This was the beginning of his trouble with the Swedish police. They pulled him on his way back to Sweden from Denmark and declared that the bike was unfit to ride due to what they decided was too much trail! They were actually right—Hasse knew 100mm of trail was best and his 20-inch overs were sitting at a rake that went way beyond this, but she looked really cool! Even in Sweden 20-inch overs were not common then and that’s what drove Tolle to develop a working long fork, complete with the correct trail. Famously, Tolle challenged cops to compete on a designated track on their best police bike against him riding his long forked BSA—and he won! (That old BSA still exists by the way.)
Hasse deraked his frame and fitted 12-inch overstock forks—still radical for the time—but the police had the young Dane in their sights and frequently stopped him. But help was on the way when, in around 1981, a new group called SFRO was formed by dedicated bikers who would work with the authorities to help homebuilders get their bikes legal on the road. To date some 20,000 bikes have been registered using this assistance.
Around this time Bosse Jensen painted the bike while Hasse named her ‘Capricious Delight’ which was a reflection of the old Shovel’s unpredictability. As fellow lovers of the Shovel motor we can relate to that, while many with peanut-sized tanks will also appreciate the mileage he has done on the bike with its limited 9-litre capacity tank. It spent ten years in the 1980s and ’90s touring through Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Holland, France and even landed at Harwich to visit Stonehenge and on to the Channel Islands where he likened disembarking the ferry to riding up a wall on the chopper! Caprice was no show pony.
This story is from the Issue 256 edition of 100% Biker.
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This story is from the Issue 256 edition of 100% Biker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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