And, just like him, they are seemingly destined for a long time at the top of the custom world anyway. Big wheel baggers were a phenomenon that I, along with many others, thought would have a short life span like the king himself, but it was the wrong conclusion. Custom big wheel baggers don’t seem to have a sell-by date anytime soon by the looks of how many baggers Barnett’s one-eye-open lens man, Jack Cofano, brings back from every event. Right now, like Elvis was and is, they are still the king of the custom motorcycle world with no worrying signs of abatement to the many shops and manufacturers catering to them. Like the Tupelo Tornado’s songs, they’re the gold and platinum standard of how the custom motorcycle industry is doing and they’re doing just fine, thank you.

   This lovely silver and black Harley-Davidson Road Glide could have easily been something the King would have parked in his Memphis garage for crazed nights out on the town with some young thing. I say “young thing” as any lovely lady hopping on the back of Elvis’ custom bagger today would definitely be a lot younger then him as he’d be 82-years-old now. Holy shit! Elvis at 82 is too hard to imagine, but him digging a bike with his own portrait (at a younger age) expertly painted on it is a no-brainer. He loved anything that was the least bit flashy often bordering on gaudy, but this probably would have been one of his more conservative rides. Oh, and he’d have an appropriate jumpsuit made to match every bagger too.

    What’s interesting about this Road Glide to me is how even though it incorporates just about every custom bagger standard requirement from completely revised bodywork to a bigger front wheel to air ride front-and-rear among other things, it still looks like a completely rideable and reliable Road Glide. Just about everything’s been worked on, changed, or modified, but the builder did not lose sight of what it started off to be originally ─ a motorcycle. A lot of dollars were dropped on this build, but none take away being able to ride it pretty much like what it was originally intended to do. Personally, I think money was spent wisely too as some bits like the stock Harley brakes are still doing their thing with no visual interruption of the extreme custom work the builder put into it.

    Even though the bike is a tribute in paint to quite a few musical heroes, the builder knew when enough was enough and didn’t bother installing an ear-bleeding audio system that would needlessly fight for attention whenever he parked it. It’s even a touch subdued

although it is covered in graphics. Black over silver will do that and it looks simply marvelous here. Using colors in the graphics might have had a cartoony affect that I’m sure the owner/builder wouldn’t have appreciated. Obviously somebody is serious about their music and wants the world to know or maybe they just like looking at the bike like I do. Either way, the theme and scheme was a good paintjob choice for this build. 

  But there is one detail about this bike I’ve left for last was that it is a street bike as well as a show bike. The owner rode it in, parked it and disappeared off into the crowd before we could reach him. Just pulled up, got off and was gone to either get a cold beer or look at other bikes or both. I’ve no idea if he rode it from Arizona like his plates suggest, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he did. Like the king of rock ‘n’ roll, this radical custom bagger looks ready to rock ‘n’ roll.