Go ahead and take a good look at Jack Cofano’s always lovely photo gallery and see what you think about this nice looking ride built by Robert Snipes and crew at Snipes Machine in Kershaw, South Carolina. Maybe I’m just getting a bit jaded after seeing so many 30-inchers along with the occasional 32-incher dominating the front end of so many custom baggers. Or, maybe the 26 really is a sweet spot? Looking at the photos, if Harley-Davidson announced this eye-catching Snipes-built bagger as one of their own, would anyone think it looked the least bit cartoonish as Internet commenters always love to point out? Would Harley bagger riders warm up to it if it was a Motor Company built bike? I think they (a decent portion of current bagger riders) might just vote with their wallet and for a company, that’s the best kind of voting ever.

 

   What Robert Snipes has done here is nothing completely revolutionary like maybe a 32 mounted up front might be taken as, but a real nice refinement (using the highest quality American components) of a completely custom bagger worthy of spending time on the show circuit and on the highway. The profile of the 2008 Harley Street Glide is still there even if it’s been tweaked with everywhere you look and that’s not a bad thing. It’s a pretty damn nice piece to start with and what Robert’s done is nothing that destroys or completely rearranges it until you can’t recognize it. If it passed you on the street, you’d recognize the FLHX DNA immediately.

 

   For example, the iconic bat wing fairing is still a bat wing fairing, just not the stock one. Robert’s reworked and smoothed it out a bit until it has a style of its own. The H-D touring style front fender appearance is captured in the 26-inch Dirty Bird Concepts fender while the Bad Dad rear fender fills the gap between the moderately extended bags nicely without extreme fender lines, just a nice, smooth flow rearward. Yeah, the stocker doesn’t have a chin spoiler, but after checking out the one pictured here, why not?

 

   The tough looking 26-inch RC Components Eclipse Holeshot forged wheel is able to find a comfy home courtesy of a Hawg Halters Inc. Neck Rake Frame Kit that’s been welded into place. Getting as close to stock rake and trail as possible is possible with a set of their raked triple trees for a total of 44-degrees of rake that keeps things like a ‘70s wheel flop from scaring the beejeezus out of you when ambling through a parking lot. A single RC Components 11.8-inch rotor with a beefy HHI caliper doing the hugging replaces the OEM dual disc setup and provides the mandatory unparalleled view of the big wheel form the right side. Unfortunately for me, I’m still of the belief that two is better than one, but hey, it’s not my bike. Robert did use two RC wheels with an 18-incher out back so maybe that cancels it out?

 

   There are lots of other nice bits and pieces like the stretched and smoothed fuel tank and dash or the always classy Battistinis products scattered about from their C-thru floor boards, foot controls and fork bells just to mention a few. The mini-apes are just right for the look a custom bagger freak is going for and they shouldn’t stop anyone from doing anything short of riding directly into a 50-knot gale which you shouldn’t anyway. Stock Harley hand controls are only a plus as far as I’m concerned with the Street Glide’s massive electrical system that scares this shade tree mechanic to death.

 

 

   Unusually for a custom bagger or any style of custom for that matter, the seat actually looks comfortable while still looking attractive. Maybe the comfy part is what attracts me to the Saddlemen two-up saddle, but it’s not a hindrance in the looks department even if it’s not hand tooled or whatever. We all have our own requirements on a bike and a nice place to sit wins me over every time. Same goes for the 96-inch Twin Cam which stays virtually stock other than the forward facing high flow intake and the Bassani dual exhausts which look like they’re playing a game of Hide ‘n Seek very successfully. Nice way to punch up the volume and the power without losing reliability.

 

  What I do like and appreciate is the sassy, but sexy House of Kolor Candy Tangerine paint laid on by Steve’s Paint and Body in Heath Springs, South Carolina. There’s nothing but a beautiful, uncluttered field of sparkly orange paint nicely touched off by tasteful minimalist graphics by Snipes Machine. Light, artificial or otherwise, brings out the highlights of the bodywork and provides its own contrast colors to the Candy Tangerine paint. When you’ve got something this light and bright, the color takes care of itself without the need for extreme graphics to make it sparkle. All in all, it’s a paintjob I’d be proud to have on any one of my all-black bikes.

 

  Once again, Robert Snipes and the crew at Snipes Machine have swung hard and hit the big one. This time it’s a beautiful Swiss Army knife of a custom bagger that can do it all. Maybe the 26-inch wheel should be the new 34-incher we haven’t seen yet. Sometimes a step back is a step forward and this just might be the case for sticking with a 26 if you really plan to use your fabulous show- or street-ready bagger as you hoped you could when you started the build in the first place.

 

  For more info on Snipes Machine visit http://www.snipesmachine.com/ or check ‘em out on Facebook.