As late night TV’s infomercial queen, Susan Powter, was always busy screaming, “Stop the insanity!” At least that’s the way many bagger fiends feel about bigger and bigger wheels. Radical baggers have their many admirers as well as owners, but many, many of you felt otherwise and voiced your thoughts all over our Facebook page. So, in honor of your outcries of blasphemy for Harley bagger freaks, here’s one for you. It’s a Goldilocks bagger because it’s not too big and not too small, not too radical yet not too stock, it’s just right. Gotta give credit to Nabo Blackmon of Lancaster, South Carolina, for a heavily customized 2009 Harley Road Glide that looks the biz without losing any of its flavor. It’s custom, it’s crazy, but it’s totally usable as a day to day ride.

   Just because it has a reasonably sized front wheel doesn’t mean that it’s not a pretty damn rad bagger just as it sits, though. Front and rear air suspension allows this FLTR to be dropped as low as its MRI electric center stand will allow and that’s as low as anything other than a lay frame. Hey, what’s an inch-and-a-half of height between friends?  The front wheel is aftermarket and although it’s a lot less than a 30, it’s still a pretty penny for most of us. Good looking piece, though. Stock brakes were kept as why not? They work excellently and ABS never hurt anybody I know of. Out back there’s a wheel, but, what it is, is anybody’s guess. I’m guessing stock as the only person that will ever see it other than Nabo would be a mechanic. As long as there is one and it’s doing what it’s supposed to, that’s all that’s required.

  Special bodywork is what a custom bagger is all about and Nabo doesn’t disappoint with his version of what a bagger should look like. A Heritage-style front fender covers the front wheel and even though it says “Heritage” it does so with its mouth barely open. You know what Nabo was getting at, but you sure know it’s not OEM. Same goes for the frame-mounted fairing that’s pretty out there to begin with and now it’s been worked over some more. Not so much on the exterior that looks fairly stock, but on the inner dash, it’s a whole new ball game with multiple screens. There’s nothing behind that says “Made in York, Pennsylvania, anymore. Actually it’s pretty bulked up now to contain all the audio stuff stashed into it along with those giant speakers. And just like an amusement park ride where You have to be this tall, now that clear windscreen’s gone metal flake blue solid, you better be tall enough to see over it.

    The gas tank kept its stock look and the stock volume. Nothing wrong with that on a practical radical bagger that’s still hitting the street like no tomorrow. Out back, Nabo did the full monty with extended bags and a long swooping fender with an inset license plate mount. You might have noticed the saddle bag lids are slightly different than OEM with humongous speakers belting out tunes to anyone who wants to listen in a three-mile radius. Well, maybe not quite that much, but you get the drift. I wonder if you could get a massage from them on the road with the right music? They should be enough to make one’s back molecules vibrate. Capping off the back are new swoopy frame covers that custom blend everything together for a smooth look custom baggers strive for.

    The Twin Cam 96 is typical of custom bagger engines in that there’s plenty of usable power that’s been enhanced by a Stage 1 kit. I mean who doesn’t love a horsepower improving air intake that not only looks cool, but gives you more legroom too? The 2-into-1 exhaust is about as aggressively butch as one get can on a bagger and I bet it sounds way better than the billion-dollar audio. Well, it would to me anyway as that’s the best man-made sound ever. I love my music, but not on my bike. I mean, who’s gonna listen to something at speed when you’ve got the best volume control ever in your right hand?

   There were a few things I noticed that I was pleasantly surprised by like the Harley seat. It looks good, it’s pretty comfy and nobody sees it anyway once your butt’s on it. Same goes for the stock foot controls which do what they do best ─ work. They could always be changed later for something else wicked custom and wicked expensive, but it seems like Nabo spent his money wisely where it was needed most. One thing I did notice that I thought was way cool is the Harley quick-release set-up for a sissy bar/luggage rack/Tour Pak. Nobody leaves that stuff on a custom without reason and I think Nabo’s got his in the form of one of the aforementioned pieces. Take it off for show and put it back on for go.

    Custom paint is a mandatory requirement for any bike calling itself a custom bagger and Nabo’s bike is no different. Nothing too crazy here, no story of Nabo’s life so far, or hallucinatory artwork, just a nice heavy metal flake blue contrasting against all the black bits of the background. You’ve probably noticed the almost complete lack of chrome and that’s pretty damn unusual too. Nothing’s show polished, nothing’s chromed, I bet you never saw that one coming. I didn’t and that’s probably a good thing as that means this bike as shown does not need any. Pretty cool approach Nabo. He did imbibe in some nice gray with white pinstriping graphics along with the red Bar & Shield proudly sitting there without a letter to be found. Effective branding Harley-Davidson. 

   So, has Nabo Blackmon come up with the right balance of bagger versus custom bagger for you? It’s a looker and it’s Nabo’s and that’s probably all that counts. I wish that more people who have built a custom bagger along these lines would stand up[ for their bikes and send some photos in so we can feature them. Don’t be afraid, just take some photos and get in touch with us, Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.