Baggers
Okay, that’s enough weird blabber for one afternoon. Sometimes, we’re not quite satisfied with the first waking look of our dream bikes. Actually, we seldom are. One builder called this the “Fiddle Factor,” that incessant, pesky need to fool with what we initially thought was perfection, as if it was an itch hiding just beneath the surface, begging for the next custom scratch.
Rudy Moreno knows the itch. He’s scratched it more than once, and delightfully so. This 2008 FLHX Street Glide was born to be custom. Builder Paul Yaffe bought it as a Bagger Nation R&D bike and it’s doubtful the bike has spent a day of its motorized life stock.
“It started out as my bike, but while I was in the midst of doing this and that, experimenting with stuff, Rudy came in, saw it and wanted to buy it on the spot,” said Yaffe, “I like to make the customer happy,”
The 96-inch motor remains stock. “I didn’t feel any need to mess with the engine; it makes good power all by itself,” said the 48-year-old Boeing Aircraft senior engineering manager. “Of course, the SuperTrapp pipes and Screamin’ Eagle air cleaner help it breathe and sound a lot better.”
Moreno’s been riding motorcycles for years, from sportbikes to metric cruisers, dirt bikes and now his first Harley. And that was a surprise. Most new buyers usually don’t go out and plunk down a bag of bucks for a big thrown-down bagger right out of the gate. But Moreno isn’t your typical newbie. If fact, custom wasn’t really good enough, he had to go super-custom on Oh Ate.
He bought Yaffe’s R&D bike out from under him, then gave it back and told him to just stay his natural course to custom. “Paul Yaffe knows what he’s doing; he knows what I like, I just told him to have at it,” Moreno said.
So what exactly what is the cost of cool? “You just don’t know what you’re getting into or how much it’s going to cost until you’re done, or run out of money. I was working with a budget at that time, paying cash for a better deal, but it was just a matter of time before the budget grew. The pipes, the paint, reworked stock fenders, integrated taillights, 21-inch front wheel, it all added up. This was the first Yaffe bagger to use a 21-inch wheel, traditionally more of a chopper wheel. He went with a solid billet wheel in back. I think it’s a nice combination, don’t you?” said Moreno.
The six-foot-tall Moreno said, “The FLHX is very rideable and reliable. Everything Paul does is artistic and practical. He picked up right away that I am a very meticulous person, I don’t mind spending the money, but it has to be right. No matter how picky I was, his guys took care of it 100%.”
Right off the pages of the “more is better” bike building guide, Moreno wasn’t quite satisfied with the FLHX’s first renovation. The second included changing the handlebar, bolting on H-D chrome covers everywhere they weren’t before, installing new foot pegs and shifter peg, replacing the exhaust baffles for something with a deeper note, and a bunch of other detail work.
Moreno thought about keeping the handlebar stock, but eventually he went with Yaffe’s fancy mini-apes, “ I thought they might be uncomfortable, but they worked well and I liked the look.”
When it came to color, Yaffe asked Moreno to give him an example of something he really liked rather than simply pick a shade of whatever. “It was a color off the Coors Light can, in the upper ring, I just loved that cobalt blue. The bike is ready to roll when the color turns blue,” said Moreno, laughing. “The silver base kind of goes with the whole silver bullet thing, which was a nice touch, and the graphics just added the chill to the brew.”
Moreno gave big props to Yaffe and his crew, and the way he works with his customers. “I let Paul show the bike and use it for catalog shots, and he gave me a deal on parts. It was a win-win for both of us,” said Moreno. “Paul was great, he was very patient and personable, and communicated a lot with me, which I really appreciated. There is a kind of family feel to his shop, very down-to-earth and unpretentious.”
Up Close:Paul Yaffe Stretch Tank
Rudy Moreno’s favorite part is the stretched tank. The Paul Yaffe-made tank is integrated seamlessly into the seat. “It turns the bike into a whole different machine,” he said. “It really does it for me, I love the lines of this bike, which are keyed by that stretched tank. What can I say, it looks neat, and he put that little custom console in there that looks pretty bitchin’.”
Moreno’s six-gallon gasbag was the first Yaffe made to fit a bagger. The new stretched tank had a lot to do with Harley changing to six-gallon unit in 2008. Moreno’s bike was the first 2008 bagger Yaffe got his mitts into, Moreno bought the bike and got the title of the first Yaffe six-gallon bagger.
Yaffe has a custom tank exchange program. Stretched tanks start at $899 (without paint) and range up $2,010. Sounds pretty pricey, but Moreno heaps praise on the quality of Yaffe’s products and perhaps even more so how he stands by them. “If anything goes wrong, he stands by it without question. Overall he is totally about the customer,” said Moreno. “When you add capacity and the tank gets fatter and wider, it’s harder to make it flow with the frame and maintain a streamlined profile. But this tank’s graceful lines made it a seamless addition.”
Moreno likes to fill up the big tank with nothing but aviation fuel, 100- octane. “It doesn’t coagulate,” said the engineer, “so you can let your bike sit for up to a year without worry. It doesn’t degrade, lose octane, and it makes more power and burns cleaner, which is good news for the engine.”
Get more info at www.baggernation.com or call 602-840-4205.
Builder: Paul Yaffe
Vince Vaccaro can’t say enough about the skills and attitude of his bike’s builder, Paul Yaffe. “I’ve known Paul for 12 years, this is the third bike he’s built for me,” Vince said. “ He’s by far the nicest motorcycle guy I have ever met; he’s very personable, he does what he says he’s going to do and more, and he’s the best at what he does, a true artist.”
Yaffe and his Phoenix-based company, Paul Yaffe Originals Inc. has built a national reputation as a top builder in the American V-twin market. His work has rolled onto scores of magazine covers worldwide. He’s been described as a student of style, as well as one of its most gifted creators.
“I’ve done deals with Paul just on a handshake, and his word has always been good, never a misunderstanding. He and his staff really aren’t satisfied until you are,” said Vince. “They just love bikes, and have so much respect for their customers. It never has felt like it was about the money, these guys are genuine and they care.”
PYO is a multi million-dollar enterprise housed in a 10,000 square-foot facility, employing as many as 25 full-time workers. Custom bikes definitely keep the spotlight on the company, but it’s their product line created from those bikes that is the business end of PYO. The projects demand hundreds of handmade components that Yaffe and his team create in-house for each bike and eventually quite a few reproductions of these components then find their way into PYO’s parts lineup.
Paul has recently turned his attention to the ever-popular bagger trend. He’s created a company offshoot called Bagger Nation with its own a 50-page parts and accessories catalog for baggers and his new bagger website www.baggernation.com.
For details, contact PYO at 602-840-4205 or visit www.paulyaffeoriginals.com.
| SPECIFICATIONS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||