Not only is it a Road King, but it’s a 2016 Harley-Davidson Road King. The real thing, but it isn’t anymore as far as I’m concerned after the crew at Misfit Industries in Addison, Texas, got their hands on it. Mercy me, there’s not a bag in sight for one thing and there’s a damn good reason for that as it’s a showcase for Misfit Industries Patent Pending new monoshock rear suspension and revised bolt-on frame section to accommodate the whole kit and caboodle of parts. Man, that’s a mouthful, but so isn’t the idea of converting a touring frame to a Softail or café monoshock version.

   Thinking a little outside the box is nothing new for Misfit and it probably shouldn’t surprise me that they decided to make their own Softail and café conversions, but it does. Up to now, that whole area usually hidden behind saddlebags of some sort has been kind of like a no-man’s land of aesthetics. There’s usually no reason to even explore that section of the bike, but Misfit must have looked at it as a challenge to do something entirely different and dadgum it, they did. There’s a whole new swingarm, rear subframe and a monoshock of some sort that’s gotta be air adaptable as this bike can drop down on its frame when parked.

   The stripped to the bones look is especially appealing and I’m sure that GEICO who sponsored two builds from Misfit to showcase Daytona Bike Weeks’ 75^th anniversary is about as satisfied as can be with the attention they bring to both GEICO and Misfit. Talk about having your finger on the button of what’s happening, GEICO scored big on this venture from what I see. Oh it could have been just another outrageous radical bagger lost in a sea of outrageous radical baggers, but this Road King is so much more. As long as you believe the less is more theory like I do.

   Although this is a café conversion rear end, it’s a lot more dragster than any café to me anyway. Parked it looks ready to blow of the line, any line, with the actual lines of the bike rigidly defining the taut look. The engine is tightly framed by the rest of the build with not a bit of air space wasted. The big LA Lace front wheel by Metalsport Wheels in South Gate, California, reminds me of the early snowflake motorcycle mag wheels by KimTab, but has a look all its own. Hey, it just reminds me of those old wheels. I could have said Trans AM snowflakes and lost all credibility, but didn’t. Luckily these wheels are driven by a chain final drive that looks way better than any big-ass belt you never saw behind the OEM bags that would now be trying to get your attention. Sorry, chains rule.

  Dual custom rotors and Harley-Davidson calipers complete the high performance/tough guy look Misfit was going for up front. Out back, another Metalsport LA Lace wheel sporting a pudgy Metzeler ME 880 with Misfit’s nifty H-D caliper hanger and a custom disc completes the package. The rolling stock of this bike looks ready to rock and with all the wet weight loss compared to a stock FLHR, it will rock. And that’s not including a mild engine hop-up consisting of an Arlen Ness 10-Gauge Inverted Big Sucker air cleaner and Misfit’s own raging misfit of an exhaust. It’s an under-thigh 2-into-1 with a roller coaster twist from the rear cylinder to get the right length that looks mean and maybe even a bit of an audio bastard. A loveable one, but a bastard of an exhaust no matter how you look at it and that’s what I like about it.

   Misfit did a couple of other neat things to this engine and though they’re not earthshaking, the combo couldn’t be better. First, they raided Arlen Ness’ supply of 10-Gauge engine covers picking up choice little bits like the cool cam cover and the especially cool primary along with the tranny, rocker and a few others too. But I gotta say it’s the second thing that not only stands out on its own, but pulls the whole package together and that would be the Cerakote gun-coating gray finish. There’s just an air of quiet confidence to it that chrome doesn’t have and never tries to be. The engine and tranny becomes something to look at as its own entity, not just shiny bits scattered around hoping to grab your attention.

   What bodywork there is is Misfit-made and that’s one-off Misfit-made in this case. Surprisingly there’s more than you’d think even without bags. Up front there’s a tire-hugging fender that really looks so much nicer than the usual way out of going fenderless. Where there was once a Road King headlight nacelle, there’s now a tight-fitting, racing number plate-style piece with a tiny flip-up headlight to legally light the way if nothing else. It is quite a piece just unto itself and it’s trying hard to not look like anything’s going on, but it is. The fuel tank’s been cleaned up quite a bit too and all I can say is that it looks perfectly clean of line as is. Misfit also fabbed up those fabulous triangular frame covers that think they’re a racing number plate too. And, last but not least, the pièce de résistance ─ the absolutely lovely tail section that gives me the dragster feel. It’s a beauty.

   Now I don’t know if this is totally correct or not, but word on the street is that Kyle Morley of Xecutionstyle in Elmer, New Jersey, handled the painting chores. The satin black base showcases the sapphire blue panels that have extremely subtle things going on inside those very panels like lace and flake with silver panels for the GEICO “G” logo on the tank. All relaxingly refreshing like a cold beer on a summer’s day. Ah-h-h!

  It’s no surprise to me that Texas’ Misfit Industries has killed it again with this cute thing that used to be a Road King. When you’ve got guys involved like Chris Eders and Chris Moos on a project, things are gonna go big or go home. These boys never go home unless they want to.

  For more info on Misfit Industries, check out http://www.misfitbaggers.com/  or punch ‘em up on Facebook or whatever you got.