With the intention of making the bike look as good as it handled, Craiger disassembled the entire thing. He kept the frame’s original stretch and rake, but fabricated a swing arm with a pair of steel tubes and a hidden one-inch heavy-duty axle. Attached to the custom swing arm are two Progressive Suspension adjustable shocks with a Dyna Sport 39mm adjustable front end, modified for a one-inch axle, secured to the steering neck. A Weld wheel was bolted to the Dyna Sport measuring 21×3.25” and fit with a performance oriented Avon Venom tire. The one-off swing-arm was filled with a 150mm wide Avon tire that’s stretched to about 159mm wide with a Weld 16×4.5” rear wheel. Reducing reciprocating mass, Craiger chose to stop the bike with super-light Lyndall Racing’s rotors and HHI 4-piston calipers.

Rebuilt with the spirit of the original bike in mind, Craiger kept the motor’s displacement relatively small at 80”. “There’s nothing better than racing a guy on the street with a 100”+ motor and blowing him away with my 80-inch bagger,” Craiger said. Obviously, there’s more to this motor than cubic inches. Craiger had the cylinders honed and the heads ported at a race motor building company called J-Precision. The rest of the rebuild was all Craiger’s work, including balancing (with in-house equipment) and assembling the 11.75:1 compression ratio motor. “Balancing is crucial overall, and especially for longevity. Head work produces the most power for the money, but you’ll always see better power gains through proven parts combinations,” Craiger said. 

As with custom motor work, a combination of different bag, fairing and tank brands usually yield the best-looking bikes. Craiger used a few Harley parts, including a set of fairings and the gas tank. He incorporated a pair of aftermarket B-Cool fenders that he trimmed and fit to either end of the bike. The oil tank he envisioned couldn’t be found in any catalog, so he fabricated a custom tank that holds six liters of lubricant. “I never wanted to have to worry about an overheating motor and I made sure of it. The entire oiling system holds somewhere in the 9-litre range and it includes two oil coolers — one on each down tube,” Craiger said.

After about half a year’s worth of working on the bike after the shop had closed for the night, Craiger finished the final assembly of the pewter-denim painted parts. On his dyno, it made 112hp and 108lbs/ft of torque — and when combined with the updated styling, he converted any non-believers. “No one calls it ugly anymore and they’ll never call it slow,” Craiger said.

Builder: Craig “Craiger” Sofie

“Of course I like to build one-of-a-kind machines, but lately I’ve been updating and modifying a lot of older models. I think it’s great because my goal is to build a useable custom bike, not a trailer queen,” Craiger said. He does as much of the motor work that he can inside the shop and he’s able to prove his knowledge of making power with a chassis dyno. “I can turn a stock Twin-Cam into a motor that produces 110 rear wheel horsepower with a ten day turn around,“ Craiger sai

Twelve years ago he started Barebone Choppers to aspire to more than the average performance shop. The current result is a 7500 square foot building that houses a bike showroom, a performance/service area and a café. “I keep the place organized and clean like a dealership, but without the attitude and stress,” Craiger said. The shop is capable of just about anything an enthusiast might need for his/her Harley, but there are certain things they choose not to do. “If a customer wants a part that I don’t sell and didn’t recommend because I’ve experienced some sort of failure with the part — but they insist on it — I’ll turn down the entire project. If my reputation rides on reliability, which it does, a customer can’t expect me to use substandard parts,” Craiger said.

Meeting some of the demand for quality components, Barebone Choppers makes a number of parts and Craiger hopes to expand the parts manufacturing side of the business. The polished stainless steel motor/ignition/coil mount seen on “Stealth Fighter” is one of his best sellers, a trend he attributes to the part’s practical multifunctional configuration. Expect more parts from Barebone in the near future that are practical and pretty.

For more information about Barebone Choppers, visit www.barebonechoppersinc.com or call 705-325-0005.

SPECIFICATIONS
Owner: Craig (Craiger) Sofia Year/Make: ’91 H-D FXRT Fabrication: Barebone Chopper Assembly: Barebone Chopper Build Time: 6-months (nights only) Engine: 80″ Evo Flywheels: Balance H-D Rods: JIMS H-Beam Pistons: Forged Weisco 11.75:1 Cylinders: H-D Heads: J-Precision Modified H-D Cam: Bob woods Nightprowler Ignition: Crane Hi-4 Carb: 45mm Mikuni Pipes: Hooker 2-into-1 Transmission: H-D 5-speed Primary: H-D Clutch: BDL Pro Clutch Frame: Modified H-D Rake: Stock Stretch: Stock Forks: Dyna Sport 39mm Rear Suspension: Progressive Suspension Front Wheel: Weld 21×3.25″ Rear Wheel: Weld 16×4.5″		Front Tire: Avon Venom 21/120 Rear Tire: Avon Venom 16/150 Brakes: 4-piston HHI Fuel Tank: H-D Oil Tank: Barebone Choppers Fenders: B-Cool/Barbone Choppers Handlebars: Barebone Choppers Headlight: H-D Risers: H-D Taillight: ’39 Ford Hand Controls: H-D Modified Foot Controls: H-D Modifed Electrical: Barebon Choppers Chroming: DECO Chrome Painter: Daredevil Customs Color: H-D Pewter/Denim Polishing: Heavy Metal Services Molding: Barebone Choppers Seat: Corbin Modifed Special thanks to: “big” George Kent, Corey True, Vinnie, John Garwood, M.C. Lazer & Powdercoating, Patrick @ J-Precision, and Dave @Leather Works