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I had just finished building the "Supersport" Sportster to showcase AEE products and we decided to do a Harley 74. We had done a knucklehead, the "Mindbender", and panhead, the "Women’s Pride", so now we decided to do the new Harley shovelhead. After going to a swingarm style frame around 1958, Harley 74's were less popular than the older rigid frame bikes. We wanted to show what could be done with all our new products.
An old Highway Patrol bike was bought and stripped to start the project. The motor was disassembled and sent for chrome plating and I installed a weld-on hardtail section to the original frame, after cleaning off all unnecessary tabs and brackets. As before I had weld-shop foreman Bill Brundage cut off the neck and moved it forward four inches, but this time we moved it up several inches to allow the bike to have a lower profile. This would work better because we were installing a longer 20-inch over-stock springer front end.
I again used a round aluminum oil tank from Dean Moon and added a custom battery box. This time a new double-ribbed rear fender was installed with a short solo style sissy bar. I installed one of our newly produced winged gas tanks and added new chromed exhaust from AEE stock.
A 5"wide x 16" chrome rear wheel was laced and installed, and 2.25"wide x 17" front wheel fit in the new ultra narrow square springer. A short King and Queen seat, by Whitey Morgan, was installed to show off the square molded frame, painted by "Molly" in purples and silver. This bike had lots of chrome accessories. Headlights and bracket were added from stock, and wiring finished.  Sweptback handlebars came from the rear springer tubes for a smooth flow.
With the longer rear hardtail section and the long front end the bike looked great, but also handled well, and the raised raked neck helped keep the lower line. This bike was not really a one-of-a-kind custom bike, but was showing what could be done with all AEE products, and custom paint. As was the case with most AEE bikes, the "Shovelhead" was changed often to show new products.
Finished in September 1970, the "Shovelhead", coupled with our magazine, helped increase business, promote enthusiasm and expand the chopper market, showing what could be done by buying aftermarket parts and building your own personal chopper.
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