Yup, dressers ─ as baggers were called back in the day when they were either dressers or full dressers. I’m still not exactly sure what the difference is between the two other than when my father exclaimed, “Now there’s a full dresser” referring to a ‘60s Harley dresser riding by covered in lights from the tip of the front fender to the tip of the rear fender and everywhere else in between. In this case, the dresser to be undressed was a 1976 Harley-Davidson FLH powered by 1200cc of unbridled Shovelhead. Needless to say, Jeff stripped it down to its most elemental elements and started from there.

 

  Maybe I forgot to mention that this is/was (it’s for sale) Jeff’s personal rider so that just might be the reason for keeping it a swingarm bike, but there’s a lot more to it than just stripping it down and building it up. Jeff wanted this to be a drop seat swingarm frame probably to help smooth out the ride over the Midwest’s notorious pockmarked roads. No big surprise that he reached into his SpeedKing bag of tricks and pulled out a drop-seat conversion he does for 1970-1980 Shovelheads that retains the twin shocks. In this case not the shrouded stockers, but a set of shorter modern shocks. It’s not as easy as that though as the frame is narrowed considerably and new castings are required for the lower mounts of the Harley frame. Yes sir, those all important H-D VIN numbers are safe and easily registerable at any DMV I’m aware of.

 

   The end result is about as clean as can be. The welds are gorgeous and the SpeedKing construction looks clean and natural for a chopped-up bobber. Jeff took a turn when it came time for a frame finish and it appears he chose nickel plating instead of chrome for a bit of warm bling that only nickel can provide. Back before chrome became the go-to metal bling in the 1920s, nickel plating was the bling of choice. It is a much softer looking finish that blends well with paint instead of fighting it like chrome can do. A nice touch to say the least and a nod back to those thrilling days of yesteryear.  

 

  Jeff spiffed up the front end with a set of clean and narrow telescopic forks that have had the lower legs beautifully “satinized” to contrast with the chrome fork tubes and triple clamps. That’s a good way to add a bit of interesting contrast and just not have one dominating metal finish throughout. Situated between the legs is a gracefully beefy chrome laced wheel with not a brake in sight shod with an ADV-style block tread tire for a wee bit of street aggressiveness. Out back, a much wider laced wheel covered in sportbike-style rubber sits nestled between the swingarm sporting Jeff’s “signature” dual-caliper rear brake as rear brake overkill for most of us, but it works for Jeff. It does look cool and even though I hate to say “look cool” as it’s so trite like LOL, it really does.

 

   The Shovelhead was not only rebuilt like it was 1999, but it is stunning to look at. No tricks, no frippery involved, just nice clean castings, always lovely black Shovel cylinders, and anything previously polished now sports a satin finish to compliment any chrome pieces like pushrod tubes and various hardware. Throw on a steel mesh air cleaner (my favorite of all time) and a 2-into1 fishtail exhaust and the right side is a winner in all aspects. On the left, the massive open belt primary under a tall kinked hand shifter does its best to showcase what all the right side blather is really about with a hard mechanical edginess that couldn’t be more different, but is a perfect compliment.

 

   There are tons of little SpeedKing bits and pieces scattered throughout the bike that you’ve got to check out in Jack Cofano’s photo gallery. The clutch and shifter linkages are a must see as well as those gorgeous S-shaped rear fender stays just to mention two. Jeff’s bikes are so much more than you see at a first glance and the closer you get the more the SpeedKing world opens up. There’s nothing that shouldn’t be there and what is is beautifully made like it was the most important thing in the world. Jeff’s world.

 

    It doesn’t hurt that Jeff chose one of my most favorite paint colors for a bike. I’ve owned a few gold bikes even though that wasn’t my first choice, but when gold is done right, it’s lovely. In Jeff’s case, he had the foresight to keep it simple and not have the paint fight for attention. Vie for attention maybe, but not fight. The lack of any graphics couldn’t be better in my opinion and I love the use of the original AMF tank badge. Things surely have changed as anything AMF was a no-go on a custom bike, but now the old badging has somehow gotten cool. I guess you forget the pain about a bowling ball company owning your favorite motorcycle manufacturer after 34 years and it becomes funny folklore.

 

   As I said mentioned at the beginning, my favorite bagger is a stripped-down, narrow, and hard ass street rider that’s fun as hell to ride. Jeff’s bikes have always had those endearing features and a whole lot more than I am capable of actually achieving. He’s not only got the eye for it, but he’s got the chops to match. Put a combo like that together with a hardcore biker/builder/fabricator/photographer and it’s no surprise that he’s turning out customs as beautiful and well built as this. Personally, I can’t wait to see his new personal ride that I hear is Panhead based. It’s gotta be a knockout’s knockout.

 

  For info on Jeff Cochran/SpeedKing USA, punch up http://www.speedkingphoto.com/# or visit Jeff’s Facebook page.