Low, but not slow.
Road King
Year: 1997
Make: H-D, Road King
MSRP: $15,990
Mileage: 6,766
Rider: Jeff G.
Most of you who read our sister magazine Baggers will most likely remember the Lonely King project bike I did based around a '97 Road King. It started life as a bike I picked up from a Craigslist posting in Billings, Montana. The bike was cheap and it had low miles, so I thought it was the deal of the century. Until the delivery truck from Keyboard Motorcycle Shipping dropped it off. The poor thing sat in a barn for almost a decade with less than 2,500 miles on the clock and was subjected to Montana's bitter winters and scorching summers. With no protection other than a sheet of dust, the paint and chrome looked nothing short of horrible.
Bling, Bling
Once I got my wits about me, I penciled out a plan of how I wanted it to look when customized. I then got busy on my newest project. I first pulled the sheet metal off and replaced it with some Klock Werks stretched fenders and an OEM Harley-Davidson tank that were painted in a '70s Lowrider motif by Airea 5150.
To further the Cholo bling, the dual 16-inch rolling stock was swapped out with custom 18- and 21-inch Fat Daddy wheels in black and copper from Ride Wright Wheels. Wanting more of a mean and nasty "taildragger" look, I called up Trask Performance and scored a set of 16-inch gloss black Bro Bars and a set of Trask's beautifully sculpted stretched saddlebags. As you can see, the bike has plenty of attitude and most of all, style.
Once the bike was looking the way I wanted it to, I had to get the bike running better. To add a few more ponies and a ton of torque, I swapped out the CV carb for a 42mm Mikuni and bolted on a set of Samson's Custom Shop true dual pipes. With the bike running faster than it ever had, getting it to stop with the stock H-D brakes was a bit tough. It didn't take long to replace the old brakes with a set of blacked-out four-piston Hawg Halters calipers and Lyndall Racing rotors all the way around.
To top off the whole build I was fortunate enough to have Danny Gray custom build a two-up Day Tripper seat to match the killer paint, even mimicking the same pin striping.
The bike has almost been completed for a full year now and I really enjoy riding it due to the space for cargo as well as the fully custom looks and aggressive sound. It's still hard to believe that this is the same bike I had a combination panic attack/buyer's remorse meltdown over. It just goes to show you what having a plan and sticking to it can do for you.