Future Past | 2010 CBD Boardtracker

The Brouhard Boardtracker
From the September, 2010 issue of Hot Bike
By Jeff G. Holt
Photography by Mike Chase

Carl Brouhard's name is synonymous with style. Whether it be at the Bonneville Salt Flats on the world's fasted bagger, aboard a twin-turbo pro street chopper, or riding this here nuevo boardtracker, his design essence wreaks biker panache.

On his latest build Carl wanted to do something different, so he reached into his cranial bag of tricks and went back to the roaring '20s when motordomes or "board tracks" ruled the racing roost.

Basing his design on the old sporting Harleys and Indians of the past, Carl started with an 8-ball manufacturing rigid frame that had 34 degrees of rake and 2 inches of stretch to the front. Also up front is a modified H-D springer that Carl added a custom-made friction shock to dampen the fork and aid to the vintage flare of the bike. We can agree that the pairing of this frame and fork really solidifies the turn-of-the-century boardtrack feel.

Though the frame and springer do look like a blast from the past, it is the sheetmetal that really cements the bike's look. Both the one-off custom-fabbed gas tank and rear fender/fender-mount were commissioned via Fat Katz just for this bike. Though the oil tank cannot be seen, it is an 8-ball Manufacturing unit that is slyly hidden under the transmission.

Accompanying the "future retro" feel of the bike was a set of Crime Scene Choppers head and taillights. Carl also decked out the boardtracker with a ton Battistini's stylish products. The dual 23-inch wheels, grips, pegs as well as hand and foot controls are all from the Battistini catalog. To stop those huge 23-inch wheels, a set of Hawg Halters calipers were mated to a set of Custom Chrome rotors.

Powering the bike is a fully-polished 127ci Ultima motor with a Mikuni 48mm carburetor topped off with a Crime Scene Choppers air cleaner. Exiting the spent gasses and shattering windows for a square mile is a set of West Coast Choppers pipes. The engine is backed by a True Shift six-speed Softail transmission fed by an Ultima 2-inch belt drive.

Carl thought long and hard about just what the paint scheme was to be and he hit it out of the park with the combination of smoke pearl and ruby red. Lending a hand was Jim Moser who handled the pinstripng and graphics on the tank and fender. Finishing off the look of the build was a scant single-sprung solo seat that was plated by Mec-Lec and stitched up by Rich Santana.

With help from Linda Brouhard and Bud Price, the bike took a stellar 12 months to build from tip to tail. This bike is part the collection of Mike Maggio who owns four other Brouhard Designs bikes. Mike commissioned this build long before Carl thought of doing a speedster-style bike, but Mike's single request was what started it all. Mike owns an industrial drilling company, so he had only one request of the build, that it possessed lots of machined "lightning" holes in it. After the boardtracker was finally unveiled to Mike, he too saw it as a reflection of his daily life. In fact the only words he could utter were "holy moly." How very fitting indeed.

	A tidy sprung solo seat and... read full caption A tidy sprung solo seat and front friction shock are both Brouhard originals.
	The dual 23-inch wheels lend... read full caption The dual 23-inch wheels lend themselves to the retro feel of the bike.