What’s so cool or different or whatever about it you might be asking yourself so, once again, I will give you my point of view™ and you decide whether Brandon’s on top something or not. First off, it’s not what you expect after a first glance. You’re thinking, “Oh it’s just another guy taking a late model Harley touring model and firing his high-capacity money gun at it, reloading, and firing again, and again, and again.” Maybe not exactly what you were thinking, but you know what I mean. Radically customizing a new or late model bagger is a costly affair especially from a $20-grand to $30-grand Harley bagger starting point. But that’s not the exact case here.

 

   The only show info besides the title quote was that this was a 1991 Road King. Officially the Road King came out in 1994 from what I remember anyway, although it seems like I’ve seen some strange factory Harleys with a special Road King decal/package I never cared enough about to investigate (too homely for me). There was also some kind of retrofit kit that was around back in the day that converted a fairing-equipped bike into a Road King lookalike. Hey, I’ve missed some stuff before like finding out about Harley’s quickly-cancelled Confederate editions until quite a while after. Never have seen one in the flesh, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t exist. Possibly the same thing going on here, but Brandon could probably care less about this kind of model jibber-jabber.

  Starting with an old H-D bagger sure cuts out the initial cost and if you’re a handy guy and don’t mind a bit of grease under the nails, there’s less money that needs to be freed-up to complete the build. And, since a radical bagger basically throws out just about everything but the drive train and frame, it’s not a bad place to start. A nicely refreshed and maybe even a bit hopped-up Evo motor is more than enough to power a big wheel bagger around and there’s plenty of old and new parts available including factory rebuilt engines that reliability shouldn’t be a problem. Hey, you’re not going cross-country touring on your radical custom bagger anyway, so the Evo’s just fine in this mode.

 

  Unfortunately there are no slip-neck kits that I know of for the big wheel conversion on baggers going back to 1991 (most start around 1997 from what I’ve seen), but that’s never stopped anybody to whom Old School was not some mythical reference point, but a way of life. It just involves some serious smarts and skills along with an understanding of modern knowledge like rake and trail dimensions that won’t kill you. From there, it’s Old School cutting and welding until the geometry is as good as it can get with a big-ass front wheel. A bit of Old School gusseting can safely make up for a lack of slip-fit kits. Either way, you’ve got a radical rubber-mount Evo roller that still sports its Harley-Davidson VIN.

 

   As far as bodywork goes, you’re in the same league as any rad bagger, You’re going to replace it anyway so what’s the beef? Plus, the stock stuff, if it was on the hulk you started with, was not worth working around, there’s plenty of stuff out there on eBay. Brandon’s choice of a Road King eliminates the whole fairing thing and the additional expenses and work that entails. I’m actually infatuated with his big-ass yellow-lens headlight choice that looks like it spent its previous life attached to some old car I’ve never even heard of. It easily replaces some kind of swoopy fairing as a point of interest.

 

    Yeah, you’re gonna pay fairly dearly for the big wheel, big tire, and whatever else is required. Brandon skipped that potentially expensive package by opting for a more reasonably-priced laced big wheel foregoing a more expensive billet wheel. It looks cool and fits the build. Plus he skipped the whole front brake thing which is okay for a showy bike along with a custom front fender too, more cash saved.

 

   Obviously he had to fork out a bit for the rear fender and the bags which have big-ass speaker grills in them which also must mean he has some sort of big-ass audio onboard. I doubt there’s a radio out of his aunt’s old Granada as that’s not show-worthy and he knows it even if he isn’t saying anything. That’s a place he spent some bucks even though you can’t see much of it, but it’s more about hearing it than seeing it. Same goes for the air suspension front and rear, but that’s the cost of looking cool. Pulling up, dropping down and cranking the music is as important as, well, anything if you’re a showy kind of guy.

 

   Where this whole build takes a sharp turn to design is the paintjob by Jody Goodwill of SRM Paintwerks in State Road, North Carolina. That’s some seriously patinated paint Jody shot and it embraces this whole old Harley bagger idea perfectly. Maybe I’m just a fan of rusty paintjobs as I really break into high anxiety whenever I have perfect paint to worry about. This paintjob I wouldn’t be afraid of f**king up as patinated paint is like a continuous art project of life that hopefully only gets better the more you use and maybe even casually abuse it. Please note I said casually, not callously. Either way, Jody did another fine job like he does on all the bikes I’ve seen. Oh, with less bodywork (no fairing and fender, that’s gotta save some dough or maybe that’s how SRM got more time on the same budget of a full-bodied bagger to do such a bang-up job. Or maybe that’s how he could afford the colorful Mexican blanket tied so jauntily on the triple tree.

 

  Okay, you’re right, it’s probably easier to build and own a radical bagger based on a late model FLH-type bike. But, you’re just part of the herd and probably not part of the build anyway other than providing some guidance and moolah. Getting a piece of the custom bagger pie is only an old Evo and a lot of hard work away. Customizing an old bike into something new and different is about as Old School as you can really get today. Most people I know couldn’t tell an Evo from a Twin Cam from ten-feet away. Don’t bother asking Brandon his opinion about this, the title of this story is his story.