Besides his trademark Mohawk, Russell’s been famous for his ground-up builds that made the Exile aesthetic recognizable from a block away. “I was a little concerned at first that I wouldn’t be able to get my personal satisfaction from playing with Harleys that I get from my ground-up builds but I have to say I was wrong. I get as excited about the Harleys that go out of here with makeovers as I am about the ground-up stuff,” said Russell. “The nice thing is we’re tapping a market we already created. We had an army of people who didn’t have the wherewithal or the testicles to own a rigid chopper, but now we’re able to say, ‘Ah, we’ve got something for you buddy.’ “

Checking out the finished product, you might not recognize the FXD DNA at first as this particular bike is an all-in of Exile pieces and parts. “We felt the Dynas deserved some recognition and also that a lot of our Softail makeover parts were close enough to work on a Dyna that it made no business sense not to stick our toe in that water to find out what we could sell to the Dyna crowd,” said Russell. “Some do it a piece at a time, but it always seems like a week later the guy’s calling back to say, ‘Are the bars shipped yet, ‘cause if they’re not can I have a set of forward controls?’ Once the bug gets them, they go the full distance.”

Possibly the biggest change Russell made was replacing the stock mag wheels with a set of Exile Monster spokers. Up front, a charmingly fat 16” wheel sporting a 150mm Metzeler whitewall replaces the skinny stock 19-incher courtesy of Exile’s triple trees that spreads out the fork tubes to fit. “We’re definitely known for that fat Bulldog front wheel vibe, but we also do quite a number of bikes with a 21” up front, especially with that 120×21 now,” he said. Aft, a 200mm whitewall Metzeler sits on another Monster spoked wheel and nobody will ever ask you, “Where’s the beef?” If that 200mm whitewall has gotten your fancy, be prepared. “Those are available exclusively through us, but they are stupidly expensive,” said Russell. Exile brakes, front and rear, rein things in while looking good doing it.

Exile’s 14” FatBar HighBars set the tone and Jaybrake hand controls with Exile’s hidden switch system in the grips cleans things up tremendously without a wire or cable in sight. The reach from the Duane Ballard solo seat to the bars and the super-sanitary Exile forward controls is daily-rider friendly. Russell replaced the stock tank with a ’06 unit “to get that traditional turn-cap style” instead of the 2010’s flush-cap dash. The rear fender is an Exile Trojan while the front is a clipped-and-cut H-D piece. Tony Markus laid on the satin black paint with discrete black Exile logos adorning the tank for all to see as long as you are extremely close.

Russell basically left the 96” Twin Cam alone other than a set of his Monster Shotgun pipes, an Exile air cleaner cover, and that tasty little Exile 3” open primary. It may not be an Exile rigid, but is it an Exile bike without an open primary? Only your wallet knows for sure.

Take a good look all around this bike and you’ll see all the lovely Exile parts available to replace the boring stock pieces on the other bajillion Dynas roaming the streets. A Harley P&A catalog Dyna may be good enough for most people, but wouldn’t you really rather take a walk on the wild side? I’m all in except for the Mohawk