Inspired by the choppers seen at The Hook Up show, Hannah Meakin’s 1977 Harley Shovelhead chopper is a vision in cotton candy pink.
Started by a couple of friends who felt that South Wales was in desperate need of a good chopper show, The Hook Up will celebrate its 10th, and final, edition next year. But although its decade-long run is drawing to a close, it’ll always have a special place in Hannah Meakin’s heart.
The inaugural Hook Up show also happened to be the first chopper show that Hannah had ever attended. “I knew, when I saw the bikes there, it was something I had to get involved in,” she says. “Against the advice of basically everyone, I chopped my first bike—a Suzuki Marauder 125—in my friend’s garage, and never looked back.”
Convinced that a hand-built Harley chopper was in her future, Hannah began collecting parts before she even had a suitable donor—starting with a classic Wassell fuel tank. Then, one New Year’s Eve, the stars aligned.
“My partner, James, came bounding out of the loo (where else do you scroll Marketplace and eBay?) and shoved an eBay listing in my face,” Hannah recalls. “The listing was for a big, beautiful, bright orange 1977 Shovelhead, which I called ‘The Tangerine Dream.’ We spent New Year’s Day driving to Telford to pick it up.”
Hannah rode the bike in stock form for a couple of years, mainly to familiarize herself with it and to make sure no problems were lurking under the surface. But customizing it was always on the cards, so she and James eventually stripped it down and kicked the project off.
“I knew I wanted to go for the classic 70s-style chopper,” Hannah explains. “The long front end, 21” front wheel, and tall sissy bar.”
True to the genre, the Shovelhead frame was modified with a weld-on hardtail kit from Craig House in the UK. Stretched 35 mm forks went onto the front, held by the yokes from an Ironhead Sportster.
A 21” hoop was laced to a drum brake hub for the front wheel, with an 18” disc brake wheel at the back. Hannah specced the Shovel with Harley-Davidson Softail rear caliper, a Wagner master cylinder, and Wagner brake lines. The tires are an Avon Speedmaster (front) and an Avon Safety Mileage (rear).
The Shovelhead’s laid-back stance is complemented by a set of mini-ape bars, fitted with stock H-D controls, and grips from Pedro’s Parts. Lower down, Hannah installed Anderson foot pegs on 4” risers that James fabricated. She also simplified the wiring, doing away with the switchgear, speedo, and turn signals.
The sturdy old Shovelhead motor was treated to a CV carb and a new intake from Jicaya Machine Shop. There’s also a four-speed ratchet top transmission, a pair of stunning aftermarket fishtail pipes, and a lever-action starter solenoid.
Moving to the bodywork, Hannah fitted the Wassell fuel tank, a Lowbrow Customs rear fender, and a modified horseshoe-style oil tank. Then she started work on the bike’s key features—its generous seat and sissy bar.
“I had the idea to incorporate a flail into the sissy bar somehow, but I just wasn’t quite sure on how to do it,” Hannah explains. “James and I would put on a record in the evenings, brainstorm, and doodle designs together. I toyed around with the idea of suspending the ball by a chain or just having the ball as a topper, but none of these ideas felt quite right.”
“One evening, I spotted a length of barley twist metal in our workshop that James had used for a sissy bar on his Shovel build the year prior. I thought to myself, ‘That could look like rope for the mace!’. I also took inspiration from those devil tail-style sissy bars for the shape of the barley twist, which James and I bent into the right shape using a bender.”
“The ball itself was a bit of a head-scratcher. I settled on purchasing a hollow metal ball, first planning where the spikes would lay to look right to the eye, before drilling and tapping each hole. I then purchased stainless steel studs, and some threaded bar that would fit the studs and the holes I’d already tapped into the ball. The process was fiddly and long but so, so worth it.”
The entire sissy bar assembly was sent off for chroming to give it a cohesive look, which then left Hannah free to focus on the seat. She started with a cardboard template for the pan, before cutting it out of sheet metal and hammering it into shape over a wooden buck in the shape of the rear fender, so that the whole thing would sit flush. It then went off to Baz Kay in Margate for the extravagant upholstery.
The sissy bar and seat trim might seem like small details to some, but they are key features as far as Hannah’s concerned. The bike is loaded with small, irreverent touches—like its valve caps and custom pushrod collars. And then there’s the cotton candy pink paint job.
“I knew I wanted to go any color other than black,” Hannah says. “There’s something I’ve always loved about the combo of pink and red—it’s like it shouldn’t work, but, for me, it just hits the spot. I also took inspo from artists like Linda at Creepy Gals, who almost exclusively incorporates that color combo in her art.”
“I spent a lot of time with the ladies in the local auto body shop mixing samples of the right shades of pink and red before I finally settled on the right combo. After hours and hours of filling and sanding, and filling and sanding, everything was ready for paint.”
Since this was the first time that either Hannah or James had painted a motorcycle, the couple first practiced on an old Sportster tank while working out of a local company’s spray booth. A pink base coat went onto the bodywork and frame, followed by red flames and silver stripes.
“The silver paint is now a little messed up, as I spilled petrol down it literally the first second I filled the bike,” Hannah adds. “I still haven’t got round to sorting it—and who knows if I ever will at this point, as I’ve been too busy enjoying riding it.”
“After finishing the build, James and I took a trip to the South of France and spent two weeks riding along the Côte d’Azur—which, considering my bike hadn’t been off the ramp long, was a hell of a shakedown ride!”
“I was also lucky enough to win the ‘Punters Pick’ award at the Early Hook Up back in May, which was a full circle moment and something I’m incredibly grateful for. Big thanks to James Bull for encouraging me to show my bike, for the opportunity, and to everyone who voted.”
Hannah would like to thank the ladies at The Panel Shop, for taking the time to ensure I got the exact paint colors I was looking for, Worle Glass & Joinery for letting us use their spray booth, Craig House, S&T Electroplate, Beans Paint and Parts, Baz Kay (B.M.K), Jodi (for being my personal cheerleader at every opportunity), Chris H, everyone whose brains I picked, all of the help, advice and support I’ve received and to James for all the late nights, the problem solving, the endless support and helping me build something to be proud of.
Hannah Meakin Instagram | Images by, and with gratitude to, Del Hickey
