This now sleek and clean ex-repo wasn’t always that way as Ric described what he started with. “When I bought this bike, it had a set of 10” struts replacing the shocks and a set of off-brand street-sweeper-style pipes hanging low to the ground.With the lowered struts, any right-turn corner you went around just mutilated the tips of the pipes, digging into the ground on every corner,” said Ric sounding totally disgusted. “When I see a bike like that I wonder why anyone would take the function out of this bike, a Dyna, which is one of the best handling chassis that Harley makes. To me, an ’07-and-up Super Glide with the TC96 and a 6-speed is a great all-around package.”
Ric’s mission statement with this Dyna was simple and clear, “My aim was to create a racy-looking bike, something that handles, something with good suspension travel and brakes, and a comfortable, but aggressive riding position.”
After disassembling the bike into a pile ‘o parts, Ric began work on the engine. No, not a rebuild as it ran like a top or a hop-up since he’d rather leave that to a future customer, but on the cosmetics. “The 96” motor is quick right out of the box. You can do an ECM flash, a high-flow air cleaner, and a good exhaust and get good horsepower and torque and you’re not going to spend a ton of money,” he said. “We do a lot of motor work, but sometimes you can’t afford to do everything you want and still sell it reasonably. But Dynas with a built motor are awesome.”
Southeast’s home page says it all in one sentence, “Making New Bikes Look Old Since 2005.” I won’t go into it, but Ric was pretty emphatic about what he thought of the stock Super Glide engine’s appearance and let’s just say “overwhelming silver” came up more than once. Ric’s black powdercoated cylinders not only give the silvery TC96 a Shovelhead touch, but visually lowers the tall silver cylinders. Complimenting the cylinders are satin-black powdercoated engine, tranny, and S&S air cleaner covers with the primary looking like an old black-enameled tin primary. The black SuperTrapp 2-into-1 SuperMeg exhaust finishes off the “more-brushed-in-than-stand-out” retro-look Ric was aiming for.
After rebuilding the fork with a two-inch-lower Progressive Suspension drop-in kit, Ric replaced the nasty struts with a set of stock-height Works Performance shocks. “They’re lightweight, nitrogen-filled shocks and when anybody hears “Works Performance,” they know it means good suspension,” he said. “The wheels are from Black Bike Wheels and the rims are aluminum Excel and they’re very lightweight wheels.” Up front Ric strayed from the 19”-stocker with a 21” instead. “I wanted the bike to have a stance, but still have a big wheel up front to give me ground clearance,” he said. The stock H-D brakes were deemed just peachy and left onboard.
The FXD bodywork remains stock profile but with a good bit of cleaning up. The tank remained stock other than the cool aircraft-style cap while the rear fender was cleared of any standing apparatus and any leftover holes filled. A SCC side-mount tag/taillight keeps it legal. Adding a Harley mini-fairing was not a Sons of Anarchy touch, but a concession to keeping the eye-jolting handlebar-mounted speedo while making it disappear underneath.
Chris Fox and Jay Moore of Fox Custom Designs did what they do best and came up with a striking HOK Oriental Blue and silver metalflake over black paintjob. “The good thing about having a great paint shop like Fox is that I can hand Chris or Jay a set of bodywork, tell them the colors and the basic design, and I know it’s going to come back and exceed my expectations,” said Ric. Painting the stock wrinkle-black trim piece on the top of the tank blue visually lengthens and lowers the stock profile.
With a nice set of bars, mid-mounts, and a custom LePera dished seat with a basket weave insert, Ric said, “I’m really pleased with how it came out. I put about 400 miles on it recently up in the mountains with some curvy roads at a pretty good clip and it was a blast to ride, comfortable, and very smooth too. In my opinion, it’s a touch of retro without going overboard that’s affordable and great fun to ride.” Hey, there’s the F-word again. Ric’s got it right, motorcycles are all about fun and if you don’t like fun, you don’t get motorcycles. BM
Up Close: SuperTrapp 2-into-1 Supermegs
If you watch TV builders, it takes about 30 seconds to fab up an exhaust and another ten minutes to get it chromed or powder coated or header wrapped and back on your bike. I know this may seem hard to believe, but it really doesn’t work that way in the real world and that’s why there are so many exhaust manufacturers catering to your every need. Performance, good looks, and a decent sound are only a credit card swipe away and that’s great for the rest of us.
Ric Greene chose a SuperTrapp 2-into-1 SuperMeg exhaust for his Dyna Speedsterand seemed quite happy with his choice. “I’ve never used that exhaust before; SuperTrapp makes a neat product with their tunable exhaust. Down the road if somebody buys this bike and does a lot of motor work, they’re not going to have to spend another $800 or more for a different exhaust to work with their engine modifications.” That’s because every SuperTrapp exhaust has a series of discs that can be removed or added according to what back pressure your engine needs to run perfectly.”
It’s not just the performance Ric likes about the SuperMegs, “They’re not loud and that’s something I like about it. You can cut up on backroads and unless somebody’s standing in front of their house, they’re not going to hear you fly past.” That’s true, but hey, if you’re in a bit of a hooligan mood, you can just add a bunch of plates and presto, you’ve increased your engine’s decibel level to cater to your inner hooligan. That’s the great part about SuperTrapps, they can be whatever anybody wants them to be.
For more info visit www.supertrapp.com.
Builder: Ric Greene
Ric Greene, owner of Southeast Custom Cycles in Concord, North Carolina, not only has a clear vision of what he and his shop are trying to accomplish in a tough economy, but he has a great sense of humor about it all too.
“We’re a small shop in an industrial park full of race teams. I always tell people I’m the shop’s number one customer. We build every one of our bikes as if we were the one buying them and hopefully it turns somebody else on, that way at least we’re not building stuff we don’t really want to build,” he said laughing. “We’re continually creating bikes for sale and the market is so competitive we’ve got to make something so we can catch the buyer’s eye out there.”
Ric’s adamant about building these spec bikes with a retro style, but with all the modern engineering elements intact so they lose nothing on the road in the everydayrider real world he intends them to be used in. Growing up in the mountains of North Carolina and with Deals Gap only three hours away from his shop, good handling (and the comfort and reliability to get there and back) is a top priority. Affordability is another priority as he tries to make striking customs that usually hover around the midteens as a turn-key custom.
“You know, the average guy wants a Heritage Softail with all the chrome, that’s not our kind of customer. The people that get our bikes, that fall in love with them, they understand and want a bike they can ride that looks amazing, but there’s no chrome on it,” said Ric. Of course he will admit in a second he will and does do work on Softails and baggers and if you check out his website you’ll see it’s really nice work too.
For more info call Ric at 704-723-4038 or visit www.southeastcustomcycles.com.
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