Stupid is not the case here with Steve Anderson, Custom Chrome Inc.’s main man in charge of building and warrantying all RevTech motors sold in North America. You just couldn’t be stupid, silly, or otherwise in an important position like that. But, you can be a resourceful, imaginative, and even a bit of a whimsical dreamer/designer/builder with the knowledge and resources he has at his fingertips so to speak. “I grew up with minibikes and had a motorcycle before I had a car. I made a low-budget Honda chopper after high school, then a Triumph, and eventually a Panhead that I wish I still had. A Shovel chopper evolved into a stretched drop-seat dresser that I still have 25 years later, but I wanted something different,” said Steve. “The dual sport I had in high school was fun to ride and could go anywhere with no dragging in turns or bottoming over obstacles so I decided that was the way to go. I have seen that done with Sportsters, but look at me in the photos [Steve’s big in stature shall we say] and you’ll see I would dwarf them.”

So Steve had to find a bike that would fit the bill of a big/tall man’s adventure/dual sport (whatever you want to call them) bike and conveniently ran into one of the most unlikely Harley models you could imagine to start from, a 1993 FXDWG Wide Glide. Yeah the model with a kicked-out front end, skinny front tire, mini-apes, forward controls, and H-D’s version of a King and Queen seat. Yup, that would have been my first choice ― not! But not for Steve who said, “I got a deal I couldn’t pass up. I work in the shop at Custom Chrome and there was an old FXDWG test fitment bike with a RevTech 88” motor in it. So being me, I had to rebuild and change the size of the engine not because I had to, just because I could. It’s now a 97-incher [3 13/16”bore X 4.1/4” stroke], very quick, and bounces off the rev limiter quickly.” Besides tidying everything up to better than new, Steve threw in a set of K-B pistons to fit the new enlarged bore size, an Andrews EV-72 cam livens things up, and a Mikuni 42mm carb and a SuperTrapp 2-into-1 finishes it off. I don’t know if it was part of the original “fitment“ process Steve described, but there’s now a nice 6-speed RevTech tranny where once lived an old 1993 5-speed. More power, more gears, less miles compared to the FXDWG’s 60,000-mile stock 80” Evo is a plus-plus in anybody’s book.

A great drivetrain is cool, but you’ve still got that problem of a Wide Glide being more of a single-sport than a dual sport so Steve got to work on the cruiser-style frame. “I started with the rear first, moving the top shock mounts back 3” [Steve didn’t specify what the shocks were but they do look suspiciously stock] and then the front. I knew the rake was too much on an FXDWG [around 34-degrees total?] so I looked at other brands of adventure tourers and came up with 26-degrees,” said Steve. “After cutting and welding and adding ¾” to the top tube, I got it on the ground and it was 27-degrees — close enough. The 41mm mid-glide triple trees are from Vulcan Engineering and the lowers are from a 2000+ FLST. I used those because I liked the longer overlap and it allowed me to use newer H-D brakes.” Here’s where spending a bajillion years doing this stuff every day makes it all right and okay to intuitively guess on parts and not hurt yourself. “The fork tubes are from the Wide Glide and the springs? Well they’re from my shed with lots of preload and filled with 30w fork oil. The travel is stock, but adjusted to my weight and it rides fine. It’s not meant to do air time, but it will get you out in the country if you take your time.”

Stuffed between those cool rubber gaiter-covered fork tubes is a 19×2.5” wheel laced by Steve’s buddy, Robert Olson, and now wearing chubbily-aggressive dual-sport rubber that replaces the stock skinny 80/90 tire. The fatter tire with a nice floating disc combined with a later H-D caliper provides a substantial braking increase. Out back, a DNA 18” gives a bit more ground clearance, more rubber choices, and better visual balance than the stock 16-incher. Also, the belt drive has been swapped out for a more convenient to change sprockets chain. And that looks the biz too.

Where the custom part comes into this bike like any other personalized bike is in the details. Take the stock Wide Glide fat bob gas tanks that have been sent off to parts unknown for instance, Steve said, “That tank is off an FLHX [Street Glide to you non-alphabeteers], I liked not having the dual gas cap look.” It was also a nice place to put that trim piece Steve made that has “FXDakar” engraved in it. Very cool touch and very cool name Steve. Or the Arlen Ness fairing with headlight stone guards practically sitting on the dirt bike-style high front fender and complimented by a high rear fender that looks right off a Harley Sprint SX 350. All this lovely bodywork was also painted in traditional Harley orange and black by multi-talented Steve himself. Tastefully too I might add.

The engine protectors (formerly known as crash bars but that sounds too scary these days I guess) make sense with such a nice paintjob and even help protect the very neat looking Hepco & Becker aluminum saddlebags in case of a spillover (formerly known as a crash). Like everything else, Steve had to make his own mounts for these as I don’t think FXDWG Hepco & Becker bag mounts are a stockable item. Steve even has heated grips on this bike too and there’s good reason for that. This is no show bike or ride-it-to-the-local-watering-hole special. This is his everyday commuter that he puts 80-plus miles on going from his home in Salinas to work at Custom Chrome’s Morgan Hill facility. So far it’s been a fun ride for him and hasn’t emptied his pocketbook (I doubt Steve carries a pocketbook, it’s just an old saying and I’m an old guy). “The whole bike was built on the cheap, that’s how I do things. As you see it, I haven’t got $7,000 in it.”

I’ll add “yet” to that as I think this is one of those ongoing forever projects that a talented guy with lots of imagination and access to interesting parts will continue to change just a little bit here and a little bit there and . . .