But enough of that frivolity, it’s time once again to check out what Mr. Beam has been up to. If for some reason you’re not familiar with any of Joey’s companies or the guy himself, you can check out his previous Barnett’s Magazine Online’s articles on his far out (sorry, channeling John Denver for unknown reasons) Wild Ride Street Glide and Something Simple Road King. That’s just a couple of the many, many custom baggers Joey turns out. I don’t know what Joey’s middle name is, but could I suggest “prolific”?

As far as custom baggers go anyway, as far as anything else, I have no idea or interest.

 

  This blue over black little gem of a bagger once paraded around as a stock 2010 Harley-Davidson Road King without a care in the world until Joey got his mitts on it. With an understatingly-tall, 30-inch front wheel laced with fat twisted spokes to a black rim and hub, the focal point of this build is sort of an Über-Modern Retro Bagger. Sort of a high tech clash with an older vibe that you know is actually a brand new build with no pretense as being a vintage piece. Even with all the high techno systems you’d never se on a real Old School chop like the on-board air suspension (front and rear), fuel injection, or the electric center stand, there’s still the feeling of a ‘70s hooligan on wheels. Even if one of those wheels is bigger than anything imagined back in the day or even a few years ago. Über-Modern Retro Bagger it is then.

 

   Frankly, there’s a bit of a So Cal low rider look to the bike Joey calls All In, but that’s changed up a bit between the subdued color of the rich dark blue over black base paint and BKP Art’s bill laden, gun-toting gangster skeleton graphics. It’s a complex dark work that needs to be viewed close up to appreciate the skill of BKP Art’s air brush commando-in-chief (headquartered in Easley, South Carolina), Brian Morgan. Brian’s joined the ranks of epic prolific painters with many, many different paint designs showing up on many, many bikes Barnett’s Magazine Online has featured. That is, when he isn’t painting one of his bajillion one-off helmets for customers or whatever. He’s a painting fool, but he ain’t no fool. Hey, even if the subject matter isn’t exactly to your taste, you have to appreciate fine work at least when you see it. Check out his Facebook page(s) for more info.

 

   There were a few billet pieces I happened to notice like the floor boards, bag latches and air cleaner. Turns out they’re all from the same manufacturer, Precision Billet in Gilbert, Arizona. They’re a bit of dark bling in a quiet landscape and really look like high quality pieces decorated with always lovely speed holes. The foot boards and latches are from PB’s Teardrop Edition and the air cleaner is a Turbine model. Making sure bits and pieces stand out is the Diamond Cut cylinders background along with a muraled-out stock primary cover that’s a much beter canvas for graphics than any open belt could ever be. And you can’t begin to not notice those Samson Exhausts fishtail exhausts angled up roughly 45-degrees looking like they’re singing for their supper which I guess they are if gasoline can be considered supper.

 

  There are a few Joey Beam touches that I like just for the sake of different strangeness like those winglet fin racks mounted atop the bags. They harmonize with the upswept fishtails and bring a bit of ’57 Chevy hood ornament to the mix. Yeah, I know that might be a bad reference, but that’s the first thing that came to mind for me anyway. I like their finned silliness. Or the long, spindly almost-tiller-steer apes. There’s certainly a lot going on tubing-wise to get from the here to there, but that’s nutty cool with me and really brings on the bagger drama to a higher level. 

 

  And, that’s exactly what custom baggers are all about ─ that’s Drama with a capital D. They’re not about crossing continents or going to get a quart of milk and a loaf of bread. If you’ve got one of these, you’ve got other vehicles to do the regular old day-to-day crap or cross a continent. This is a show bike and even more so, a bike for showing off. If you like attention, this Road King’s for you. You couldn’t tool around on this bike without garnering attention and it’s still going to be working for you when it’s parked when people wonder what kind of cool guy or gal owns that. Hey, it might even work better than your own selfie on an Internet dating site. I guess the question would be, which photo would you rather look at, a self-portrait or this radical show bagger? I know my answer and I don’t even know you.

 

 For more info on Joey Beam and Godfather Baggers and Vindictive Wayz , just punch up http://vindictivewayz.com/  or check out Facebook.