No-Limit-Custom’s “$%#@ Old Style” Harley-Davidson Softail

By Mark Barnett, Photos by No-Limit-Custom

Yes, there is a Harley-Davidson in there somewhere. Holger Schnell of No-Limit-Custom (NLC) in Huffenhardt, Germany has built several bikes in the past that have been featured in Barnett’s Magazine. Check out our feature bike archives, look under V-Rods and you will see two of them. This white and orange Softail named “$%#@ Old Style” has a relatively stock Harley-Davidson motor but the frame has been torched rather severely. The 360mm Metzeler required major surgery and a second, outboard mounted countershaft sprocket to wedge itself in. The enormous rear sprocket probably wasn’t necessary but was highly desirable. Moving to the front, I guess nothing in the Harley-Davidson catalog pleased Holger, so his own custom springer was installed and spread wide enough to take a 210mm front tire. “I’ll show you what a Fat Boy is,” you can imagine this German builder muttering to himself. Other special parts that jump out are the front rim disc, the rear transmission brake, the painted billet headlamp, and the highly unusual exhaust. I think this may in fact be the first exhaust-pipe-in-the-oil-tank I’ve ever seen. But then again, maybe it is cold in this part of Germany and we’re seeing a wildly innovative oil heater…

As the market has slowly shifted from ground up customs to modified Harley-Davidsons, there’s always someone who takes it ten steps past the others. You can see other bikes by Holger Schnell on his website at www.no-limit-custom.com.