They do dress quite differently at work, though, unless there’s a motorcycle builder out there who prefers an all white work ensemble. I know that Jess Walters Jr., owner of Walters Customs Baggers in Salisbury, North Carolina, is not that guy, but he is the lead guy of this build that was originally for him. Yeah, it’s gotta be good when you can build a pair of radical-to-the-extreme Harley baggers, a Road Glide and a Road King, and spend some time riding them to see which one is the keeper. Make your bets ─ more about that later.

  What Jess cooked up here is an extreme bagger built with show and street capability that began with a 2009 Harley-Davidson Road King. The Walters crew stripped it down to the bare ingredients and got it ready for a 30-inch Metalsport Wheels Don Juan 3D front wheel wearing a single matching rotor gripped by a Hawg Halters Inc. six-piston caliper. The first thing to do was install a Hawg Halters Inc. Short Neck Builders Kit. I say “install” but you have to remember that installation requires you to whack off a perfectly good neck and weld on a new raked-out nine-degree neck frame piece to allow the fitment of a 30-inch wheel. Probably not something for the home builder, but to Jess Jr., it’s all in a day’s work. HHI’s kit includes all the necessary pieces like twelve-degree raked trees that keep the rake and trail dimensions in check so it can be ridden as well as shown.

  Jess Jr. tried to keep it blingingly fresh with a set of Arlen Ness lower legs, as elegant as Arlen sipping a glass of fine wine, cradling the half-a-hoop smoothie of a front fender by Detroit Choppers. As can be expected on a rad bagger, there’s air suspension front and rear. This time it’s a Dirty Air system by DirtyWorks LLC in Kansas City, Kansas, that makes it drop to its knees or, more correctly, onto the MRI electric center stand that’s doing its best to make side stands a thing of the past.

  As far as the Harley Twin Cam 96, it got the old Stage 1 treatment via a Black Label Baggers air cleaner and a set of Vance & Hines Touring Super Radius pipes that add a bit of blingy bad boy to the bagger. That is, if you can see them through all the chrome and shiny bits that are trying to get your attention. There’s not doubt you’d know where they are when the engine’s running, though. It’s quite a bit spicier in looks and sound than just having duals running out the back of the bags. It’s just like a chef who pushes the boundaries with just the right seasoning and maybe a bit of a bite at the end to grab your attention.

   No custom bagger worth its salt would present itself without a bit of artistic flamboyance when it comes to bodywork. It’s kinda weird how bodywork ends up covering all the hard work and dollars invested that went on underneath it so the bodywork would have a place to dominate. In this case, the lack of fairing allows you to see more of what’s going on, but not much. Jess Jr. left no body panel untouched and he added some where none was too like the Camtech Custom Baggers chin spoiler with a neat mesh insert. Chin spoilers really fill in the dead zone in front of the engine and tie in the front fender to the rest of the bodywork.

   Up top on the chromed out forks, another Camtech bit, their headlight nacelle and cap kit for a raked Road King holds a Harley Daymaker headlight changes things up quite a bit over the stock FLHR chromed shell mit twin passing lamps. Don’t think this bike is strictly a Camtechfest as Jess Jr. turned to Black Label Baggers for the stretched tank and to Ballistic Cycles for a complete do-over of the back end with their bags, rear fender and side covers. I’m not exactly sure where the audio head or whatever you call it is located, but I do know it’s there because those Ballistic bags are nothing more than speaker enclosures. Jess Jr.’s not trying to be motorcycle politically correct, he just knows what he wants for the look he’s got in his head and he picks what he wants.

  The rider’s view from the stitched diamond pattern seat by Country Classic Interiors in China Grove, North Carolina, is quite nice to the Bagger Nation 10-inch Monkey Bars wearing Battistini USA billet grips. Straight ahead, the headlight nacelle gets instrumentation by Dakota Digital that’s gotta come out to play on a night ride. Other rider contact points are Battistini-provided like the floorboards, pegs for the foot controls and footpegs for a passenger too.

   Assembly occurred right after in-house painter, Michael Anthony Payne, fired up his spray gun and covered everything that wasn’t chrome or rubber in a very, very vibrant House of Kolor yellow monotone scheme that you can probably see from space on a good day. The only thing breaking it up and I’m exaggerating like crazy saying “breaking up” is the extremely subtle Walters Custom Baggers logo right under the side of the seat on both sides. Between the abundant chrome and this strikingly bright yellow paint, you can’t miss this bagger at a show or an intersection.

  Whether this recipe for a custom bagger appeals to your taste buds or not, the experience is still important. It might not be a meal you might eat everyday, but it could be one to visit as you feel like it. Oh, one last thing that I promised you at the beginning of this article, which bike he chose. And that, ladies and gentlemen would be the Road Glide with its fairing and Tour Pak possibly providing more luxury over the King. All’s not bad, though, as this bike is for sale at $30K. You can contact them at their web site  http://www.waltersmotorcyclesales.com/ or through social media.