Sure, the huge 30” front wheels have set the style standard that builders financially have to follow whether they like it or not and until they figure out how to install a cellar in a bagger, they’re about as low as you can go, so what’s keeping it going? Well I’d venture to guess they’re still a bit of an anomaly to the average Harley rider so even though there’s quite a few of them presented to us, they’re still a bit rare in the real world. With that in mind, here’s another wild and wooly baggery ride.

  In case you haven’t figured it out for yourself yet after looking at the photos, this striking custom bagger one recognizable as a Harley-Davidson Road King is one more in a long line from the mind and hands of Joey Hensley of Backyard Baggers in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Joey’s been knocking out bagger after bagger in his spare time to a waiting audience that shows no signs of backing off regardless of the time or money involved. I can’t help but be amazed at the prices that balls-out bagger builders must have to ask just to cover their expenses. The radical and intricate paintjobs alone could buy you a nice new Harley, maybe not a CVO, but still, a nice new Harley.

   When you see what builders like Joey have to go through to put just one of those huge front wheels on a Harley never mind customizing the rest of the bike, you can’t begrudge them their asking prices. Doing just the necessary frame modifications alone along with refinishing the cut and welded chassis is a chunk of dough. If you’re thinking of how nice your bike would be with a 30” front wheel and a few other timely mods, do the money math first before you start screaming how it costs more to customize than what the bike cost new. I only say this because I just got off the phone with a person who was looking into purchasing a big wheel bagger and he was shocked at the asking price of a few builders he spoke with. After we went back and forth over the ideas he wanted in a bagger and what he would be charged, he started to understand the costs involved. Somehow he had gotten the idea that high-priced customs were a thing of the past, but he never put two and two together and came up with four. My only real advice was to ride the hell out of his Ultra and quit whining. Hey, I’ve always wanted a Ferrari ever since I was a kid and they were around $14,000 new. Unsurprisingly, I’ve still been unable to buy one, but I’m not crying about it. Well at least not publically.

  In the meantime, if you’re one of the lucky people who can afford their dream and it happens to be a custom bagger, it’d behoove you to check out Joey’s web site www.backyardbaggers.net for more info.