Okay, building a custom Road King bagger is not revolutionary as it’s seemingly done every day, but Jason’s approach to his version of the fabled Harley tourer is strictly his own. That’s something we’ve always felt about Crazy Beavers Customs at Barnett’s Magazine Online and why we’ve featured other CBC creations like a Road Glide and, well, another Road Glide. Both of those bikes feature a lot of crazy custom bodywork and all the stuff we’ve come to expect as standard on a fairing-equipped custom bagger from heart-stopping audio systems to acres of swoopy surface area for paintjobs that probably cost more than the Harley I’m riding right now. But Jason’s version of a Road King took a totally different tack and I gotta say it captivated me with its wind-blown flow of lines inspired by a previous CBC Street Glide build Barnett’s also featured.
CBC’s Road King takes the nice flow of that Street Glide of a couple of years ago and brings it up a whole bit more than just a notch. This bike sits low, extraordinarily low. If you dug a two-inch trench under the engine subframe that’s already sitting so squarely on the ground, I swear it’d go down the full two-inches like it was going down cellar. Well there might be some limitations to accomplishing that, but I swear again it will give it the old school try. It just sits on its frame tubing with no need for pesky electric center stands or bulky frame tabs to keep it from going beyond limbo low.
What I really like about Jason’s Road King above and beyond the gorgeous minimalist bagger bodywork is there’s a bit of a hooligan vibe to it. The über-manly look of the fenderless 30-inch SMT Machining black front wheel is a pip and sets the tone for the rest of the build. American Suspension had a field day on the front end with a set of their airlessly-chunky inverted forks with built-in hidden calipers supposedly grabbing (hey, if you can’t see ‘em) the tiniest and the plainest discs ever made. Meanwhile, American Suspension’s monster-strong billet triple clamps calmly oversee the whole works from their lofty position at the top and near top of the fork chain. Not trying to offend anyone, there’s a lot of butch stuff going on up front in the take-no-prisoners front end. I love the fenderless look and I almost wish Vee Rubber (the company who’s not afraid to make anything) made a 30-inch knobby for it as it wouldn’t really look too out of place on a radical hooligan bagger like this. It’s got that “Yee-haw!” look to it and I mean that in a complimentary dump clutch/full throttle way.
Jason, along with the other two Beavers in the shop, Josh and Bruce, got beaver busy getting the all-steel tank, chin spoiler and side panels to perfectly fit the mechanical canvas with not a line out of place. The bags and fenders are composite stuff with a fit and finish in line with the pristine steel pieces and naturally that makes everything just flow together as one. Speed By Design’s Long Baller Rear End consisting of a rear fender and bags couldn’t have been a better choice for this build. From the side it looks like there are waves of bodywork rolling in with the fender extending past the bags and creating its own line while mimicking the others. There’s the old flow-back/push-ahead feeling even sitting flat on the tarmac and I can’t help but like it.
Something I didn’t mention yet is that Jason was/is a painter first and foremost and that’s only a big compliment as his other skills are readily apparent. As usual, he painted his Road King the color of aristocracy, the sometimes too-outrageous, but-not-this-time, purple. There’s a good dosh of black too, but it’s the purple you can’t help but see. That’s exactly the way he played it from the basically all-black front end that flows back to the black engine area before diving almost under the bags on the way aft. Everything else is an extremely captivating purple and I’m not a purple guy by any means. Most purples I would shy away from in a heartbeat, but Jason’s paintwork especially how he changed the whole shape of the back end from the rear with just paint is phenomenal to me anyway. The strong, but judicious use of black and a lack of chrome really make whatever cool purple hue that is not only pop, but pop in a good way. Jason’s smart and tasteful pinstriping accentuates every single line without drawing attention to itself.
What I also personally like is the seeming lack of a giant audio system and other needless furbelows replaced by a more performance feel. It’s probably necessary to header wrap the short and stout pipes to keep sensitive human skin from drying out or worse, but there are a lot of different ways to do that especially on a bike this highly finished so I think it was nicely intentional. Hooliganish. Or take the smooth seat by Mike’s Fabrication with its simple bit of elegant bling diamond plated insert that provides a strong and useful riding position in combo with the quietly aggressive low rise bars that could easily pull off a motocross cross-brace without looking out of place. This may sound silly to some, but this bike just has an air of confidence about itself that doesn’t have to be shouted to make its point. Comfortably hooligan.
Jason and the rest of his Beaver colony have redefined what I expect from a custom Road King after a spat of flamboyant designs that didn’t ring any bells. This thing’s so tough it can carry off purple like no other vehicle since a 1970 Hemi ‘Cuda and that’s about as bastard tough of a purple vehicle as I can think of. Matter of fact, this bike has rear haunches that even provoke the feeling of a ‘Cuda’s rear quarters. Jason’s minimalist approach to a radical custom bagger is a radical choice as what little bodywork he worked with gave him no place to hide in his design. With tons of bodywork and paint, it’s a bit easier for a builderto keep the eye busy without landing anyplace. Jason’s approach meant each and every line had better be tight and right and it unequivocally is. Score another one from the busy Beavers of Crazy Beavers Customs.
For more info on Crazy Beavers Customs, visit their brand new web site at http://www.crazybeaverscustoms.com/#intro-shift or check ‘em out on Facebook.