Such is the case with the custom Road Glide shown here. First off, this is not a Harley-Davidson, customized or otherwise, but a frame-up custom production bike that just happens to have dresser DNA. It’s from the lads at FBI Motor Company in Chariton, Iowa. Now that name might just sound familiar and it should, as owner Gary Chipp is also the owner of its well-known parent company, Fat Baggers, Inc. Gary’s carved out quite a successful business catering to H-D bagger owners with a wide range of custom parts and accessories and continues to do so today with an ever growing list of products and dresser treatments. Never one to rest on his laurels, Gary’s gone and created his frame-up version of a custom dresser that takes traveling fast and in comfort to a new level with almost 200 horses on board. Maybe instead of Fat Baggers, Inc. it should now be Fast Baggers, Inc.

FBI’s Road Glide-style Razor is one of their three different bagger models that are based on Gary’s drop-seat frame with a sexy-looking 35-degree rake. “It’s got a three-point rubber-mount system based off the 2008 [H-D] drivetrain. We changed some of the design to fix the handling problem Harley baggers had,” said Gary. “The frame was spreading apart, getting wider, as you went into a corner and loaded that swingarm down. It was taking pressure off the motor mount, which could cause the bike to go into a high-speed wobble. We worked with Will Phillips of True-Track and Phil Day at Daytec on our frame and discovered that even our frame was doing that too, moving apart. We took a piece of 5/8” diameter rod and connected it across the two motor mounts, put it back together, and it would not move side-to-side at all. We eliminated the wobble issue and even though we installed a bung for a True-Track, we have not used or needed one yet.”

With handling problems in hand, it’s the look of the 2.5” lower-than-stock drop seat along with the stretched and arched tank and new sculpted side covers surely makes the Razor stand out. The High End Products seat sits over a FBI wide fender with integral fillers that covers a 200×17 Avon Venom tire on a RC Components Savage wheel. Up front a 21” RC wheel is tastefully framed by a FBI Wrap fender with a single 6-piston Hawg Halters Inc, caliper hanging off the chrome fork and complimented by an HHI 4-piston setup out back.

Strong, good handling frames with premium components everywhere, there must be a good reason. Well I guess having a 120” JIMS engine on board being forced to take its fuel mixture via a ProCharger intercooled supercharger might just be a good reason. Actually, 195 good reasons — as in 195 horsepower (with 180 ft-lb of torque). Nope, that’s not a typo. A normally aspirated JIMS 120 is far from being a slouch in the first place and throwing on a ProCharger adds insult to injury if you run into this bike with your Stage 1 dresser. “I built this bike for a friend of mine, Dave Easter of Des Moines, for his need for speed,” said Gary. “You go out in first gear and smash the throttle, you can’t shift to second fast enough as it hits the rev limiter [6500rpm] so quick. It’s just ‘Boom’ you’re in second, third, fourth and spinning the tire through third gear. It just really, really goes. For a big, heavy touring bike it’s fun, a lot of fun with that horsepower. Five years ago, you would never have thought about that much horsepower out of a bike. It can happen and it’s dependable now too.”

Adding to the Q-ship appearance is the subtle ghosted smoke graphics over a light metallic gray base by Custom Paint Specialists in Des Moines. If you’re packing a .50 caliber Desert Eagle handgun, you don’t need a gold-plated one to make a statement. Gary finished it off with all the choice component options from his Razor line and here was one bad-ass touring bike that had it all in one package — looks, performance, comfort, and reliability in a street-legal, Kelly Blue Book-listed custom production bagger. Oh, and just because it’s so much fun to say, a bagger with 195 horsepower. Geez Louise!

Up Close: FBI Razor Frame and Drop-Seat Conversion

The old saw, “you get what you pay for” is not always true. I’ve seen very expensive parts that weren’t worth a damn, so paying a lot doesn’t always mean better. In the case of products from BAKER Drivetrain, though, that saying holds absolutely true on anything with the Bert Baker seal of approval. Mr. Baker and his crew must have been influenced by the 1970s Paul Masson wine commercials, featuring Orson Welles famous “We will sell no wine before its time” mantra. Whenever Bert brings something to market, it’s innovative, a problem-solving solution, and dependable as all hell. It’s nice to be able to buy something blind from BAKER Drivetrain and be confident it’s worth every penny.

With the rather large power output of the 131” Merch engine, it’s no wonder Fred Duban choose a combo of BAKER products to handle the load to the rear wheel. The Synchronous Belt Drive primary is a typical BAKER product in that absolute performance and reliability come first and good looks follow with a sense of machinery that just looks right. The 2.4” large tooth belt spins over steel pulleys, not aluminum, as BAKER says that aluminum doesn’t hold up over the miles leading to saggy belts. Who the hell wants saggy belts? Not any Softail owner I know.

There’s also added support for the transmission main shaft according to BAKER, “The inner clutch hub reaches farther on the mainshaft towards the pulley nut. This reduces flex and stress on the mainshaft.” The SBD is available with or without outside bearing support in a choice of polished or black anodized (my choice) finish.

Find out more info on all BAKER products at www.bakerdrivetrain.com or call 877-640-2004.