#1. Now maybe you are one of those people I’ve always been in awe of (but don’t understand one tiny bit) who kept it minty-factory fresh with no miles as a future collectable. Well you know where you stand and you’re just gonna keep your 100th Anniversary FLHRSEI2 parked next to your no-mile 25th anniversary 1978 Corvette Indy Pace Car Replica in your lovely climate controlled garage, safe from the real world while waiting for the collector market to catch up to your wisdom — maybe.

#2. You’ve ridden the hell out of your Screamin’ Eagle and had a great time with it, but it’s getting a little worn around the edges even though you’ve taken great care of it and it needs a little re-furbishing and freshening up. No big deal here, just find a great painter and a good Harley dealer and keep riding it ‘til you drop or just trade it in as-is on a new model and start all over again. Either way’s not a bad approach and just depends on the owner.

#3. You’re the type that bought this because you thought it was special, but now it’s just a good old bike to you and the idea of a future collectable means absolutely nothing to you. Maybe you tried to give a damn about that angle, but now you want to really, really make it yours so it’s time for a complete do-over. Or, maybe you just got a hell of a deal on a used FLHRSEI2 and want to use it as the basis of your all-out custom of choice. Pat yourself on the back for being such a smart thinker.

Looking over the choices, the first choice is self-explanatory and needs no further looking into. Actually it’s kinda sketchy to me as it’s like bragging that your beautiful wife is still a virgin by your choice. The second choice is pretty reasonable and one most riders would probably do one way or the other. The third choice is for the brave at heart with fairly deep pockets, but if you’re a CVO buyer from new, you’ve probably already got deep pockets.

So let’s go with the third choice like Jacob Hinsey, son of Bad Dad Inc.’s custom bagger impresario Derk Hinsey, did with our feature bike called King Midas. Obviously this was the used bike purchase approach as Jacob wasn’t even eligible to get a driver’s license when these were new. Basically then, Bad Dad threw their extensive catalogue of custom parts at the bike along with one-off pieces (that probably will become catalogue parts) until they had a King worthy of the name Midas. Yup, this is one of those cases where the phrase “your dad’s bagger” does not have a bad connotation for a kid. Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Bad Dad has been at this custom bagger thing full-force since 2000 and that’s put them squarely into the leading edge of custom bagger parts where Derk has fought hard to stay ahead of the custom bagger curve with imagination and good design.

Well there is a good thing about what Jacob did for other owners of ’03 CVO Road Kings and that’s to make a lot of stock CVO parts available on the used market. Basically, Bad Dad chucked every piece of OEM bodywork and a lot of special CVO parts in this transformation. A 23” wheel replaces the stock 16-incer up front and a Bad Dad fender sits over it. A stretched tank with a big cool crown for a gas cap and Bad Dad’s complete bag and rear fender setup replaces the stock pieces. What appears to be crown graphics on the sides and back of the bags at first glance are actually amber-colored turn signals. On the rear fender, the King Midas logo is not a graphic either, but a graphically cool brake and taillight. A really neat custom headlight nacelle smooths things out up front while adding a bit of locomotive-style Art Deco glamour. Take a good look around this bike for lots of little custom pieces like the Bad Dad engraved floorboards and a lot more.

When it came time for paint, Bad Dad stayed in-house for the gold base shot by Matt Anderson. But, when it came time for graphics, they turned to Scal Remsik of Scal Graphix handily located also in Fort Wayne for the new take on the Screamin’ Eagle logo and more. All in all, it looks very fresh without being overdone. Hey, that sounds exactly like what Bad Dad’s been doing since day one and very possibly the key to their success. Check out all their stuff at www.baddad.com.