Baggers
Whatever Doug does for a living, more power to him and I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels that way. Lee Meyers and the whole crew at Rankin Creek Custom Cycles in lovely Stuarts Draft, Virginia, must feel the same way too after finally pushing this out the shop door. I imagine there was an immediate trip to the local bank on the shop bagger with saddlebags again topped off with cash. The best part was that Lee gave Doug every bit of his monies worth from the tip of the front fender to the tail-dragging rear fender.
After stripping the Street Glide into a 3D parts book, Lee got to work installing a Misfit Industries neck kit to accommodate the 30-inch Misfit All Star front wheel that set the tone for the build. Misfit’s neck kit comes complete with everything including beefy triple trees that give the bike rake and trail dimensions that somehow ape the original FLHX or so I’m told. Someday I’ve got to measure all this stuff up for myself to understand how this really works, but that’s what Misfit claims so I’m going with it. The new neck piece is quite a work of industrial art with a large gusseted hole aft of the head tube to allow for internal wiring and the clean look everybody wants. Looks like a nice setup for installing the big 30-inch wheel where the stock 18-incher once lived. I should add that I have a feeling Doug McGoon from Mad Wheels is behind making Misfit’s All Stdesign a reality, but I’m guessing on this one and if I’m wrong, I apologize.
While the work had started at Rankin Creek, the spanking new engine was shipped out to T.R. Reiser at T-Man Performance in Kernersville, North Carolina, for a wee bit of super high-performance work. T.R. is famous for his overachieving engines whether they’re intended for the drag strip, Bonneville, or just being the local bad boy on the street. T.R. opted to make this a 117-inch engine that makes considerably more beans than the stock 70 or so at the rear wheel. Somehow I feel that three digits are involved now. When it was a done deal, it was dropped into the bling vat until things like the stock air cleaner, wet primary drive and heads were miraculously changed from OEM okay to neato billet pieces including diamond cut heads. Oh, I can’t leave out the gorgeous Rankin Creek-modified Dirty Bird Concepts two-into-bellowing-one exhaust either.
With the engine in good hands, Lee did a bit more modding to the frame, in this case the swingarm. I thought this bike was sitting just a bit lower than most custom baggers and that’s because Lee notched the stock swingarm to allow the saddlebag frames to slip right in when the Misfit Industries air ride drops its pants so to speak. It’s gotten to the point of so-low where my six-year old son could probably comfortably touch the ground at rest from the elegantly simple two-up seat made by Butch Watson of HighRollers Cycle Seats fame. I wouldn’t be afraid to try calling my son out to try this as the bike sits squarely upright on the Matt Risley Innovation (MRI) electric center stand. I mean, who in their right mind could put up with a dorky side stand on a custom bagger anyway?
Bodywork is a mix and match of modified parts from the Black Label Baggers’ rear fender, bags, tank cover and dash to the Dirty Bird Concepts fairing and front fender. All nice pieces neatly integrated into a harmonious design. Lee turned to a Rankin Creek favorite painter, Chad McCreary of Copperhead Graphics in Cana, Virginia, when it came time for the all-important paint and graphics. As usual, Chad did not disappoint and came up with a stunning work of art that’s subtly refreshing in a world of overdone paintjobs. The bike had its own look and wouldn’t be mistaken for anybody else’s bagger. Frankly, you can’t ask for more in a paintjob. It just flows from one end to the other and looks crisp as hell doing it.
Lee gave Doug the all-out custom performance Street Glide he’d been wanting and in exchange, Doug gave Lee a pile of cash and everybody, including the various vendors, was happy as a clam. Don’t you just love a happy ending?
For more information on Rankin Creek Custom Cycles, simply click on the link man.