I mean, it’s not everyday you see a fork made from beefy drilled-out I-beams with linkage and dual air-shocks mounted right in front where you couldn’t miss them if you tried. Oh, and a little rust onboard sealed the deal, it had to be a custom built by Todd Anglani of AfterHours Bikes in Cooper City, Florida. If Todd were a chef, that fork would be his signature dish and his favorite condiment would be rust. We’ve featured other even more nutty-cool crazier bikes of his like What Goes On AfterHours, Stays After Hours and Don’t You Dare Call It A Rat Bike. These two represent really what walking on the wild side really is so be sure to click on those links. Like Christopher Walken yelling for “More cowbell!” all I can think is Todd demanding “More I-beam!”   

  Back to the story at hand, like all AfterHours’ bikes this one is full of surprises too. At first glance I saw the twin air shocks and a swingarm reminiscent of a Harley Touring or Dyna frame, but then I noticed the mainframe’s back end which looked Softail in every aspect. In stock form, this bike was once the pretty boy of the Harley lineup back in 2012. Yup, it’s a 2012 Softail Deluxe of all things or maybe I should say it once was as there’s not much Softail left other than the main frame. Apparently making a lay frame out of a Softail requires some pretty radical changes and Todd likes his lay frames so what had to be done was done. When you have a certain aesthetic you like to stay with all bets are off, but that’s nothing new for AfterHours Bikes.

   As all AfterHours bikes I know of, steel is still real and no composites were harmed in the making of any Todd-built bike. And any patina you see is real patina as in rust as no painting techniques were used to simulate rust. The steel is real and so is the rust. Another AfterHours trait involves big-ass front wheels with sharp colors or chrome. The 30-inch front wheel in deep chrome is courtesy of California Custom Wheels and dramatically contrasts to Mother Nature’s best efforts to return the steel back into the bowels of planet Earth from whence it came. With not a brake in sight, it’s all wheel and fork up front. Out back, the stock Harley disc brake apparently suffices as the brake on board so hopefully it’ll make do in a pinch.

  The 2012 Twin Cam 103 black and chrome version looks like the day it was born other than a few changes like a simple high-flow air filter and that wild 2-into1exhaust made by Graffeo Exhaust Systems. Could that be the first “lay exhaust” setup I’ve seen or did I just not pay attention to other lay frame bikes? I think this is the first one and I’m sticking to it. Oh man, I can’t wait until this article hits Facebook and everybody starts commenting about the lack of ground clearance and lean angle. Not many people seem to grasp the idea that the air suspension isn’t pumped up to ride height and think you’re supposed to ride it in its lay frame-parked position. I do kind of like the spirit of the Deluxe still powering this ride almost as-is.

   The steel fenders also bring the image of Softail Deluxe although these have gone a bit crazy, in a good way, in both size and proportions. The OEM Deluxe tank still does what it always did, just with a bit more rust scale forming over the sides but still with the chrome dash. A nice touch was keeping the Deluxe tank badge as it brings a bit more Deluxe cowbell to the package and along with it a sense of identity. Same goes for that big old pot of a chromed shell Deluxe headlight sans nacelle. It wasn’t a cheap or easy way out for Todd using these original Deluxe bits ─ it was the cool thing to do.

  One thing that’s really different about this bike is that for once, paint is not a big issue or any issue at all. There’s no editorial nod needed to some painter or graphic artist as this was nothing much more than the natural reaction of iron and oxygen subjected to moisture. I’d probably have a shit fit if this happened on my own bike, but here it looks the biz ─ show biz that is. Only the most extroverted people could possibly own something like this bike as if it’s attention you’re after, anything and everything from AfterHours Bikes fits your personality. Somehow I think that’s exactly the person Todd Anglani has in mind and as you can see, he knows how to attract them.

For more info on AfterHours Bikes, punch up http://www.afterhoursbikes.com/ or check ‘em out on all the social media you can find. Todd’ll be there.