This type of ride may not be as altogether versatile as a Road King, but until you’ve knocked around on something like this you haven’t really experienced the complete American V-twin experience. Hot rod bobbers that are really equipped to putting on the Ritz like this one for insanely serious fun. One of the more interesting aspects of this build that Jack Cofano caught at the Daytona Rat’s Hole Show this year is that, believe it or not, this build is almost ten-years-old. Yup, a decade ago and it still looks right today.

  Owner Patrick Russell of Longwood, Florida, had the idea for a completely rideable hot rod bobber that just about anyone could hop on and feel at home instantly other than that absolutely adorable hand shift sticking up through the tank. Okay, maybe not anyone, but if you’ve ever ridden and enjoyed a hand shifter, it would be all peaches and cream. There’s no part of the basic design that gets in the way of riding pleasure when you just feel like jamming hard and taking no prisoners.

  The rigid frame’s dimensions aren’t radically silly, just enough pop to let the coil-over springer be noticeable without taking away any of the street scrambling ability like it’s looks suggest. There’s no air assist to try and turn this into a ground-pounder at rest and what you see is what you get and that’s rare lately.  There’s a completely acceptable amount of clearance to not only tear around Florida’s straight roads, but to lay it over whenever you make a 90-degree turn onto a cross street or wail it into a bar parking lot. It’s all good.

  The choice of rolling stock not only looks great in the sweet six-spoke mag wheel that’s just big enough to look a little taller without looking silly. Ample meat on the rims makes for good handling and braking and fits a hot rod nicely. No 90/90×21 tires for this guy. Same for the rear wheel that puts on the beef out back, but in a leaner, meaner size than some over-tired monstrosity of 2007 and is your best buddy when you put the hammer down or crank it over in a corner. Nice intersection of wheel and tire proportions both at the front and back. Plus the six-spoke design would look good on a high-boy hot rod roadster.

  Patrick could have taken the easy way out only using a rear brake, but he obviously has a thing for speed and a single rear brake just wasn’t going to cut it. He did take a different approach to powering up the Performance Machine four-piston calipers grabbing drilled custom rotors, though. If you look closely you’ll see the rear brake pedal is connected to two master cylinders that operate both front and rear brakes just like a car does. Choosing the correct proportioning between the front and rear is all that is needed to pull off extremely quick and controllable braking. A little trial and error and it’s a done deal.

  Sorry, but I don’t know the details of the engine, but I’m gonna guess it’s not some crazy shaking big-inch momma. A good running V-twin is all that’s needed to push something this stripped down in a way that calling the performance “more than adequate” is a positive. The big hulking S&S carb has a big bell mouth velocity stack that looks more musical instrument that intake enhancer, but you know it does from feel and the sound of cubic-yards of air being sucked in. I do love the minimalist exhaust that does exactly as promised without any silly flights of fancy. Short, straight-back and to the point with a downward turn at the end, it’s a perfect hot rod bike setup. Oh, and you just gotta love the connecting rod hanger, how cool is that?

   Where this ride breaks out is the incorporation of the hand shifter jutting straight up through its own tunnel in the tank that looks a bit like something off a Harley Sportster XL1200C or an aftermarket copy  that’s been highly and beautifully modified. The way that billet aluminum shifter knob sticks up through the tank is very hot roddy in their exaggerated long shifter sticking out of a roadster cockpit way. Here, it’s sticking out the fuel tank, but it looks totally comfortable doing it instead of trying too hard. Very cool stuff. The shifter dominates the tank’s landscape with only the tiny flush-mount cap vying for attention. It really is as clean as that proverbial whistle.

  The choice of an old standby, a tubular oil tank in chrome that also houses the battery and electrics makes for a practical custom as well as a traditional style that always looks good to me anyway. Clean, simple and totally effective works and doesn’t go out of style.

Same goes for the nice tire-hugging rear fender that takes an old look and makes it its own with that beautifully delicate swoop of a fender stay/rear bumperette finishing off the back.

  Human points or basically anything that is touched or held or prodded by a rider have good, comfortable relation to each other without any kind of exaggerated affects that might look wild, but not be enjoyable to actually ride. Of course, having a nice-sized butt holder that not only keeps you from slipping back when you crack the throttle on the lever-less mini apes, but is sprung to help the ride be just that bit more comfy is appreciated. It’s good looking and looks like it’s not a torture rack between the springing and the ample padding. Nice cockpit you got there Patrick.

   Knowing and understanding what you have is very important when it comes time for the all-important paint. Patrick knew exactly what he had and kept true to the hot rod back story by keeping it simple yet eye-catching with the Old School hot rodder’s choice of  red in a hue that suggests nothing but perfection. It’s a true, honest red that not only covers the minimal body work but the frame also. There’s cohesiveness to the whole look from hot rod red to the right amount of sparkly stuff that works well.

  Sure, anybody can nit pick every build they see on Barnett’s and maybe even the same here, but Patrick Russell has his own ride made to his ideas of what makes a cool ride and that’s all that counts. Especially since it’s almost a decade old and looks fresh enough in both style and finish that if he told me he just finished it I would’ve believed him. And, in my own snooty opinion, this bike will still look good and contemporary in another decade. Clean style and design always wins out over what’s trendy and this bike’s got it in spades.