Don T Call It A Comeback Asterisk S Award Winning Harley Shovelhead

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In Egyptian mythology, Bennu is an ancient deity associated with creation and rebirth. Depicted as a bird, it is believed that he may have been the original inspiration for the legend of the phoenix—which is exactly why the owner of this enchanting 1978 Harley-Davidson Shovelhead named it after him.
Even though the donor bike was almost a half-century old, this story of rebirth has less to do with the bike’s restoration, and more to do with the man behind it. It comes from Hideki Hoshikawa, founder of the Japanese custom shop Asterisk Custom Works. And it’s the first time in six years that he and his team have attempted a build of this scale.

Hoshikawa-san’s last ground-up vintage Harley was an equally majestic hardtail, nicknamed Jenny Lind, which debuted at that year’s Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show. “At the time, I put all the ideas and techniques I thought I had into producing it—and then I burned out,” he tells us.
“Since then, I’ve built a number of light H-D customs, but they weren’t show-ready bikes. At the time, I was also really into flat trackers, so I only exhibited flat track-style bikes at shows.”

The seed for Bennu was planted when a customer saw the Jenny Lind Harley at Asterisk’s workshop and asked if he could commission a bike in the same vein. “At the time, we weren’t thinking of exhibiting it at the Hot Rod Custom Show,” says Hideki. “I was thinking of just copying what I had done in the past, as a Jenny Lind revival.”
After six months of working on the Shovelhead within those constraints, Hideki started getting excited about the possibility of returning to the HRCS with another all-out Harley. With the owner’s blessing, the plans were torn up as the project took on a life of its own.

It was agreed that key details from Jenny Lind would be carried over, but the overall vision for the build was open for discussion. “I was inspired by the good old American heyday, the 1950s, when H-D’s Panheads were in their prime. At the time, H-D only had the FL in its line-up—so I thought, what if the FX had existed then?”
“Narrow front, sporty style. A bike with the sort of style that, if you looked at old-era H-D catalogs, you would see it listed there. A bike with the cohesiveness and beauty of a stock bike, rather than a custom bike.”

Asterisk specifically picked a 1978 Shovelhead for the project, because the client had requested a model year that matched his birth year. But very little of the donor bike remains.
Asterisk’s first big job was to convert the double down tube frame into a single down tube design. “It would have been easier to build a frame from scratch using an aftermarket single down tube steering head,” says Hideki, “but I wanted to stick to the stock look. The theme of the frame was as if H-D had built a stock single down tube frame back in the day.”

Hideki cut off the original downtubes, fabricated a new single tube to take their place, and added reinforcements in key spots. Next, the OEM steering neck was heavily modified to match the single down tube design, while also maintaining a pseudo-factory vibe. “I thought the shape would add to the elegance of the 1950s, which is when I presumed this bike would have existed,” he adds.
The original frame backbone remains, but the tail end is all new. Hideki trimmed the stock frame, welded on an aftermarket hardtail kit, and modified the axle plates to accommodate the rear brake.

The front end wears a set of vintage-style leaf spring forks from W&W Cycles. Wedged into them is a 22” wheel, featuring a clincher-style rim and a mini drum brake hub from KustomTech. The 19” rear wheel uses a similar combination, with a larger KustomTech hydraulic drum brake hub adding stopping power (and panache, thanks to its contrasting chrome and brass finishes).
Tucked into the chassis is a complete 93 ci Shovelhead engine from S&S Cycle in the USA, with custom rocker covers to give it a more classic look. Using a new engine wasn’t part of the plan—but once Hideki had the donor bike in hand, he realized that its powerplant had been heavily modified for racing, making it an impractical choice for the client’s needs.

The engine is matched to an S&S Cycle Super E carb, fed by a velocity stack. The exhaust system is a work of art; twin headers snake around the left side of the motor, merging into a flared handmade muffler that gracefully defies convention. Hideki wanted the headers to fit as snugly as possible, so he milled some material out of one of the cylinders.
The Shovelhead’s elegant bodywork sports numerous sublime details. The split fuel tanks started out as a pair of regular FX-model units, but the left tank was cut and shut vertically to hold oil up top, and fuel below.

The right-hand side reservoir is adorned with a single stainless steel strip and an Asterisk tank badge, while the twin left-hand side tanks each have their own trim. Matching the stainless steel details to the steel bodywork was hard, since the two metals expand at different rates when heated. Hideki simply kept at it until the fit and finish were flawless.
A handmade aluminum ‘dashboard’ sits atop the split tanks, hosting the ignition barrel and a Motogadget Motoscope Tiny Speedster speedo. Perched further back is a bobbed saddle, upholstered by Jimmy Dope. A modified front fender finishes off the rear end of the bike.

The tank’s stainless steel details are echoed in the rear fender stays, and in a pair of adornments that grace the handmade handlebars. The cockpit is as minimal as it gets, featuring an internal throttle, a custom front brake lever, and a couple of integrated push buttons. Gear changes are handled by the bike’s hand shifter; an ornate piece that sits adjacent to the tank.
A Crime Scene Choppers headlight points the way, while a small taillight sits on a side-mounted license plate bracket, located just behind the open primary.

Bennu is finished in a deep, glossy blue livery, laid down by Yossy (paint) and M&K Custom Signs (pin-striping). Thoughtful accents abound—like the innumerable polished and brass accents, the matching pin-stripe details on the fork legs, and the matching teal hue on the yokes, steering neck, and axle plates.
Asterisk buttoned the Shovelhead up in time for last year’s HRCS, returning to the show with their first competitive custom Harley in six years. And to make this comeback story even sweeter, they came home with the coveted ‘Best of Show’ award.
Asterisk Custom Works | Instagram | Images by Kouki ‘Uribou’ Kato | With thanks to Tadashi Kono



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