Taking this idea one step further is our feature bike owner, Lew Martin, from the town with a really cool name, Halfmoon, New York. How this project even came to be has a twist to it since Lew didn’t even own it when work began. “My brother Scott bought it brand new in ’97 and he started working on it and did quite a bit of stuff to it. I bought it in 2001 from him because it basically just sat in his garage.” said Lew. “I told him, ‘You ain’t gonna ride that thing, I might as well ride it.’ I knew he wanted to get rid of it and I didn’t want it to go to somebody else, so I bought it.” Luckily there was no brotherly animosity involved and Scott moved on to another project, but still found time to get involved with Lew finishing it.

Lew immediately jumped into the fray and came up with a plan for his newly acquired Fat Boy. “I wanted to just make something that took a stock bike and personalized it the way I wanted to do it. Scott had the same idea and being brothers, we have a lot in common,” said Lew. He wasn’t looking for a show bike or a garage queen, but something he could proudly burn around the beautiful upstate New York back roads and like the vapid theme of 1970’s Love Story, never have to say “I’m sorry,” when he’s parked.

First on the list was the engine. Harley’s Evolution motor was nearing the end of its run, but there was still a bit of useful pep to be found in the old girl without affecting its proven reliability. “It had Crane Fireball cams and pushrods put in it along with a Crane ignition and Sumax plug wires. We put new rods and higher-compression pistons in it to freshen it up a bit and beef it up a bit too,” said Lew. Sticking with the Mikuni 42mm carb sucking air through a K&N element in the stock air cleaner housing was a good choice with this mild hop up and the round cover kept one of the stock styling points intact. When it came to the exhaust, though, Lew threw caution to the wind and the pretty rare Bartels’ over-and-under slashed megaphones provide a sound all their own. “To tell you the truth, Scott came across them in a magazine. Since I’ve had the bike, I’ve only seen one pair and I see thousands of bikes a year,” said Lew. “I love them, they sound real nice. They make their own sound; everybody can tell when I was coming. It’s just totally different.” As far as engine power after the mods, Lew said, “It has some balls.” The rest of the drivetrain is dead-stock save for the wise addition of a beefier Barnett clutch to handle Lew’s “rather spirited” backroad riding style.

With the Evo motor and drivetrain back in the frame, Lew made some decisions,” I didn’t want it gaudy, so I left a lot of things black like the swingarm because there was so much chrome back there and I wanted to give some black accents to it. It looked a lot better with the black motor too.”

Performance Machine polished tri-spoke 18” wheels, front and rear, were the biggest change from stock spec, but Lew had ‘em chromed. “I sent them to West Coast Chrome in Modesto, California, because it was so much easier to take care of them.” Powdercoated H-D calipers getting instructions from braided lines now grip floating discs to provide a useful upgrade in braking power and looks. Progressive shocks lower the rear to match the dropped forks.

There’s nothing too deep say about the paint as this combo is factory stock including graphics. “There were only so many made with those factory colors and the combination stood out well,” said Lew. “I could go to a swap meet or to Americade and not see another bike painted like that.” With paint out of the way before he started, it left changes to “Things Lew Touched.”

Lew’s not a floorboard guy and said, “Once I put the Legends’ forward controls on, it was immediately more comfortable for me than the floorboards.” As for handlebars, he said,” At one time I thought about apes, but for me the Carlini bars Scott originally picked are perfect.” The LePera solo seat has its own story. “After my wife Kim got her own bike, I put the solo on it and took the rear pegs off,” said Lew.

So is Lew happy with the bike? “I’ve heard it so many times that the bike is really tastefully done and just right,” said Lew. “My brother Scott liked it too.” Kudos all around then to a job well done.

Up Close: Carlini Handlebars

Ever since I was a kid, Italian design has intrigued me from the art and architecture of ancient Rome to Italian pastry to a Ferrari. The purity of design was just different whether it was the beautiful head castings on a V-12 with rows of twin-choke Webers between them or the intricately-imposing espresso machines in the Italian bakeries of Boston’s North End   Italian style seemed to take the most mundane item and find a new beauty in it and somehow the familiar became a new experience. Just like the first time I encountered a set of Carlini handlebars, I knew there was something especially nice about them as the fit, finish, and bends were outstanding. When I asked the owner where he got them, he answered, “They’re Carlini’s!” Yep, it was that Italian thing again.

Tony Carlini Sr. started the company in 1969 in Michigan and since his passing, Tony Carlini Jr. has continued building the business in Santa Ana, California, and his father’s tradition of making some of the best and most innovative bars and accessories on the market. The trend of fat-tube handlebars came directly from Carlini. “We were the first company with 1.5” drag bars back in the 1998 Custom Chrome catalog,” said Carlini Sales Manager Rex Allen.

Carlini’s patented a number of designs like my new favorite, Gangster Ape, whose bends have bends on their way to a way-cool, black powdercoated push-forward style. With all the apes going on dressers, you’d be crazy not to check this one out. It’s tough. Yeah they’re priced at the higher end, but they’re not third-rate overseas knock-offs. “We don’t cut corners with polishing, or chrome plating or quality control,” said Rex.  

Do yourself a big favor, seriously, check out Carlini’s website at www.carlinidesign.com or call Rex at 714-432-9000. 

Builder: Lew Martin

Lew Martin is not your typical professional custom motorcycle builder like you usually see on the pages of Barnett’s Magazine. He’s just a guy who likes motorcycles. A lot. His day job is about as far away as you can get from the would-be professional builder and he’s totally happy with it and its ability to provide him the freedom to buy and modify to his heart’s content. “I have another brother, Nick, that I own a seal coating and pressure washing business with called [big surprise] Martin Brothers,” said Lew.

He’s been riding bikes since 1976 and playing with them ever since. “I’ve had quite a few Harleys and I’m a big fan of the Shovelheads. I’ve had probably a half-dozen and that was back when they were just chain drive,” said Lew. “They were a favorite of mine, but once the newer stuff came out there was a whole lot less vibration and you could actually see out of the rear view mirrors, I got spoiled.” Even now there’s been changes as Lew’s added an ‘07 Softail Deluxe that he’s personalized to his growing stable of bikes which includes his wife Kim’s bikes. “With the Deluxe, the Fat Boy’s been pushed aside a bit, but I love both of them,” said Lew. “I’ve been doing the same thing to it that I did to the Fat Boy. Dressing it up to where it looks really good, but it’s not overdone.”

Meanwhile Scott Martin has moved on to a Big Bear Chopper he’s been attempting to build and it’s caught the roving eye of brother Lew and it looks like history is going to repeat itself as Lew let me in on his thoughts, “That Big Bear Chopper my brother’s building, I’m thinking about purchasing that from him.” And the beat goes on.

 

This bike feature originally appeared in Barnett’s Magazine issue #67, January-March 2009.

SPECIFICATIONS
Owner:	Lew Martin
Year/Make:	1997 H-D FLSTF
Assembly:	Scott and Lew Martin
Build time:	Not long
Engine:	80″ H-D Evo
Cases:	Stock
Rods/ Pistons:	Aftermarket
Cylinders/ Heads:	stock
Cam:	Crane Fireball
Ignition:	Crane w/Sumax plug wires
Carb:	Mikuni
Pipes:	Bartels
Air Cleaner:	Stock w/K&N element
Transmission/ Primary:	Stock H-D 5-speed
Clutch:	Barnett
Frame:	H-D Stock
Forks:	Stock H-D
Rear Suspension:	Softail
Shocks:	Progressive Suspension
Wheels:	Performance Machine
Front Tire:	130×18 Dunlop
Rear Tire:	140×18 Dunlop
Brakes:	Stock H-D
Fuel/ Oil Tank:	Stock H-D
Fenders:	Stock H-D
Handlebars:	Carllini
Headlight/ Taillight:	Stock H-D
Hand Controls/ Grips:	H-D chrome
Foot Controls:	Legends
Pegs:	Custom
Chroming:	West Coast Chrome
Painter/ Graphics:	The Motor Company
Color:	Yellow/maroon
Seat:	LePera
Special thanks to:	Scott Martin and Spitzie’s Harley-Davidson