What? Paint? Huh? Yeah, I don’t blame you for thinking that, but it is. Whenever anybody has built a custom bagger we’ve featured over the years, it’s all about how eye-catching a paintjob someone has come up with. Honestly, that’s the way I feel about what makes a custom bagger a custom bagger. It’s the paint more than anything as everyone seems to have unceremoniously agreed on the hard parts a bagger needs to become a custom bagger. Things like air suspension front and rear, flowing bodywork, extended bags, high performance audio systems, engine upgrades and all the little things that make a custom bagger special. There are so many good ones that it seems it always comes down to paint when you try to pick a favorite.

    And, what are we looking at here? A monotone black paint job. Black is the favorite “color” of so many of us with our own Harleys that it’s almost a default go-to color choice when you can’t commit to one. What makes it even slightly more unusual is that it isn’t the old black and chrome scheme either as there’s a strange and distinct lack of the shiny stuff to be found anywhere on this 2010 Harley-Davidson Street Glide belonging to Mike Fields of Mason, Ohio. Nope, other than the tiniest and tasteful pinstriping, this baby’s all black and couldn’t be prouder. I can’t seem to remember any radical custom bagger that was all black although there must be another somewhere, I just don’t know where.

    One thing that doesn’t surprise me is that Kenny Williams of KW Customs in Benson, North Carolina, was the person responsible for bringing something this smooth and sleek to fruition. Ol’ Kenny’s been a favorite bagger builder around here with many Barnett’s Magazine Online feature bikes. In case you’re not aware of what Kenny’s been up to, check out some of the bikes we’ve previously featured. Gorgeous builds with a flowing set of lines from front to rear like his stunning Kryptonite Road King or his rad Pro-Street bagger and let’s not forget his straight-line-hating Road King. All of them and this one too have his trademark fluidity of design giving an almost production bike feel to them with their cohesiveness of design.

   Kenny’s found a way to build extreme baggers with all the excesses they require without them looking excessively overdone like many we see at shows or online. Every piece of bodywork he makes flows like a fast river with a sandy bottom. There are no surface ripples to screw things up and impede the design on its way into the oblivion that’s just behind the bike as it’s in motion. They don’t look like they’re trying to go a hundred miles per hour when they’re parked, but they do look like they’re cruising at an easy 65mph on a very smooth road. Reining in the excess of excessiveness while still quietly flaunting what you’ve got seems to be Kenny’s M.O. and I’m totally okay with that.

     Everything melds together on a KW Customs build and not just the shapely bodywork. There are no over-the-top controls or bars, just bits that look high-tech yet simple and clean. Even the choice of using a big front wheel is tempered by a fine eye for design and another for finish. The flat silver on the wheels, fork legs, and engine pieces gives a feel of quiet elegance where you might expect super bling. More elegant gentleman’s evening wear than dressed for a night out at the club. Even the Butch Watson HighRollers’ seat looks like it could have come from a late model Bentley or some other such thing. It’s classy and confidently cool at the same time. Plus it looks like it might actually be comfortable too! Oh man, rule that thought out on a custom bike. Isn’t your butt always supposed to be in pain on a custom?

    Kenny pumped up the volume with nicely integrated speakers in the bag lids and inner fairing. There’s nothing too showy or an audio aberration like some baggers, just a good setup for those who need additional sound over a Harley Twin Cam. And speaking of Twin Cams, that Motor Company 110-inch setup with a free-breathing air cleaner and a 2-into-1 that’s all about free speech is just what the doctor ordered for muscle, sound and Harley good looks. That’s an audio system that’s fun to change stations because it’s wired directly to the throttle.

    Maybe I’m overreacting to seeing my first really radical bagger in monotone black paint or maybe I’m not, I’m not sure myself. I’ve owned so many black motorcycles over the years I couldn’t begin to count, but it was often a default choice. For Kenny Williams and owner Mike Fields to go with this choice is almost surprising in this time of airbrushed, crazy hue custom baggers. If I did buy or build a custom bagger someday (unlikely because of that money thing), I wouldn’t be surprised if my default setting of paint-it-black wouldn’t just set in and I’d be as happy as a clam that wasn’t being dropped onto the tarmac by a seagull before being eaten.

   For more info on KW Customs, please visit http://www.kwbaggers.com/ or check ‘em out socially.