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The Quiet Master
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Goldammer Cycle Works
Michael Schulte
02/01/2007
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Photography by Cordero Studios/corderostudios.com
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The unique engine architecture is wrapped in a rolling, single loop
rigid frame, the forward section of which serves as the engine’s oil tank. Both
halves of the rear section contain the traction oil for the blower. Eleven
internal stainless lines pass through the exposed, bicycle-like frame to run
electrical, hydraulic, oil return vent and other vital functions, contributing
to the bike’s immaculate profile.
The sculpted front suspension is an elegant
take on the rigid front ends of historic race bikes, as seen through Goldammer’s
imaginative eye. The clean lines belie the front end’s concealed complexity,
which required over 250 hours to design. Goldammer explains the girder
construction: “It has two leading links holding the fork assembly. The top link
is a rocker that pivots and pushes down on a special hand built shock inside the
neck of the frame. All this is almost completely hidden.”
 Large,
narrow-diameter laced wheels with 21-inch custom rubber up front and a
23-inch in the rear add to the bike’s vintage verisimilitude. “This kind of ties
the look to the past with a slightly sloping, more aggressive stance,” Goldammer
offers, “But, it results in a much lighter steering feel than 23s front and
rear.” After a pause he adds, “It can ride circles around most of the choppers
out there today.” (Click image to enlarge)
Addressing contemporary safety concerns, a discreet, yet
very visible brake light and turn signals run along the trailing edge of the
rear fender with a small 12-volt battery tucked up in the assembly. “Applied art
has to function, and be more or less legal,” Goldammer says with a wry
laugh.
Great art always takes risks and Goldammer certainly threw the dice
with Trouble. “It was a gamble in that it was a huge investment in time, effort
and money to build the engine configuration which was untested,” he says of the
pioneering design. “I didn’t know until the last minute whether it would really
work. There was no putting a V-twin engine in that chassis if it didn’t work.”
As swarms of admirers who have hunkered down and salivated over the bike in
person can attest, it works; they just might not be able to tell you how it
works. Goldammer’s masterful engineering conceals much, leaving a
spare, sinuous profile to the eye. “It’s an exercise in minimalism,” he
declares. “What people find intriguing about the bike is what you don’t see.”
The lean, Machine Age aesthetic is a welcome reaction to what Goldammer
calls the “overfed, unrideable, barges,” cluttering much of the custom scene.
A dirt bike enthusiast, Goldammer champions smaller, fun-over-flash machines, as
he recently displayed during an appearance on Discovery Channel’s Biker
Build-Off.
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