Toontown Twin
Toontown Twin
CALIFORNIA SPECIALS
Proof that England invented the Fat Boy—wide whitewalls and Caddie taillights strictly optional
THOMAS HARPER, 32, A SOUTHern California graphic designer, is serious about not taking his 1948 Sunbeam S7 too seriously. He says of it, "It's the most cartoon-looking motorcycle I've ever seen."
You're asking, "What's a Sunbeam?" it's a famous old name from England. The company, founded in 1912, endured varying fortunes until 1943, when it was acquired by BSA, which, in spite of the scuffle under way between the forces of good and evil, decreed that there would be an all-new Sunbeam. The S7, a shaft-driven, rubber-mounted, sohc, 487cc inline-Twin, was the result.
“These things were notoriously unreliable, and if they weren’t leaking, it was because they were out of oil,” says Denny Berg, of Time Machine in Huntington Beach (714/841-7788), who is handling the work for Harper. Berg says of the bike, which was found in Iowa, and into which he now has invested about 200 hours of labor, “It’s had a really bad life at the hands of hammer-and-tongs mechanics. It was just kind of wired together when Thomas got it. The bike was all there, but every piece on it was messed up.”
It isn’t any more. But as meticulous as Berg’s reconstruction is, this is no restored classic, thanks to several subtle, and not-so-subtle, custom touches. First, the bike’s roughly sand-cast engine cases now are polished. Second, the wheels, originally steel wearing black paint, now use stainless-steel spokes and Akront aluminum rims supporting fat whitewall tires-the point being, Harper says, to brighten the bike
up and give it a more friendly look. And then there's that final, outrageous touch: taillight lenses poached from a 1959 Cadillac.
Why the Caddie taillight lenses? Harper explains, “We wanted to push the bike toward the fun side, and the Caddie taillights do that.”
Of the result, Harper says, “It’s more of a cartoon than a big, bad, motorcycle. Nobody’s gonna mistake it for a Harley.”
Now all Harper has to do is make sure nobody mistakes him for Roger Rabbit. -Jon F. Thompson
