Dave Jordan, owner of Dave’s Rod Shop in Kaiser, Missouri, was looking for a 50^th birthday present for his wife Lori and, like the gear head he is, decided to forgo traditional jewelry or a lavish trip for something that makes more sense to most readers of this magazine. “Lori went to Vegas with a bunch of girlfriends to celebrate her birthday. While she was gone, I bought her a Sportster. When she got home, she was all excited, but said to herself, ‘What the hell am I going to do with this?’ Previously she just rode on the back so I taught her how to ride it and then she took a safety course and passed it,” said Dave. “When she got home she said, “I’ll never ride this again. It scares me to death.’ It sat for three months with 30 miles on it so I asked her, ‘If I make it into a trike will you ride it?’ She said, ‘Yes.’”

Dave ran with it and ordered a Frankenstein Trikes Hot Rod rear end for the 2008 XL1200C, but for the long-time hot rod builder, slapping on a set of trailer fenders and calling it a day wouldn’t do. “I had some ’33 Ford fiberglass fenders in the shop and thought it’d be cool to make my own body for it,” said Dave. What he whipped up looks really right and tight. The finished product has a look of its own with design flairs throughout that make it a cohesive package on three wheels. Oh little things like showing off the handsome billet aluminum rear end in the same way rodders would showcase a Halibrand quick-change rear end under a ’32 Ford or the non-functional scoops atop the fenders complimenting the functional (“Lori can put her hairspray and pick back there”) seat hump. “Those scoops are strictly for looks. Everyone asks me about them and I say when she does a burnout, it gets some of the smoke out of there,” said Dave laughing and adding, “It doesn’t happen.”  One thoughtful feature about Dave’s one-piece bodywork is that it’s held on by just six bolts and easily removed making maintenance a breeze.

Giving the trike a factory-finished look are the other pieces of body work Dave chose that really tie it together. After raking out the front end 5-degrees with a set of Frankenstein trees to keep the trike from low speed wobbles, Dave filled up the dead space with a purely cosmetic chin spoiler. “I built it because I wanted to bring some of the paint down in there and visually connect the front fender and rear fenders,” he said. A more substantial J&P Cycles’ front fender replaced the slim stocker and compliments the swoopy ’33 Ford fenders. Personally, I think the fairing caps it off perfectly and it’s hard to imagine this bike without it. “It just looked plain without it, I went to a Harley dealer and asked if they had some small fairings, not something big and gaudy, and I don’t even know what it’s off. It just ties it all together,” said Dave.

Before heading for the spray booth, Lori insisted on sticking with the 105^th Anniversary colors, but Dave could do what he wanted. “What I was trying to do was make the black insert from the tank come down the front fender and chin spoiler and then blew it out in the flames on the back end,” he said. The end result again looks factory and flows effortlessly front to back.

Dave left the 1200cc mill stock except for a Vance & Hines exhaust, “It’s pretty loud, Lori’s pretty wild.” With about 9,000 Lori miles on it now, Dave said, “It’s a trouble-free bike. She can run it up to 80 all day long if she wanted to and it’s stable. Usually when we build something, I think back to what I would have done differently and there’s no regret that I should have done something different. Every place we go, and I’m not bragging, people flock to it. The first time she rode it to the Harley shop, they said this is the way Harley should make ‘em.”