"One day in August, my buddy Shane Hill called and asked if he could borrow my bike to go to work. I thought to myself, 'It's stock...why not?' Later on the next evening as I was relaxing, I got a call from Shane. He was in a panic, saying, 'Bro, I just got hit by a truck on 880 in front of the Oakland Coliseum!' I laughed and told him to quit joking and just bring the bike home. As soon as I hung up the phone, it rang again. This time it was the paramedics. We all play pranks on each other, and I thought this was just another joke. However, this time around it was the real thing. So we jetted over to the ER, and after waiting for hours we found out that Shane was going to be OK. The doc said he had a few minor injuries, including a screwed-up pinky toe that he is still getting therapy for. In spite of this, the bike wasn't so lucky-it had 12 grand in damages, topped off by a bent frame.
"Naturally, the next step was to fix it. I got together with James Cashman of Cashman Customs, and our minds started racing like crazy with millions of ideas. We swapped the stock bags for a set of Ness extended bags with lids that open from the back forward. We added a subtle classic Cadillac theme by molding in a set of '59 Caddy taillights into the back of the bags. To match the custom bags, we stretched the tank to flow all the way into the side covers. We added a set of Ness wheels with a single rotor/caliper setup up front, put a 1-1/2-inch drop on the frontend, and bagged the back with a Legend Air Ride system. I also had some highbars bent up and had a custom dash made.
"The motor was bumped up to a 95, and the heads and cylinders received the diamond-cut treatment, while the lower end and trans were sent out to get covered in Gangsta Gold (the base color of the bike). Speaking of paint, there are only 12 bolts on the entire bike that aren't painted or chromed. Electronically, we added a custom JL Audio stereo with a 4-1/2-inch touchscreen deck, then loaded the bags with four 6x9-inch speakers and an 800-watt amp, and capped them off with a TV in each. James and I figured the pice de rsistance would be the custom Gangsta Gold and Razberry Pearl paint job. We even thought about throwing it in the San Francisco Rod and Custom show if we got it done in time.
"One thing led to another, and you know how that goes. All the shop groupies kept saying, 'You've gone this far-why stop now?' I told Melissa about putting it in a show, and she replied, 'Don't go overboard-this is our cruising bike that we like to take on vacation.' Fortunately, she didn't want to see the bike until it was done. That was her mistake but my luck.
"The first time she saw the bike, it blew her mind, and she loved it. The bike was only gone for a short time, but she was amazed by the outcome. The bike took 17 days and many sleepless nights to finish. After winning a couple of trophies at the Rod and Custom show, as well as the Arlen Ness show, I look back and know it was all worth it. But I couldn't have done it without everyone who helped. Many thanks go out to James and his crew at Cashman Customs, Antioch Custom Cycles, Pops, Guy, Ty, and Buffalo Mike Detail Products.
"Now I want to buy a Street Glide. I guess I'll have to see what Melissa has to say about that. Priorities first."