Somehow the kinda big 26-inch front wheel doesn’t look so ginormous anymore compared to 30- and 32-inch wheels. Not only is the diameter smaller visually, but the necessary rake for a big wheel seems a lot less for a 26-incher. I dare say they almost look normal to me now in spite still being a hell of a lot larger than stock. As far as riding a show bike goes, the 26 looks so much easier to handle and a lot more versatile for it. That’s what you’re looking at here on this striking 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Glide custom called Holy Moly built by Barnyard Baggers in Lowell, Indiana. The folks at Barnyard have been cranking out awesome baggers one after the pother and this is one of their more “conservative” bikes built around the 26-inch front wheel. 

   Installing the wheel still required frame mods repositioning the neck to a new angle and that’s not something the average garage builder is capable of doing. The end result rakes the custom fork legs out for more tire clearance just like a 30-inch, but a bit less making it a smite easier to muck about on. None of this is new to Barnyard as they’ve done this so many times before they could probably do it in their sleep although it’s probably not recommended. A single six-piston caliper working on a custom rotor does its best to let the bold front wheel design with a strong hint of Iron Cross show its stuff for all the show world and sidewalk dwellers to see. 

   Naturally for as custom bagger, this FLHX features air suspension front and rear for the “How low can you go?” look admirers find so endearing. I have to admit baggers present so much better when they’re down and dirty and in this case, sitting on an MRI electric center stand. Sometimes I’m not sure that this is what riding a custom bagger is all about. Anytime I’ve seen a bagger parked and dropped there’s always a lot of quiet “Oohs and ahhs” from the surrounding audience. It’s like street theater on two wheels as far as the general public and fellow riders see it. 

   The black and chrome Twin Cam 96 didn’t need a bit of finish tweaking to fit right into this build although there was tweaking going on elsewhere. The forward facing air cleaner provides a bit of ram air tuning as well as knee space and what can you say about that nasty looking 2-into-1 that looks like it’s a refugee from a sprint car other than “wicked” or “cool” or maybe even “wicked cool?” I’m going with wicked cool. Interestingly, Barnyard also swapped out the stock cam for Reaper 574 cams and race lifters for a nice bit of punch. That gets me to thinking that someone does or plans to ride this as there’s no need for a cam swap on a strictly show bike. Sounds good to me and I’m sure the engine does too. 

   Like all radical baggers, there’s basically not a piece of the original bodywork left. Up front sitting over a very tight front fender is a bat wing fairing like any Street Glide, but it’s not the one it originally came with. Misfit Industries dropped one of their Streamline Raked Fairings in the mail for Barnyard to play with. The end result is familiar, but completely different and just what Barnyard was looking for. You can’t have a custom bagger without a shapely stretched tank and no surprise that’s what you’re looking at here. Dumping everything aft of the beautiful seat by Dave Vos of Customs by Vos was a no-brainer for a rad bagger too. The whole back end, fender and bags, was reimagined with a complete Dirty Bird Concepts Top Shelf Ass End Kit that takes the stock out of a Street Glide while still retaining a wee small bit of the feeling. There’s no doubt it’s a Road Glide, but it’s not the least bit stock. 

     Other nice mods included the obligatory audio system that might be capable of making your ears bleed if it’s cranked and you’re too close. In this case it’s an ultra high end 1200 watt Hertz Audio System that I’m going to leave to you to find out about as motorcycle audio other than engine sounds are none of my business. I’d prefer to spend my time holding onto those nicely sized and formed mini-apes and shuffling my feet on the Battistinis USA floor boards and foot controls while looking out over that short windshield at speed. If nothing else, a 26-inch wheel bagger should be exceptionally good on a highway I would hope. Tail of the Dragon? Not so much.   

   Barnyard left it up to the talented Jason Vanderwoude of NSD Paintwerks to literally do his thing in an unusually striking paintjob. I say “unusually striking” because I wouldn’t expect the impact that of a black and silver paintjob to be so quietly and nicely in your face the second you see it. There’s so much more to see the closer you get and that includes Jason’s graphics which get intricately complicated you more you check out the whole bike. There’s a nice flow of one of my favorite touches on both the paint and the mechanicals and that’s Homer Simpson’s favorite mods ─ speed holes. The juxtaposition of gloss black and heavy silver flake with a touch of red striping does a Street Glide good. It’s a stunner of a paintjob that doesn’t smack you in the face from 50-feet, but draws you in closer and closer until you see all its secrets. 

   Possibly one of the best parts of this custom Street Glide is that it’s still for sale on Barnyard Baggers web site. How much? I guess that’s up to how much you might like it or how good a bargainer you are. Either way, I’m out of it, but if you’re interested check out http://www.barnyardbaggers.com/ for more info.