Wicked Image floorboards and foot controls are stylish and functional.
The bodywork was next. I have experience with paint and body, so body working the bags and fender along with the Paul Yaffe stretched tank and dash was not a problem. The bags were fitted, drilled, and smoothed out with body filler. The Bad Dad fender was perfect right out of the box; however, I cut the taillights out of each side and frenched in red lenses backed with 30 LEDs to act as running lights, brake lights, and blinkers. I also trimmed out the fender strut cover so I could utilize the Harley mounting kit for a rear backrest. With the bags and fender ready for paint, I moved to the tank. The Yaffe tank was pristine. The guts from the stock tank went in without a hitch, and I was able to skim the tank, sand it smooth, and had it ready for paint in no time.
When it came time to paint, I spent countless hours drawing layouts on paper, playing with tape, and looking through color books. Since paint can make or break a great bike, it took me quite some time to come up with something loud, but not over the top, and classic all at the same time. I also wanted to tie in the black frame since I would not be tearing this bike down to the frame for this build. What I came up with was a mixture of House of Kolor paint combining Sunset Pearl, Pearl Silver, Mini Flake Pale Gold, and Tangerine Kandy. I laid out graphics that flowed with the lines of the bike and all pointed down to give the illusion of the bike being long and low. After building a paint booth out of easy-ups and tarps in my backyard, I spent close to 80 hours painting the bike. Before the last stage of clear, I hauled all the parts over to Gene Worth to stripe the paint in green, which really accented the bike and made the color choice pop.
Before putting the bike back together, I added quite an extensive list of accessories. Starting with the front, I put a set of chrome lowers on the forks with a 21x3.5-inch chrome Hot Rod wheel and rotors. I had the Brembo brake calipers chromed along with all the hardware that ties the frontend together. In the fairing, I had a Sony deck installed, a JL Audio Amplifier, and 7.25-inch J&M speakers. Hill Country Customs put together a set of 12-inch bars with chrome controls and a set of Performance Machine grips for me. I replaced the stock cable and brake lines with braided lines, and added a set of PM mirrors. The floorboards were replaced with a billet set from Wicked Image. I also installed Wicked Image foot controls eliminating the heal shifter and adding a slick look to the toe and brake pegs. For the engine, I simply installed a set of Vance & Hines pipes (which flowed downward to complement the graphics), a stage 1 intake, and had my dealer download a stage 1 map. The new tank and dash were finished off with Yaffe’s pop-up gas cap and the seat was made by LePera to fit the stretched tank perfectly.
The end result was nothing less than perfection. The bike rides amazing with the bigger front wheel, stock rear, and new suspension. I have no clearance issues in the hills or even around tight turns in the city. I can even pop the backrest on for my wife and me to hit the road with our friends for a long, enjoyable ride. When we get to our destination and park, the overall look of the bike is still exactly what I was shooting for: low, stretched, classic, loud, and custom all in one package—in my opinion, perfection! HB