There’s plenty of normal stuff to do and see there, but I gotta believe that Neil Dellinger’s radically customized Harley-Davidson Road Glide is quite a sight to see rolling down the streets of Hickory. Now I’m sure there are other Road Glides and other Harleys in Hickory as it’s a typical small American city, but there probably isn’t another Road Glide around quite like Neil’s. That’s pretty easy to say as this is one far-out custom bagger. With the heart of a big-ass 124-inch engine injected with mechanical steroids just to make sure you understand that it’s not just big inches at work here, but seriously hopped-up big inches at work.

   All the bodywork is courtesy of Shannon Davidson and the crew at The Chopp Shop in Taylorsville, North Carolina, which happens to be a short 30-minute drive away from Hickory. The Chopp Shop was a pretty safe place to get a bagger customized as Shannon was one of the first builders I remember getting in on the big wheel custom bagger scene and he’s created one after another successful custom bagger. This is at least his fifth Barnett’s Magazine Online feature bike so we’re running out of new stuff to say about the same guy and that’s a good thing. In case you’re interested and I know you are, here’s a link to his previously featured Rad Glide, a link to his Street Glide Gone Wild, another to his CVO Road Glide, and another for his Seen At Myrtle Beach Road Glide. If you’ve checked them out, you might have noticed that this build is not his most radical, but all things considered, it’s still quite radical compared to something rolling off the York assembly line. 

Starting life in the custom world as a regular old 2011 Road Glide, it was stripped down to the frame and work commenced on making the stock frame accept a bigger, but not too big, front wheel. As you know, that’s a hack and whack job on the neck to stretch and rake it out for the bigger front wheel and although this is pretty common stuff for professional builders, I’d be afraid of tackling this in the garage. We’re used to this modification and somewhat take it for granted although it does involve cutting and welding the stock frame. That’s some serious stuff better left to the pros and I don’t doubt Shannon Davidson could almost do this in his sleep he’s done so many.

   There was a lot of other work we now expect from a custom bagger that we also kinda take for granted too like a complete re-make of all and I mean all of the bodywork. From the cut and customized front fender to the matching swoop of the bags and rear fender as they extend rearward and everything else in between, Shannon’s made this Neil and only Neil’s ride. Even the rather bulbous stretched tank suits this muscular build as it compresses itself on the mass of chrome that appears to be the hot-rodded 124. The chin spoiler looks very nice from the side and helps fill in the dead space between the engine and front wheel, but I’m not sure about the front. It’s smart that it was left open to provide good air flow to the hopped-up motor, but somehow it looks like it’s missing something. Maybe I’m just expecting it to be filled with an oil cooler or something or maybe I’m just being too picky.  

   There’s just so much chrome it’s almost hard to tell what’s up on the right side of the engine other than the dual filter induction setup. It’s just super shiny and a blur of chrome. The 2-into-1 pipes slink away into the right side frame cover and bag and disappear totally emptying out who knows where. The left side engine view is different and almost looks black block stock in a bit of stylistic derring-do. I’m not sure who came up with that one, but it is different.

   The view from the saddle to the reworked Road Glide fairing is like seeing the cockpit of a spaceship. All the gauge faces have been re-faced with a checkerboard pattern and sitting right up in the rider’s line of view is a landscape dominating computer screen of rather substantial size. I’m sure it’s there for a good reason other than reading email on the road at speed, but what exactly I’m not sure. I’m a map guy.

One thing’s for sure, I’m still trying to figure out the Chopp Shop paintjob. To me, it looks different in every Jack Cofano photo. Yeah, it is an attractive black with swirling asymmetrical graphics in a vibrant blue, but somehow the hues seem to change as light hits different areas. It’s not an in-your-face scheme, but something you appreciate the closer you get. It’s just a different take where the graphics can go ghostly in certain light or they become bolder and you notice the intense graphic work that went into this paintjob. It’s bold and subtle at the same time. I like it.

And that’s how you get a picture in your head of Neil Dellinger blasting around old Hickory Tavern and shaking up the locals just a bit. One-hundred-twenty-four-inches of V-twin power hammering away at spinning a colossal front wheel followed by more custom bodywork and a flashy paintjob than the town’s ever witnessed before will do that. I wouldn’t be surprised if the city put up a photo of Neil cruising through downtown on their web site to add a bit of spice to an otherwise really nice little city. With that powerhouse of an engine, he could be the Fourth of July parade just by himself and with a twist of the throttle, the fireworks too.

For more info on The Chopp Shop, visit http://www.thechoppshop.com/ or do your usual social media trawls of Facebook, Instagram or whatever.