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Fun, direct, passionate.

Lunati may be a new name in the mouths of the American V-twin market, but it is no stranger to creating parts that generate good engine performance. With a fresh line of camshaft applications available to fit most any Twin Cam Harley-Davidson from ’99 on up, we thought the time was ripe to take a closer look at the company’s offerings and put them to the test. Starting with an extremely low mileage ’04 Fat Boy still sporting its Stage 1 intake and exhaust additions and 88ci displacement, the decision was made to keep the modifications similar to what many would do to their own bikes. This install was designed to best showcase what the parts would do for you and is not about making the most power as possible from the package.

There’s the wheel and there’s the reinvention of the wheel. To take something that’s already constructed, let the creative juices flow without boundaries, and flavor it up with your own identity is a beautiful thing. Why eat a ham and cheese sandwich with two slices of Wonder Bread and Kraft Singles when you can spice up the traditional fare with sun-dried tomatoes, prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, pesto, olive oil/balsamic vinegar, or whatever the hell else your heart desires? That’s the beauty of creativity. This is Roland Sands Designs’ (RSD) modus operandi: building stock bikes into intricate, functional rolling sculptures.

Editor’s note: The cover of our October 2010 issue featured an elegant-yet-vicious, ruby red ground-up custom built by Dante Depaola out of Northern California. The bike was rather hard to categorize stylistically; a little bit café racer, with some high-end modern sport bike appeal, but with a monstrous 127 cubic inches of gleaming V-twin billet cradled in the center of the frame. What you could easily say about the bike was that it was all attitude, totally badass, and did an excellent job of showing off Dante’s love and appreciation for the California Hot Rod lifestyle. Well, once again Dante has made an offering to the gods of speed and custom culture. However, this time instead of building a bike from scratch, he found his ideal platform in is buddy’s 1994 FXR.

By now everyone’s well aware of the need for a performance tune-up on a fuel-injected Harley. Free-flowing pipes, a performance air filter, high-lift cams, and big-bore kits, they all call for a fuel-delivery and ignition advance remap. Even bone-stock bikes get a huge boost in performance and ridability after some tweaking to the signals the ECM sends out to those injectors. And with all those Power Commanders, FuelPaks, ThunderMaxes, and Twin Tuners out there, everyone knows how that performance tune happens.

Jon McDevitt bought an almost-stock ’09 Road King, but the purchase was bittersweet. The chromed-out bling machine didn’t necessarily fit Jon’s tastes, so the bike would need to undergo a transformation to get it up to speed with a little more edge, so to speak. Jon’s a young buck (22) and really digs the “murdered-out” look of a Harley.

After the release of the High-Ball cruiser, the folks at Victory Motorcycles have been pretty busy following that up via a slew of stripped-down motorcycles like the recent Judge and all-new hot-rod bagger, the Hard-Ball. The new touring bike features a bare-bones visual appeal with most of the creature comforts of the Cross touring bikes: large saddlebags, a powerful engine, and well-performing suspension, but with more of an edge thanks to ape-hanger handlebars, an all-black aesthetic with red pinstripes throughout, and pinstriped wire wheels.

No matter if you’re a long time veteran or a newbie still logging your first 500 miles, chances are right about this time (if not sooner) there’s been some discussion amongst you and your buds about the Sturgis rally. Surrounded by amazing roads, jaw-dropping scenery, and historic sites, as well as being part of the largest two-wheeled party in the world, Sturgis is the opportunity to make dreams come true and lasting memories. As you begin to plan your trip, one of the most important details to nail down is where you’re going to lay your weary head at the end of each night.

For the 2011 model year, Harley wowed performance enthusiasts when it announced the introduction of its new 120ci Screamin’ Eagle (SE) Pro 120R engine. This was the fist time in several decades that the Factory had offered a fully assembled high-performance, race-ready crate engine. Ready to drop into a stock chassis and bolt right in place with no frame modifications or engine mount relocations, the introduction of the 120R was very appealing to those looking for the thrill of high horsepower and torque. What was most appealing however, was the potential of achieving 135-plus horsepower and 137 lb-ft of torque from the 4.06-inch bore x 4-5/8-inch stroke engine for a modest price ranging between $5,700-$6,000.

In the neverending quest to be the fastest mofo on the block, and the quickest off the line, there are many routes for souping up your air-cooled V-twin. The stock 883cc displacement in my Sweet Tracker project was about as fast as a golf cart so I needed to juice it up with beefier jugs, and of course a set of higher flowing cylinder heads from Revolution Performance would be a good idea, too. RevPerf advised that Harley’s Screamin’ Eagle .536 higher lift cams would be the way to go with the RevPerf setup, so because I can sometimes follow directions, I went that route. Last month, I focused on the installation of RevPerf’s 1,250cc cylinders and re-worked heads, and Screamin’ Eagle cams. In case you missed the article, log on to hotbikeweb.com for the whole shebang.

Customizing your Harley can be an endless task. Swapping out pipes to get a different sound or more horsepower, installing a gel-pad seat for more comfort on long rides, or replacing chrome for black components or vice-versa; one bike could go through several styles in its lifetime. While it’s fun to continually change up the looks, sound, and performance of our motorcycles, one thing that sometimes gets overlooked is safety, more specifically lighting.

Check out what's inside the current issue of Hot Bike on sale now! Grab a copy at newsstands or subscribe online to get the newest issue first. Here's what's new: Hotbikeweb.com

Check out what's inside the current issue of Hot Bike on sale now! Grab a copy at newsstands or subscribe online to get the newest issue first. Here's what's new: Hotbikeweb.com

While most of the country was gearing up for the largest football party of the year, in the V-Twin motorcycle world, part manufactures, suppliers, dealers, and motorcycle media were prepping for the highly anticipated annual V-Twin Dealer show in Cincinnati. Commonly referred to by just about everyone in the industry as Cinci, this show is when everyone debuts all those new and interesting products they’ve been feverishly working on. Over the next few pages you will see some of the new and interesting products we came across at the show. Hopefully you’ll see something you like or maybe a part will inspire you to get cracking on that project you’ve been thinking about. For us, we hope to get our hands on as many of these products as possible for future tech articles and to provide you with more info about the parts/accessories.

Email your submissions to: Hot.Bike@sorc.com Or snail mail to: HB Reader’s Showcase 1733 Alton Parkway, Suite 100, Irvine, CA 92606. Please include hi-res jpegs, your name, hometown, email, phone #, bike year/model, engine size, frame, wheels, sheetmetal, painter, custom accessories, and anything else interesting about your bike.

Depending on your perspective, this story starts with either a cream puff or a turd. It ends, however, with a really cool hardtail bobber, no matter who you are. We’ll talk more about the cream puff/turd controversy in a moment. For now, what you really need to know is that this bike was created by Adam Karns from a ’96 Harley Sportster. He’d wanted to cut a Sportster in half and make it a hardtail bobber for years. Adam just never had the opportunity to do so with the other Sportsters that have passed through Karns Kustoms over the years. He finally bought this one just for that reason.

Rarely do form and function meet on a level playing field, but when a person finds a way to blend the two it’s like mixing vanilla with chocolate ice cream—everyone loves it. The combination of the two is appreciated by all because it appeals both to the flashy person that only cares about looks and the guy that only cares about how well it functions. That’s the same rationale behind why so many people feel certain styles embody an entire class and become the standard that every other entry in that class is judged against. Aaron Glenn, owner of Glenndyne Design in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has a motto that he’s quick to deliver, “A design should flow seamlessly and effortlessly across each detail, blending form, function, and genuine style in harmony until it meets a place where everything works perfectly.” And, speaking of function, his latest creation serves two: he wanted a practical bike that he could ride on a regular basis and he wanted to show off some new parts.

Speed Merchant introduces the The Speed Merchant 1" Speedbar. Check out http://www.thespeedmerchant.net/ for more details.

In addition to our long line of Harley Davidson primary components, Barnett also offers clutch tools. From diaphragm spring compression tools to clutch 'lock plates' that assist in removing inner hubs, Barnett clutch tools make clutch replacement and maintenance a bit easier! Barnett clutch tools are available for Sportsters through 1970, 1986-present Sportsers, 1990-97 Big Twins, and Shovelheads. Also available are clutch tools designed specifically for use with the Barnett Scorpion line of clutches. Made in the USA. For more information, please go to www.barnettclutches.com. To order, contact your dealer or give us a call!

• Includes 5 quarts of 20W50 Motorcycle Oil, 1 quart of V-Twin Transmission Oil with ShockProof®, 1 quart of Primary Chain Case Oil, 1 bottle of Complete Fuel System Cleaner for Motorcycles, a sticker kit, a Red Line Oil embroidered hat, and a versatile funnel.
• For 2007-up H-D® motorcycle with the 96-inch engine, users must purchase one extra bottle of Primary Chain Case Oil, since that bike's capacity is 38 oz (45 oz dry), rather than the 32 oz capacity for an Evo or Big Twin case.

These kicker assemblies satisfy the need in us ol' skool riders for a kicker on our laste model rides like back in the day. These bad boys will bolt up to either a stock 5 speed transmission or an after-market 6 speed like our PowerDrive™ transmissions. The kicker assembly only is part # 3215-0021 for 5 speeds and part # 3215-0022 for 6 speeds. These kicker kits are also available with a high quality chrome steel arm (part # 1215-0150) for 5 speeds & (part # 1215-0151) for 6 speeds or with a chrome steel arm and solid brass bycicle style kicker pedal(1215-0152 5 speeds & 1215-0153 6 speeds).