After only three months I was bored with the bike. Everyone had the same bike with the same crap stuck on-it was time for some changes. I contacted a longtime painter friend of mine, Jeff Embrey of Embrey's Customotive in Tyrone, GA, and told him that I needed something different, because all those bikes looked the same. Jeff laughed and said, "That's the way it is." Well, not for me. I got on eBay and found every piece of sheetmetal that I needed. After Jeff got everything painted and put back together, it was time for Biketoberfest in Daytona, where it would be seen for the first time.
Two weeks prior it looked like every other bike, but now it was reborn. After hooking up with some friends, they saw it and said, "What in the hell have you done to that bike, and why did you do it?" I told them, "You gotta be different." They just shook their heads and walked away, saying, "You screwed up a good bike." Well, being from the lowrider scene, I know if you piss off the old people then you've done your job for the day. I got a good laugh out of it and rode off happy.
After checking the shows out in Daytona and getting some new ideas, I told Bill it was time for a change. He told me I had lost my mind and that I was never happy. After getting home I went back to work on eBay, looking for parts for my winter transformation. After rounding up most of the parts I contacted Jeff, told him what I had in mind, and said that I needed it done by March for Bike Week. Jeff said there wasn't enough time. I just told him to stop whining and get to work.
I had contacted Derk Hinsley from Bad Dad Customs out of Indiana and had him ship me a set of saddlebag extensions and a rear ender. I told Derk what I was doing and he said, "I got something else you need to check out-my stretched headlight nacelle." I told him to send it over. After getting the parts and checking them out, I decided they were the best quality I had seen.
The flowing lines on this...
The flowing lines on this bike just draw your eyes from front to back, top to bottom-just like the smooth curves of a woman.
While Jeff was stretching the bags (with no exhaust cutouts), the fuel tank, and mounting up the stretched rear fender, I called Gary Chipp from Fat Baggers and ordered up one of his front fenders and fender mounts. After seeing the 200mm tire setup on the back of a bunch of baggers in Daytona, I ordered a 18x5.5-inch rear Vega wheel from RC Components and a matching 21x3.5-inch for the front. Bill and I put the 200 Metzeler on the rear with a stock swingarm and belt. After getting everything worked out, I suggested making an air-ride system for the front. He told me I was nuts.
Bill ended up designing the front air cylinders, and after he put everything together, I told him the frontend needed something else. I got on the phone with Fat Baggers and ordered a Perse frontend. The only problem was that I wanted to run a single rotor and caliper up front, and Perse doesn't offer that setup for Road Kings. So it was off to the bandsaw to cut up this high-dollar frontend. After Bill had it all cut to perfection it was sent off with the swingarm, floorboard brackets, exhaust, and two boxes full of other parts to Tal Gardner at Best Metal Polishing and Chroming where he did his magic on everything.
While Jeff was getting everything ready for paint, I told him we should smooth out the dash. After forming some metal and pouring a mold, Jeff came up with a smooth dash along with a chromed pop-up, flush-mount gas cap. I wanted the rear of the bike smooth as well, so he flush-mounted the turn signals and brake lights into the bottom of the bags, then flush-mounted the brake light into the bottom of the rear fender. All together, there's 120 LED lights in the rear.