But that’s okay as my mind is already wandering off to Barnett’s Magazine Online’s feature bike of the day, the stunning modern interpretation of a board track racer built by Jeremy Fogleman of Graham, North Carolina. Before all you nay-sayers start picking apart this award winning show bike, Yes it’s quite radical and yes it’s not going to be someone’s coast to coast tourer, but it is a hell of an eye grabber and that’s exactly the look Jeremy was going after.

 

   Built around a 1989 Harley-Davidson Sportster engine with pretty compact dimensions to begin with, additional frame space came courtesy of the stretched to the max rigid frame. I know he’d probably kick my ass for saying this, but there’s a bit of a stretched swingarm Hayabusa look to the extended rear. Nothing deep or insulting by that comment, just that rear wheel sitting way-back look that both have although the super tall and super skinny wheels and tires on Jeremy’s bike kill any comparisons to a stretched Hayabusa rolling stock. The frame itself is about as simple as one can get using the least number of sections to keep it open and airy, but not the least amount of tubing as there’s some pretty long expanses of steel. 

 

   The stretched rear half of the frame enabled Jeremy to place his suspension seat wherever he wanted to so he chose low, really low. Well really low within reason as if he wanted to just be totally outrageous for no good reason, he could have mounted it eight-inches or-so lower. Actually, I’m glad he didn’t just try for a ridiculous show factor, but something that could be ridden by the right person even if it just meant bopping over to the nearest waterhole followed by the long way home.

 

   To go with the up-tempo retro board tracker-look required a springer of sorts, but the one Jeremy’s got hanging off the front end is no copy of a 1948 Harley springer. Yes, it is a springer, but about as far away from a vintage one as you can get and still be a springer. The springs on this aren’t some pile coiled wire placed high in front of the steering head, but coiled around a pair of billet shocks mounted low on the legs and worked by rockers underneath. Very modern, very cool, but with a bit of retro hip. There’s actually a lot mechanically going on in that small area when you throw in the disc brake setup too.

 

   As I mentioned, using a unit construction engine like in the Sporty keeps things tight compared to a separate engine tranny like the big blocks have and Jeremy took the opportunity and ran with it. The Evo shines like it never did with a Blingtastic look that nobody back in ’89 had an idea existed. On a sunny day it could be like looking into the heart of the Sun itself and possibly as damaging. Chrome and polishing to the extreme will do that. Top it off with a few nice bits like a high-zoot air cleaner and a set of drag/show pipes and you’ve got a winner every time.

 

 Stuffing this engine into the frame was one more thing to mark off his to-do list before Jeremy got into body work. Keeping things clean and simple was the key and his choice of a modified Sporty-style gas tank was almost an obvious choice. It’s a shape for the custom motorcycle ages and it looks great here too with its canted-down mounting. A tire-hugging fender flows over almost half of the rear wheel with only the most delicate of curved stays possible holding it in check with the front held in place by an extended single mount. Two pieces down and one to go.

 

   Possibly my favorite part of this whole build is the horizontally mounted oil tank. The oval-shaped cylinder is placed fore-and-aft on extended upward mounts and looks the biz just sitting there for reasons I can’t quite put a finger on. It just does. It floats on its mounts much like the rear fender and I’m sure that’s not just coincidental. That’s followed up by my most interesting aspect of this build and that’s the use of the lovely mid-controls. With such a low saddle I never would have expected the builder to use mids as I’d think legroom from the diamond pleated seat would be minimal at best, but it would not be unusual for me to be entirely wrong.

 

 The pièce de résistance of this build has to be the paint work Jeremy did to say the least. It’s a totally retro look with the best of the best from the ‘70s updated using modern methods and materials along with a bit of good taste on Jeremy’s part. There’re a few different techniques involved in the layers of what appears to be candy apple red with flaky coppery gold panels and silver pinstriping. Personally, I’m partial to the sunburst sections on the side of the fuel tank as that brings back some cool personal flashbacks. Jeremy did a masterful paint job as is and I wouldn’t change a thing.

 

  I hope you enjoyed your time away from relatives during the holiday season and now we return you to your regularly scheduled life that’s already in shot ahead of you while you were daydreaming.