![]() The bike still has a 6-volt electrical system, as it did when new, but it’s solid state, complete with lithium nano-ion battery pack. The transmission’s set up with later-model gears and sealed bearings. Vils fit the oil pump from a 1926 J model, which works better than the adjustable pump that came stock in 1929. There’s a hand pump on the tank and the engine also has a driven oil pump, but with no scavenger pump it’s still a total loss system. “I could tell you the displacement, but I’d have to kill you,” he says, before admitting that it’s been stroked. On the dyno, Vils’ bike makes about 30 horsepower, more than double the original output. Vils also fit his own cam and high-compression Shovelhead pistons. The carb is a Linkert, which was the stock manufacturer, but Vils’ is an M31F1 model that was made in limited quantities and sold only to the Highway Patrol for pursuit vehicles. “I’ve owned this bike 16 years,” he told me. They rode on alternate days, and when it was Vils’ turn, his wife, Irma, rode pillion. ![]() Vils shared his 1929 Harley-Davidson J model with sculptor Jeff Decker. Remember Kenny Roberts’ famous yellow, black and white “chain block” paint scheme? That was Vils’ work. ![]() ![]() He started out as a fabricator and painter for Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, then owned his own custom paint shop in L.A., where he did the paint work for just about every factory race team in the U.S. You may not know the name Mike Vils, but if you’re a biker of a certain age, you’ve seen his work. ![]()
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