April 2008 ROTM

Year: 2005
Model: Road King
Eng size: 88" Twinkie
Transmission(5sp, 6sp etc): 5sp
Pipes: Hooker Fourbidden
Seat: Mustang Daytripper
Wheels: Stock
Accessories: Gimp Hangers, Custom Lowered Front Fender, Custom Made Air Cleaner Cover, Strategically Placed Powder Coating.

And the story:

Following years of being raised around Harley Davidson Motorcycles I, as an adult, made the decision to finally get my own. I purchased a Fatboy thinking this was the bike for me. After only two months I knew this bike was not the bike I had envisioned for myself. Two years later I sold the Fatboy and purchased "The King". I then set out to have the "Baddest Bagger In Town".
At least my interpretation of this. After only having the bike a few months I proceeded to tear in down to the frame, only leaving the engine and tranny. My wife thought I had lost my mind. After all, who tears apart a perfectly running, brand new, 20k motorcycle. Well....me of course. I first made sure the fenders were smoothed out by having the fender lights removed and holes welded and filled. I then lowered the front fender 1.5" for that "low" look. Lowered the rear of the bike 1.5" to help match the look of the front. Sanded the whole bike down, which by the way was a beautiful Black Pearl, and had it painted "Hot Rod" black to help with the look I was going for. When I came across the Four-into-One exhaust, in black of course, I knew that was the exhaust for this bike. The problem was that Hooker only made it for the Softail Models. So I contacted Hooker R&D and spoke with one of their engineers and talked them into sending me a set of the Fourbidden at no charge. In return I would design, build, and AutoCad the bracket for adaption to the touring lineup. A few custom powder coated items and my look was almost complete. (well...sort of....its never really complete). I then set out to find an air cleaner cover that would be the icing on the cake. No such luck. So I took an Evo style air cleaner, powder coated black, and added an aluminum maltese cross to the front of it. Of course the black 16" Gimp Hangers w/ internal wiring just added to this "hot rod" look.

Now for the humorous part of the story. My pops, brother, and myself ride together often. So after making the decision on this build, I ordered all the parts in, custom fabricated what was needed, and had everything ready to go. On a sunny Saturday morning I rode to breakfast with my pops and hung out a local bike shop for awhile. I really wanted to tell him about my upcoming build, but decided to go a different route. After he left that day I headed straight for the garage, with the wife close behind. We proceeded to disassemble the bike. It took about 6 hours. Sunday I separated the parts for paint, powder coat etc. Monday the tins went out for paint. Tue and Wed. I put as much together as I could prior to receiving the tins back. Thursday we got the new Hot Rod painted tank and fenders. Friday was our monthly poker night and I wasnt quite done yet. So not riding, and I still didnt say a word about the build. Late....very late, Friday night I finished the bike. Only 7 days from tear down to paint, powder coat, and complete reassembly. Saturday morning several of us meet at a local breakfast hole. Pops pulls up and gives me this really inquisitive look. He cant quite figure out what is going on. He says "new bike?". I say "no". He says "whos bike is it?". I say "mine". He just cant comprehend how he "just" rode with me only 1 week ago and now the bike is completely different. What a great week. And as for this bike....its going nowhere. It is without a doubt "my bike" and in my opinion....
"the baddest bagger in town".

Hope ya like it.

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Year: 2003
Model: Fatboy (FLSTFI)
Eng size: 98”
Transmission: 5sp Harley tranny, with Heavy duty Zippers trapdoor and backcut by Zippers
Pipes: V&H Propipe HS
Seat: Le Pera Bare Bones
Wheels: Harley Mirror Chrome Disks
Accessories: Well let’s see:
R&R Stage II CNC ported stock heads w/Ferrea/Manley valves
TP compression releases
Crane Thermo-Cool valve springs and Viton seals
Revolution Performance cylinders with CP 10.5 pistons
Cometic .030 Head gasket
Redshift 577 cams with S&S gear drive
Baisley 1.685 roller rockers
Feuling Cam plate, oil pump, and pushrods
HD lifters with S&S limiters
HD crankshaft - balanced and pinned by Darkhorse
(B engine balancers removed)
Timken bearing upgrade
Bandit clutch
USA Racing inline oil pre-filter
HD Heavy Breather intake on Wimmer base plate,
with external breather tube to Doherty Powervent
Marren 5 gm/sec fuel injectors
HD EFI TB and manifold, bored to 49mm by Gerolamy
SERT tuned using Twinscan II+ and track data
Progressive Airtail Suspension
Wild1 560 drag bars with internal wiring
MSD shift light
Diamond Engineering stainless head, intake, exhaust, and brake caliper bolts
HD Speedo/tach combo
HD oil pressure gauge on Russell hose
HD oil temp gauge in oil filler
HD Anniversary Radical Flame paint set
HD nacelle headlight with horn hidden inside
HD chrome front forks
HD braided hoses and cables
HD floating brake rotors with Lyndall Z brake pads
Controls all swapped for HD chrome pieces
Kuryakyn Led brake and turn signals, and halogen driving lights

And the story:
I’m a “new” Harley rider, having bought this Anniversary Fatboy in the fall of 2002 after starting out with a 1981 Honda CB750F. I ordered my Fatboy through an overseas sales program while stationed in Asia. I had seen the radical blue flame paint set on-line when I was checking out Harleys and decided that was what I wanted. It took me almost a month of phone calls from overseas to “stateside” dealers to find the paint, but I did, and ordered it before my bike ever arrived – not knowing what color bike I’d receive.

My silver and black Anniversary bike arrived in December 2002, but it was almost another year before I got home to put some miles on it. When it first arrived I was a bit intimidated about changing the paint, and the silver/black kind of grew on me. I changed some controls and put a Stage I kit and SE pipes on it, but rode it in that almost stock condition for a year before figuring out my first real upgrades. After reading the heck out of this forum, I settled on a .510 cam upgrade, 98” Revperf cylinders, and ported heads for my first build. I bought the manual, read a lot, asked a bunch of questions and then broke out the wrenches. Hey – it wasn’t that bad! The build was pretty easy – but the power wasn’t what I expected. After tweaking, tuning, and upgrading to CNC’d heads, I was there. I had a 100/100 bike that ran well and didn’t look all that bad. By then I had installed new bars, new pipes, and a chrome front end.

But then the, “should have been expected” happened! Since the 2003 didn’t have a Timken, the crank bearing came apart. It turned out that my crank runout was terrible and the bearing retainer had come apart in chunks. Metal got pumped through the engine, and instead of riding through the fall I was facing a complete rebuild. I bit the bullet, read a lot again, researched the forum, and talked to a number of builders – and decided to do all the work that I could by myself.

By the time I was done, I had stripped every nut and bolt off the frame and sent the crank out to get balanced, a Timken bearing installed in the case, and the transmission to get backcut. I changed to a .577 cam, weighed, measured, checked, and clearanced everything that one could imagine, and even changed the drive belt and handlebars. The Harley really is pretty easy to work on! And just because of a zonked crank bearing, I finally got to install my, still new in the box, radical flame paint set!!

So that’s how this beast was born this winter. It looks pretty good. It runs low 11’s in the quarter-mile. And it rides smooth around town. Best of all, I did it all myself. So now I have to figure out what to do next year….

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YEAR:2007
MODEL: FLHX Street Glide
ENG SIZE:124" GMR
TRANZ:6 Speed HD
PIPES: D&D Boarzilla 2 into 1
SEAT: HD SIDEKICK
WHEELS: Chromed FLHX Mags
ACCESSORIES: Numerous as shown below;

The bike is an 07 FLHX in Black Cherry that has been heavily massaged and reworked to a balance between performance and style. It was first outfitted in 2007 with a GMR 107" kit where most modifications to the bike were performance based. I later added an HD Detachable Tour Pac, Mustang Seats, and some minor bling type items. In January 2008 I decided to hotrod and customize from the 107" kit and got back in touch with Steve at GMR Performance in Prescott, AZ.

After discussing the options with him, I decided to retain and use the existing high performance heads, throttle body and tuner that were purchased with the 107" motor. I then sent the cases down to Steve where he machined the left side for a Timkin bearing conversion, clearance the cam chest for 640 cams, and setup the bottom end with a Jim's 4-5/8" stroked crank assembly. He then shipped the motor to me with a new set of Axtell performance cylinders, reverse dome forged pistons, new cams, and a new D&D pipe. I then set off to a buddy’s shop where after disassembling the bike for the rebuild, we assembled the new 124" motor. While the cases were torn down, I opted to have my buddy go through the bike and added a few other accessories. The complete modifications include;

ENGINE MODS

* Jim's 4-5/8" Stoker Kit (Stock T/C Cases)
* Axtell 4-1/8" Cylinders w/ Reverse Dome 10cc Pistons
* Screamin Eagle Billet Cam Plate
* S&S 640 Cams (Gear Driven)
* Jim's Powerglide II Lifters
* Smith Brothers Pushrods
* GMR Roller Rockers
* R&R Cast CNC Prepped Performance Heads 86cc
* Manley Springs w/ 1.94 & 1.62 S/S Valves
* HPI 55mm Throttle Body (4.89 GPS)
* HPI Eliminator Breather
* Rivera Pro Clutch
* D&D Boarzilla Pipe (Quiet Baffle - but it isn’t very quiet / lol)
* Thundermax Auto Tune Module (map 405)


With the bike torn down I started examining the bike and decided what else to have done while it was apart. The great thing is that I have a bud that works for HD as a contract mechanic during the week, and also has his own own machine shop where he works on friends bikes on the weekends. I decided to have him replace all the hoses and cables with Barnett products, and to disassemble the front end for further upgrades. While in there we did the front springs, rear shocks and slammed the bike a full inch from its already lowered Street Glide stance. Once that was all done and the motor was back in the bike, he also installed a true track suspension kit to bring better performance & handling to the bike. Here are the mods performed over the past couple months.

* Fat Boy Front Fender w/ Relocation Blocks
* Chromed Lower Legs HD Brand
* Progressive Fork Springs (Lowered 1")
* Chromed FLHX Wheels w/ Custom Rotors
* Wild 1 Chubby 575 Handle Bars (internal wiring)
* Chromed Switch Covers & HD Grips
* Barnett Throttle & Clutch Cables
* Barnett Brake Lines (Front & Rear)
* HD Sidekick Low Profile Seat
* HD Belt Guard & Pulley Cover
* HD Flamed Collection Covers & Fuel Door
* Progressive Rear Shocks (Lowered 1")
* True Track Suspension Mod
* Metzler ME 880's (Front & Rear)
* HD Axle Covers, and Billet Bolt Covers (Front End)
* HD Premium Oil Cooler
* HD Headlamp & Signal Visors (Bullet Style)
* RJ's Original Heat Shields
* HD Highway Pegs
* HD Front Lower Fairings
* HD Detachable King Tour Pac
* Alpine 600watt Stereo w/ Dual Subs
* Custom Paint - Flames w/ Bar & Shield


Other major improvements made over the past couple of months include custom paint (candy flames) to the tank, side covers and rear bags. Paint was handled by Ryan Veness @ Bloodshot Custom Airbrushing and includes tightly over/underlapped flames with a bar shield logo using Candy Tangerine & Candy Red paints on a Gold Pearl base. It was then cleared twice, cut and polished and has great depth on the Black Cherry paint. I was shooting for a look that was balanced and not overdone and from the feedback received of late; I'd say I hit the mark! While apart for paint I also installed a high performance stereo system onto the bike. Tunes include bag mounted components including an Alpine PDX Class 600watt Amplifier, Directed 1.0 Farad Capacitor (reserve power), JL Audio 6" Sub Woofers (enclosed within each bag), Harley/Deutsch quick disconnects under the side covers, Pioneer P500UB MP3 Head Unit, iPod Nano in the windshield bag, JL Audio XR Series 5.25" Component Speakers with Performance Tweeters and Crossovers in Fairing, Hidden Antenna, Biketronics Mounting Kit with Handlebar Control Converter, and professional high end cabling throughout the bike.

Myself, I started out riding off road at the early age of 8 and followed that with many seasons of Motocross racing. My first street bike was a GS400 Suzuki and that was later followed up with a GSX750 and a GSXR750 Limited before getting bitten with an old Rigid. I took a 17 year hiatus from bikes while restoring and collecting Vintage Chevrolet Muscle cars but stayed involved with bikes as a friend races Harleys. I later renewed my love for motorcycles when I bought another Harley in 2006. Since then there's been no looking back. I bought my first bagger in 2007 and the hotrodding and performance items have been an addiction since. I love the Street Glide and can tell you that it gets a lot of looks when rolling the streets. I got it back out last week and it now has about 400 miles on the new motor since getting it dialed in.

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YEAR:2007
MODEL: HD CUSTOM SOFTAIL
ENG SIZE:96in
TRANZ:6SPEED
PIPES:V&H BIG RADIUS 2INTO1
SEAT: HD SIDEKICK
WHEELS: HD 10 SPOKE BLADES
ACCESSORIES: LOTS AND LOTS OF CHROME,STREETSLAMMERS BARS,CUSTOM PAINT SET,LOWERED 1 INCH FRONT AND REAR,ECKCRAFT CUSTOM MIRRORS,KURIAKYN ISO GRIPS AND PEGS,3 INCH FORWARD CONTROLS, DIAMONDBACK CABLES,STAINLESS FENDER LINER,SE SPARK PLUG WIRES,ZIPPERS THUNDERMAX WITH AUTOTUNE MODULE,ZIPPERS HIGHFLOW AIR CLEANER,LED TAIL LIGHT ASSY,HD PREMIUM OIL COOLER,SPEEDO/TACH COMBO UNIT BACKLITE IN RED,BIKE HAS 9 RED POD LIGHTS THROUGHOUT AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!

I STARTED WITH A STOCK PLAIN BLACK CUSTOM AND THIS IS WHAT I CAME UP WITH.I DESIGNED THIS ALL IN MY HEAD AND MADE IT A REALITY.I ENTERED IT IN THE 2007 MID-ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL BIKE SHOW WITH ONLY 90 MILES ON IT AND STOCK PIPES BECAUSE THE PIPES I HAVE ON IT NOW WERE NOT AVAILABLE YET.I TOOK 1ST PLACE IN MY CLASS AND SINCE THEN HAVE HAD IT IN 6 BIKE SHOWS WITH 2 1ST,3 2ND AND 1 THIRD PLACE TROPHIES.ENGINE IS ALL STOCK FOR NOW BUT HAVE PLANS FOR SOME CAMS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.WEATHER PERMITING I AM OUT RIDING TO WHERE EVER,DON'T REALLY NEED A DESTINATION.RIDE HARD AND LIVE FREE!!!

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