If you’ve never ridden an FXR be sure to grab the opportunity if you ever get a chance. It’s a revelation especially for a bike that originally came into production in 1982 when the Shovelhead was the latest and greatest Harley Big Twin power plant available. When it was new I heard it being called the nastiest things by the Harley faithful and completely despised for its looks particularly the exposed frame rails. I never got it and thought this thing was a revelation from Day One, but I should have known better. Anything I like is sure to bomb on the sales floor and it did. In 1994, by now equipped with an Evo engine, it was discontinued with the Dyna series taking over. You can’t keep a bunch of FXR freaks down, though, especially when they include many of Harley’s in-house designers and engineers, so they reissued it again for duty in 1999 through 2000 where it disappeared once more.

   Oh yeah, production may have ceased, but the little FXR flame burning in the hearts of FXR nuts never has dimmed a bit over the years. They just love their FXRs and nothing else will do. The in-your-face FXR you’re looking at comes from Whoville Speed & Custom in Abilene, Texas, who are a bunch of FXR freaks and then some. Whoville loves nothing better than to come across a dilapidated FXR that needs some love and re-imagines it as more than it ever was. They leave all the goodness baked into one and only enhance every aspect of it until it’s more than the sum of its parts.

     Leaving the frame alone is first on the agenda as it’s hard to improve on being cooked perfectly in the first place. The handling and ride quality is a couple of things that can be radically updated with new equipment and Whoville doesn’t disappoint. Out back, a set of high-tech Ohlins Blackline piggyback shocks replace the mediocre OEM shocks while up front a set of beefy inverted Ohlins Universal USD forks replace the spindly stockers. The new forks also allowed radial fitment of a four-piston Performance Machine caliper grabbing a custom wheel-matching rotor. Oh, the wheel it matches is PM’s Formula wheel in case you’re keeping score. It’s a clean and simple five-spoke wheel all muscle and no-frills befitting the theme behind this build. Tough, simple and good looking. The Formula rear wheel has a similar four-pot PM brake set, it’s just not a radial setup. Um, better handling and better brakes, Whoville was off to a good start.

     Since this FXR was from the Evo era, hopping up the engine a bit is fairly easy to do with all sorts of stuff available depending on your budget. Although I’m not exactly sure what was changed inside the cases, I did notice it had R&R heads on it and that makes me think this must be a complete rebuild and hop up/ R&R are legendary engine and parts builders out of Manchester, New Hampshire, who have been at the forefront of all things Harley since shortly before the gas engine was invented. Maybe not that long, but it seems that way. That absolutely lovely stainless steel 2-into1 exhaust is by Sawicki Speed Shop and it really looks the biz here with that turned-out turnout that seems ready to make with the dBs at a moments notice.

    Whoville also upgraded the tranny from the stock Harley five-speed to a BAKER Drivetrain six-speed. Nothing wrong with a wider spread of gears and better highway cruising. It’s a win-win for everybody. I don’t have the slightest idea what that gorgeous primary cover is even though I should. It’s different without the inspection ports on the side and the adjustable shift lever coming out of it midway is a neat piece of kit. I just like adjustability more than I like having to adjust to something so I’m totally on board with that.

    With better handling, better brakes and more power you’d think they’d have accomplished what they set to do, but like all things Harley, it’s about the looks and looks are all attitude. This baby’s got plenty of attitude, maybe even a bit much for some of you, but that’s okay. There’s a bit of SOA to it that definitely brings on the bad boy attitude through simple things like the mini-fairing and relatively flat bars mounted on ape risers. I see SOA in that alone and it’s been a popular look that doesn’t impede on the actual riding very much. If you don’t like it, it’s easily changed.

   The stretched tank brings on the custom like no stock Harley tank can while the stock rear fender sees a bit of modding done to make it tight and right. Up front, it’s a custom fender to match the bigger front wheel and it’s another practical concession to style that I’d take in a heart beat. I love naked front wheels, but man, are they a pain when they’re needed and not there. Don’t believe me? Pull the front fender off your Road King for a couple of weeks and get back to me. Those hated frame covers and exposed frame tubing apparently were too metric for most Harley lovers, but that’s something I never really understood. I always looked at them for being FXR attributes signifying all the good things an FXR was designed to be. Hey, everybody’s got an opinion and yours is just as valuable as mine.

    For paint, Whoville turned to Darren Williams, owner of Liquid Illusions Paint in Lee Summit, Missouri, for a paintjob that you could never walk by without looking at it. At first it looks like an orange monotone, a lot of it, from a distance, but the closer you get the more that’s going on. The base coat is a light orange that’s pretty popular today on cars and bikes with darker orange metal flake as part of the graphics. There’s also white and black graphics to rouse things up a bit more including the Whoville logo nicely emblazoned on the tank. Matching orange grips, bars and controls complete the look while a nicely sculpted saddle with double-stitch orange stitching completes the package. Whether this is your cup o’ Joe or not is entirely up to you, but you have to admit it grabs your attention and that’s exactly what Whoville was going for. They want your attention and they’ve got it now anyway.

    So a nice riding, nice handling, comfy bike made for blasting the highways as well as back roads gets some updating. I wish I could show you all the fine work Whoville did behind the exterior of this bike. Beauty is a lot more than skin deep on this ride. There’s tons of tidy stuff done behind panels and bodywork that won’t make a lick of difference on a show florr, but will when you get home and start removing panels. There’s a hell of a lot of attention to detail from the upgraded parts to the actual assembly. If you were an FXR freak before, you’ll only be happier and if you weren’t, maybe it’s worth investigating if you’re the adventurous type who enjoys Harley history and getting your hands dirty. Most people don’t mind the first part, but they hate the second part. So, where do you fit in?

   For more info on Whoville Speed & Custom, check ‘em out on Facebook.