Need June 2008 Contenders....

alright, i'll have a go with this....

Year: 2000 Y2K
Model: FLHRCI (except now minus the "C" and "I")
Eng size:88 ci (stock for now...intend to do a 114 or something similar later after riding to Sturgis. Don't want down time diring prime riding season) Just want to ride it!
Transmission(5sp, 6sp etc): 5 speed
Pipes: Bassani Power Curve w/ Klock Werks/BUB Puffer Mufflers
Seat: HD Badlander modified
Wheels: 18" rear & 21" front 60 spoke wheels by Evolution Industries
Accessories: Klock Werks fenders & accessories, Select use of HD parts. Alloy Art TXR. LED's.
And the story: The bike started life as a 2000 Road King Classic, owned by one of my riding buddies. Colored luxury rich red & black, a nice low mileage (13,000 miles) rider and well taken care of. As i attended various runs & local events, i made a conscious decision to make some design and esthetic changes as to make my bike stand out from the masses. I did test panels after test panels experimenting with the paint mixtures and combinations, driving all my buddies nuts. Body work commenced starting with stretching the tank with a rear section off a Victory Kingpin. Klock Werks hooked me up with the fenders, bag fillers/upper frame covers (not used in these pics), stretched bag extensions and a neat part i adapted to work to move my ignition off the top of the dash (off a RK custom) down between the cyls where the horn used to reside. I stripped the bike to frame, engine, trans, swingarm & shocks. I also shitcanned the MM EFI and put on a carb (purchased here from a member of VTF) and bought all HD OEM parts from Chicago HD.com. Look at the bottom of page for the Flickr link to the assembly process. Mocked up the bike endless times to make sure all worked and fit as intended. Painted the bike over a 4 month span (in between jobs) exclusively with House of Kolor materials. Used a 2 color flake system put over cinnamon (copper) pearl, then covered with a custom mix of Pagan Gold & Root Beer Candy mixture. HoK black was sprayed over the lower half to tie the black frame to the paint scheme, and separated with a band of 12K white gold hand burnished with cotton & velvet. A bit of Tangelo Pearl was added just because i wanted some orange in the bike. All Hand pinstriped and buried in the clear. That done, i started re-assembly with new lighting (leds and a Russ Wernimont rear plate/brake light/turn signal set up) all around. The headlight was also purchased from a member here, a dual bulb HD set up. Re-chromed & polished a ton of items from the rotors & pulley to the custom Cyclesmith banana boards and Brackets. Covered them in a neat textured rubber and also used it on the dash to cover where ignition went. Installed the new Evolution Industries wheels w/ new Metzeler ME880's and put on HD chrome calipers, along with a HD hydraulic clutch (e-bayed!!! at a smokin deal!) followed up with new chrome master cylinders for front & rear and new braided hoses. Other details include moving the coil to the side cover out of sight and making custom plug wires to fit. An Steibel Air Horn took up residence where the EFI brain WAS. I assembled it a couple of weeks ago, put 250 miles on it to make sure nothing fell of (thank God for red & blue Loctite®), then left for Laughlin bike week with some buddies for some exploring on RT 66. Made it as far as Gallup, New Mexico. Took a side trip to Camp Verde and Jerome AZ, then back to hit some more sections of Rt 66 on the road back to Kingman & Laughlin. Total trip was 1450 miles and other than a minor fuel line f-up bike did pretty well considering i'm an artist guy, not a serious wrench. I got a lot of help here from the gurus and also bought a lot of parts here too. Also used e-bay, where i sold all my old parts + some accumulated HD parts to offset costs. Chicago HD also got a lot of my $$$ but at the much appreciated 20% off and no tax too. I did this mostly all myself and did it on a real slim budget. I'm pretty proud of it. Nowhere on my recent ride did i see ANYONE who's bike remotely resembled mine. Not on the highway, nor Route 66 or even Laughlin bike week. Mission Accomplished. Oh yeah....this bikes NO trailer queen! I don't think it's EVER seen one. I ride this thing damn near every day. The only downside is replacing tires & decreasing value as the mileage goes up (now it's got 40,000 plus miles on it). The looks i get with it keep getting better! Not to mention a shot at getting it in Hot Bike Baggers (keeping fingers crossed).... So toss a vote my way if they put it in.
Tim
1BdBagr

The Before, on a 3500 mile 7 state 13 day ride

The Now and yes, i know not EVERYBODY will dig it as much as me...i think folks will either LOVE it Or HATE it!

My 2002 Custom Softail

Year: 2002

Model: Softail FXSTCustomized by Owner

Eng size: 1550

Transmission: HD 5sp / 3.60:1 gearing by Baker

Pipes: SE Pro Pipe with Custom meg. insert for baffling and power

Seat: Mammoth Choppers Custom (Prototype)

Wheels: Weld Recluse 21 x 2.5" front / 18 x 6" rear

Accessories: 95" motor w/SBC heads treated to all the tricks, 9.8:1 comp. Andrews 37G sticks, Hydro-solid lifters, new HD oil pump and cam plate, Wood Perf. 415 carb, Barnett CF disc. kit and SE 380 spring, Custom Struts, '07 Bobtail fender and owner designed and fabbed 200mm tire kit. DTT ignition. Custom assembled and planned by owner. (Oh and Chrome.)


And the story: It all starts 4 years ago just before Christmas.

Suffering from the pre-holiday season blues and maybe just a little self pity, (if not a touch of mid-life crisis inspired purchase passion), I stumbled onto my "New first love."

An eBay find, it had run out its' 3rd listing with no takers. Originally ordered and delivered to its' 1st owner in Columbus, GA, where it hailed from at the time, I knew immediately that time was of the essence if I were going to score this rare find and make the deal before the "Christmas deficit" set in and made it morally cost prohibitive. (The bike was also listed locally in GA so I feared a competitor would get to her before I did.)

Initially vowing not to touch or change a thing, It was beautiful as is, (Yeah right..), My buddies knew better and went to work on me with the psych game, not to mention I was fully customizing a friend's FatBoy, that was in the throws of completion.

Inside of 3 days, I serviced the tow vehicle, made all of the arrangements, including reserving a U-Haul trailer right near Ft. Benning GA, overnight hotel reservations and talking my younger brother into making the 13 hour trip with me. Like it was meant to be, it all came together and I began the trek to Columbus on Dec. 2.

Upon arrival, I can remember the butterflys I felt on first sight. Of course, the pictures on eBay don't always do the item justice and that can be from both a positive and negative perspective. Fortuanately for me, this bike looked like it had just come out of the crate ! It was gorgeous with custom triple tree frontend and special order HD Color Shop paint scheme and Corbin Hollywood solo seat... What a find I thought... Ironically, my artistic mind had already started the customizing process, and I hadn't even picked up the trailer or paid for it yet !

With 13 hours to drive ahead of us, I made the deal, paid the money, put it on the trailer and started the journey back north to MD. The whole time, particularly during the gas stops and trailer strapping check stops, I started fantasizing about customizations. As I started receiveing compliments along the way home, I grew more intent on my plan to "personalize" this bike.

Dec. 4, I arrive home at 1:00 am, exhausted. Showered and ready for bed, I couldn't wait for morning so I could start shopping for custom accessories. I have a library of aftermarket catalogs that would burn for a week if my house ever caught fire, but ended up sticking with mainly all HD multi-fit accessories.

Well, fast forward to current day and what you see is what I created....

If for any reason after looking at the pictures you have reason to believe I have a passion for chrome......, you're right. But it didn't start that way. Chroming really is a sickness, I can attest and the pictures bear the proof !

Each Northeastern winter since that fateful Dec. 4 day, I've worked to a plan for the season to add or change some aspect of my Beauty to refine it to the tastefully and articulately dressed eye candy it is today.

Bikes have become a passion of mine, both sport bikes, where I got my start, customs and OEM Harley customization. I've built street cars, fast boats and monster trucks, but my greatest form of personal self satisfaction and gratification has come from the customizing of my Harley. I am admittedly partial to Softails, but truely love all bikes and their owner's self-expression and the art form they represent.

Good luck to all my competitors !

Thanks for this opportunity to be a participant in this display of great bikes and thanks for your vote of appreciation for what I've accomplished.

V1

year: 2003
model: custom 4" up and 3" out exstreme softail frame with airride,14" over perse wide glide front end.
motor:113 patrick.
trans: baker deep overdrive.
pipes: my own handmade 304 stainless stepped pipes.
seat: highend italian swade w/gel and a matching pillion.
wheels: pm sevilles.
accessories: 4" billet 4u drive.
Story: I bought the best parts I could afford from the big name guys and made some big sacrifices to build this bike for my wife and I.
It did not come cheap or easy, I paid more ways than one just to satisfy my need for speed and the freedom of the road.
I did all the metal work my self and had damons paint do the paint work.
Now that billet is not cool, I beg to differ, there is no excuse to build a pile of **** and think its cool because you built it out of eclectic crap. this bike is fast and works well.
Every one has there budget so build what you can and ride the **** out of it.
No Im not a rich guy that paid some one to build it for me, like so many think.
My dad showed me how to save a buck and so I did.