SNATCH

Featured in Street Chopper, January 1983

It's been quite some time since Tom Summers began running "Lowriders
By Summers" as a full-timeoperation. For several years after the
shop had first opened Tom was working as the service manager at one of the
Twin Cities largest Ford dealerships and running his bike shop in the evenings. As business at the shop began to boom Tom decided to leave the security of his lone time employer and go full on into the custom motorcycle business.
Over the years Tom has created numerous show stoppers designed to
draw attention to his shop' s works. Annually he travels from Minneapolis to
Daytona and back to Sturgis displaying his wares.

The most recent of Summers elaborate machines, "Snatch," pictured
here is without a doubt one of the most radical fours to come along in some
time. Snatch has proved its worth by pulling numerous show victories and one
hell of a lot of attention too Summer's work.

Tom, believe it or not came up with the chassis using the factory Honda unit as a base. To say it was reworked is a bit of an understatement as there is very little of the stocker left. Ross Noard cut the complete front and top section off the frame and refit his own featuring 6" of stretch and 2" drop with an exaggerated goose neck effect. The new neck angle comes out at a total of 500. Ross also lowered the seating area of the frame 3" and relocated the shock mounts.

Atop the new rails Tom chose to mount a Ness Rocket tank for fuel supply. For rear mud protection Tom cut and fit a Lucas ribbed fender. With the surfaces to be painted checked for fit each was removed and prepped for painting. Tom handled all of the molding and then sprayed all pieces in multiple tones of candy blue. The base of blue was followed by art and leaf work by D.J. Ekel and finished with several coats of clear by Tom.

While the paint was being handled many unique accessories were fabricated for this one of a kind custom. Tom had Bob Fetrow at the SB&F shop custom make a set of aluminum trees complete with integral brake line junction. The trees were then anodized to match the paint. Also custom made for the front end were the wishbone bars which were once again made by Bob Fetrow. Both the clamps and trees stabilize a trimmed and plated Honda fork assembly of stock length. Tom decided to go with a 19" rim which was laced to one of Hallcrafts alloy hubs and and hooked to a Hallcraft dual disc set-up. Summers finished off the front end with a fairing of his own design and FuzzBuster radar detector. The front end assembly was hooked to the freshly painted chassis followed by a 3" extended swingarm, 18" wheel with Honda brake and SB&F spring struts.

With the bike now on wheels the extremely detailed engine was set in place. While other pieces had been in the fabrication stages Tom stuffed an
836 cc kit into the '76 engine and backed it with an ARD magneto and Rajay turbo. All of the custom piping for this sanitary installation was handled by Noard. Finishing touches to "Snatch" came with a Kieth Nybo seat, dual Drag headlights mounted to the front engine mounts and a unique front spoiler. Once again the spoiler is the handiwork of Ross Noard and was completely hand fabricated from aluminum sheet. Look closelly and you'll see the intricate engraving which completely covers the spoiler and details other components throughout the bike. All of this fine hand etching was applied by Jeramy Potts in Denver.

While "Snatch" is hardly an everyday rider, Lowriders by Summers has come up with a piece that has dazzled the show crowds and performed its task of drawing customers into the shop. If you would like further information regarding products and services offered by Summers