Budget Built FXR | 2011 Custom El Dorado

When we asked Greg what the toughest part of the build was, he said that he had the most trouble with the seat pan, gas tank, and exhaust. “I made the seat pan from one solid piece of aluminum. I did all the English wheel work, shrinking and hammering to make it look like a Le Pera Villain seat. Looking back now, it would have been a lot easier to make it from several pieces,” Greg states. “The gas tank was a bitch too. It started out as a bagger tank, but there’s hardly any of the stock tank left, just the tunnel. Getting the sides to be even from all views (top, sides, and front) was really tough. I was originally going to machine finned pieces out of one piece of billet aluminum with the fins on the side, not up and down. The problem was weight and cost. The way I had it done was lighter and more cost effective. I went back to Ryan and had him water-jet the individual plates for me. I wasn’t sure how it was going to look but it came out pretty kick-ass. I was pretty pissed when somebody told me Paul Jr. had done something similar, but I had the tank done long before his was seen on TV.” As for the pipes, Greg didn’t take any shortcuts by just making a set of straight pipes and calling it a day. He actually spent quite a bit of time lining up and welding some 2-inch stainless steel tubing to create a set of pipes that crisscross and twist around each other like two intermingled snakes basking in the golden sun.”

After a year’s worth of hard work, Greg had finally created a ground-up FXR that not only looked killer, but was an awesome bike to ride as well. “I am a huge fan of hot rods, so when I build my bikes, I like them to have an old-time hot-rod feel. I think this bike kind of has an old Caddy led sled look to it, so I named it ‘El Dorado.’ It’s pretty crazy that I was able to build a bike with a Twin Cam engine, Brembo brakes, custom sheetmetal, and candy paint for under $11k. I have always heard people say that FXRs are possibly the best bikes Harley ever built. After riding one I would say they are absolutely correct.” HB

Specifications

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