Barnie Bowman

Name
Barnie Bowman
Instagram Account
@Barnstormerr
City
Sterling
State
Virginia
Country
USA
Bike Year
1946
Bike Motor
Knucklehead

What have you done?
Chassis:
-1950 OEM Wishbone frame with a 25 degree knucklehead neck. Frame was in rough shape when I got it, so a lot of repairs have been done.
-1926-ish Peashooter springer front end. I had to modify this to fit my Wishbone frame, along with a lot of reinforcing to run on a big twin. Grooved front leg every 3″.
-19/21″ high shoulder aluminum wheels w/ stainless spokes that I laced and trued to star hubs.
-5/8″ stainless sissy bar that I made. Grooved every 3″ to match my Peashooter springer front leg.
-Custom split peanut gas tanks with a polished brass center trim piece.
-Custom brass flames on the gas and oil tanks. Polished up!
-Some neat old headlight I found on eBay.

Engine/Trans:
-Freshly built ’46 knucklehead engine.
-Rebuilt transmission.
-Rebuilt Fairbanks-Morse magneto.
-Custom made exhaust.
-Designed and sand casted the Linkert carb cover.

What do you have left to do?|
I need to finish setting up the drivetrain, build a set of foot controls, finish the rear leg of the Peashooter springer, wiring, figuring out a taillight setup, make my own handlebar risers. Still waiting on my actual seat to come in to mount up. Paint, chrome and polish, etc.

Paint will be Deep Fuchsia from a 1998 Nissan 240sx (to stick with my drifting roots) with heavy flake and a black pearl finish. Some parts will be accented with black paint with gold flake.

Any problems so far?
Nothing major, just a lot of failed ideas that ended up in hours lost, which lead to a lot of frustration. Staying motivated and making myself not give up was definitely the biggest challenge for me.

Favorite part of the bike so far?
I tried linking parts together like the grooves on the front end and sissy bar, and the ribs on the carb cover to match the cam cover; details like that make the bike come together in my opinion.

I really like how compact the whole bike is with the small springer and 25 degree rake.

Also the flames…they were a lot of work.

Favorite part of the competition?
Pushing me to be more creative and build the best bike I can.

Shout outs:
To my amazing fiancé, Lauren Linton. She’s been very patient with me while dealing with all of my crap, supports my crazy passions, and roots me on through all of this.

Also to my buddies who have helped along the way. Especially to Gurbinder Kalra, who has been dealing with my shit for months, being my go-to for opinions, and a ton of help on all my dumb ideas. Shout out to Massey Bick who helped me build the engine and hooked me up on good deals for ordering all my parts.