Anyway, that’s how this 2007 FLTRI belonging to Jody Warman of Lakeland, New York, started out. “I was just gonna ride this bike. I wasn’t screwing with it. I wasn’t going to do a damn thing to it,” said Jody. “But then obviously you see that didn’t last. I hadn’t even picked up the bike before I started with plans to modify it.” All those good intentions must’ve lasted for about 11 seconds or so as Jody had a bunch of stuff in his trailer waiting to go on the Glide when he picked it up in Florida at the Leesburg Rally.

I probably should have made mentioned that Jody is co-owner of No Magic Neon, along with Evan Calarico, a motorcycle LED lighting and accessory company in Latham, New York, that uses their bikes for business and pleasure. When they’re not out tearing up the countryside with them, they’re display models for their company’s products at rallies all over the country. Now there’s an IRS expense (deduction) I’d love to have to write down. Needless to say, there are a few company LEDs stashed on this bike and Jody hints where they might be, “ Everywhere! Motor, front wheel, rear wheel, ground effects, bags, and up in the headlights to name a few.” Yup, it’s a legitimate business deduction to me at least.

So the bike remained dead stock as planned except for an extensive list of changes like the gorgeous Renegade Monterey wheels for one. The 21” front wheel now runs a single six-piston Hawg Halters caliper/rotor setup instead of factory dual discs to give an unobstructed view of the sleek 5-spoke wheel capped with a tight wrap FBI fender. Out back, it’s all new baby as Jody threw on the whole Fat Baggers Inc. enchilada of a 200mm wide 17” wheel on a new swingarm covered by the wide FBI fender cover with bag fillers. “We replaced the shocks with ones from Bike Buddy Pro, the high/low rider shocks. We make a remote system for airing, you can raise or lower the bike and not even be anywhere near it. It can also be done on the fly,” said Jody. Up front, Jody replaced the “beer cans” with Dyna caps for that “whole chopper thing, but on a bagger.”

The 96” Twin Cam did stay internally stock, but changes were made to the factory fueling with a prototype piece Jody’s working on. “We’re fooling the O2 sensors. We’re looking into making a product available, but I can’t say anything yet,” said Jody. He’s fooling no one with that Roland Sands Design air cleaner, though it looks quietly busy just sitting there. I love Roland’s sense of style, apparently Jody does too. The Vance & Hines Big Radius exhausts were a cool choice for this bagger. Usually seen on Softails, they required Jody to fabricate his own mounting brackets. “You don’t see many baggers with those pipes on it. Again, it’s back to that chopper look,” said Jody. The rest of the drivetrain is stock H-D in the interests of utter reliability, but who knows how long Jody will stay true to that self-spewed “I’m not gonna change anything” axiom of his?

The Jaybrake forward controls have a bit of a story behind them. . “This was the first bike that I ever had that had floorboards and it was okay, but I’m used to pegs,” said Jody. “These were one of Jaybrake’s first sets of forward controls. They kinda used me as a guinea pig to see how I liked them. I love ‘em and they work better too.”

With all the other unmentioned changes throughout the bike, I asked Jody if he was done. “I’m in the process of putting on a new FBI longer fender with our tombstone taillight and I’m installing a set of dropped bags with another set of directional bars we’re coming out with and we’re getting the lower half of the bodywork painted in new Mustang Vapor paint with a cobra graphic coming from the fairing all the way to the bags and . . .” So Jody, I’ll assume the answer is no! 

Up Close: Klock Werks Windshield

Riding behind a windshield is an acquired taste; it’s not for everybody. For those addicted to it, though, there’s no other way to ride. Unfortunately, unlike the windshield in a car, the shield on a motorcycle just might not fit YOU properly causing severe buffeting, unbearable wind noise, and glaring light refraction from headlights. That’s why there are so many different sizes, colors, styles, and brands available for Harleys. The frame-mounted fairing on the FLTR seems to have its own peculiar peccadilloes from its forward positioning. One of the more interesting alternatives is the sculpted Flare windshield of Brain Klock of Klock Werks Kustom Cycles made especially for 1998 and newer Road Glides.

According to Klock Werks, “ Stock shields allow the air to dive down behind the shield and boil around in a choppy, turbulent effect. The “flip” at the top of the Flare kicks the air out to the sides and up, allowing the wind to come back at the rider in a much cleaner fashion. The “hips” at the outer edge of the shield re-route the wind to add downforce to the front of the bike, which aids stability versus using a stock shield.” The downforce is claimed to be 10-15 pounds at highway speeds compared to 30-35 pounds of lift with a stock, short windshield.

There’s a choice of 8” versions in tint, dark smoke, and black and a more radically shaped 12” screen in tint and clear. Made from hard-coated polycarbonate, they’re pre-drilled for easy mounting using stock hardware. Now you not only have a new choice in finding your perfect windshield, you’ve got one that has its own custom look to boot.

Visit www.kustombaggers.com or call 605-996-6000 for more info.