear rack to reduce vibration. The rack especially vibrated really bad. I mean, really, really bad. I think the rack was louder than the motor until I added the tubing.
-Reinforced the front fender mount - A MUST!
-Cut off the front of the rear fender so the chain could clear. I used to notch the fenders, but I think this looks a lot better.

I'll be selling this bike, like I have all the others I've built. I'm thinking of asking $400. Everybody put in your two cents and let me know what you think of the price. Am I too low? Too high?

bigger pics

Very nice Foeller, I like it

I just did a build on a panama jack this week and I am having a problem with the chain rubbing the tire. I saw your build and was wondering if you had similar problems?

furey said:

I just did a build on a panama jack this week and I am having a problem with the chain rubbing the tire. I saw your build and was wondering if you had similar problems?

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No, I didn't. These are always close, but mine is fine. My sprocket has the teeth offset a little bit, and I installed it with them offset toward the tire. One thing I normally do is angle the front of the wheel slightly to the right to give the chain a little more clearance. It doesn't seem to affect the way the bike rides at all.

i really like the blacked out panels.
same bike i've got, but that little extra touch made a world of difference...
but the HD sticker might be a bit much...

Looks great! I like the trimmed rear fender. What did you do to reinforce the front fender?

Black zip-ties and a black front engine mount would add the finishing touch...

Nice looking ride ...I look at that bike every time I'm at wally-world
Cheers

Three-Wire said:

Looks great! I like the trimmed rear fender. What did you do to reinforce the front fender?

Black zip-ties and a black front engine mount would add the finishing touch...

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I will switch out the zip ties for black ones - just didn't have time to run down to the hardware store.

There is a ton of information here on the forum about reinforcing the front fender. It's pretty important, since the mounts tend to break, the fender wraps around the spokes, and you go over the handlebars. Not my idea of fun. I just used a little 90 degree corner bracket from the hardware store. I drilled out one hole in my new bracket a little to make it fit, and actually just doubled it up with half of the original bracket, which I left in place. The original bracket was light enough that I could see it cracking easily eventually. The new one is heavy, and even if the original bracket breaks, the new one will still hold up the fender.