The talented guy behind this build is Derek Spitsnogle, owner of Xotic Customs in Lincoln, Nebraska, whom we’ve featured before with a striking build for the well known character/emcee of Full Throttle Saloon, Gregg “The Goat” Cook. Funnily enough it’s called the Goat Glide and had a great amount of reader interest. Click on the link Goat Glide and see for yourself. But, that was then, this is now and this build leaves out any stops along the way. It was just foot to the boards to get it done in time for Daytona and it cleaned up when it got there. This bike called Xotic Dancer danced its way to Best Of Show and 1^st in its class at the 45^th Rat’s Hole Show. All the hard work behind it paid off for Derek, but he’s as much about the build itself than getting bragging rights.

    A build can start anywhere from a single part to a complete motorcycle, in this case it was a 1940 Harley-Davidson Knucklehead. At first I figured that any Knucklehead making 200hp had to be a modern replica like an S&S Knucklehead, but, nope, it was courtesy of The Motor Company. Man, that makes it 77-years-old and it’s making 200hp? Even more amazing is that in its hottest stock Special Sport Solo form it was rated about 40hp. Holy bat shit Batman, that’s one zippy senior citizen!

    I have to assume then that the inside of this Knuck is quite different to be able to handle forced induction system’s stuffing of the cylinders and all the heat and stress that comes with that little turbo addition. But the most impressive part of this engine build is actually the turbo system itself, I mean it’s not like you can go online and buy a turbo kit for a 1940 Harley engine even if it was their latest and greatest at the time. Remember, it’s 77 and at that age things tend to slow down more than speed up. Well, at least that’s the way it goes for humans anyway, but apparently not the case here.

   Anyway, a one-off turbo was the only way to go for Derek, but apparently that didn’t faze him in the least. The plumbing for the turbo is a beautifully complicated series of exhaust tubing that dances all over the left side of the engine before spinning up the turbo seemingly mounted in space before splitting off into a couple of splitters just below the denim-covered floorboards. A single large diameter tube goes from the turbo around the twin downtubes and around to feed the forced mixture directly into the S&S Super G carb. It’s kinda like the equivalent of mechanical water boarding and the poor Super G probably didn’t have the slightest idea what it was in for.

   Again, I’m guessing here, but I think all that pre-turbo, swirling exhaust action going on was what inspired the Xotic Dancer name for the bike. Look at it and tell me otherwise. The end result of all that turbo action necessitated the need for a beefy open belt drive to handle the power plus it looks pretty cool too. One thing you have to remember about this 200hp beast of an engine is that no buttons are involved, this is a kick-only custom that definitely separates the fit and the determined from the rest of us. I’ve done plenty of kicking in my life, but I think those days are over for me so if Derek would kickstart it for me, I’d take it for a ride in a nanosecond.

    If you’ve got an engine, then you need something to put it in and Derek knew exactly what he wanted but it wasn’t like you could order one from the Internet or something. Nope, he wanted a lay frame Softail to showcase this engine so he built it with a Softail back end and a bunch of newly formed tubing up front for a more gracefully sweeping look. Built around the dimensions of a Ride Wright 26-inch Fat Daddy 50 front wheel with Ride Wright’s Jewel spokes, there’s not a line out of place or a proportion off even by a little. It’s as smooth as that proverbial baby’s ass.

    One thing that was relatively easy for Derek was the air suspension. Xotic has their own TailDragger Air Suspension Kit that claims to have more travel (five-inches) than anybody else’s kit for less than the price of others and it comes with a lifetime warranty. Up front, a heavily modified fork that’s so smooth it looks to be a single piece unit instead of the telescoping fork it is. Clean design just doesn’t cover what the end result is, but that’s exactly what it is. Clean and simple is always the hardest thing to do especially in a complicated build and I think this easily qualifies as a complicated build. Derek might pooh-pooh that notion of being complicated now that the pain of building it is over.

    At Xotic, the mantra of steel is real holds true and anything you see on this build is metal, not composites of any kind. The fuel tank is its own steel is real persona involving lots of metal work with twin dished sides on each side of the tank. Plus, just for the hell of it and because he liked the look, Derek came up with a hood ornament off a 1958 Ford Fairlane that he mounted backwards on the tank. Tasteful incorporation of vintage auto trim parts in an unlikely place really adds a lot of interest in a tank that already had a lot going for it. The complete reshaping of the tank makes it one of one and really something to look at and drink in.

   Both front and rear fenders are showstoppers with the front the less rad of the two with its Heritage-style profile that keeps a bit of Harley mojo in the otherwise towering fender. Out back is where Fenders Gone Wild could have been filmed with that sweeping floozy of steel Derek formed into a tail dragger of tail draggers. With no saddlebags or anything else in the way, the flourish of steel had to have caused a bit of anxiety during its fabrication. Is it too much? Is it too little? Nope, it turned out just right and brings on the drama all show bikes need to go for.

    The headlight area is also not just something stuck on and call it a day either. The nacelle itself was fabricated by Derek to provide a smooth background for the lighting that features prominent style points using vintage auto parts again. The headlight itself is from a 1929 Chevrolet and really is a stand out piece that could easily be a successful catalog piece for some manufacturer. The fog lights are straight out of the 1930s from some unknown auto, but look spectacular especially with that little trim piece on the top. The size and the placement of the head and fog lamps couldn’t be better with just a hint of forward motion as standard. I’d say it was a tasteful and artistic choice all around.

    One thing Xotic prides itself with is that just about anything and everything is done in-house. That goes for that gorgeous heavy metal flake blue paintjob with lighter blue panel graphics and pinstriping. It just popped under the Florida sun and pulled anybody in that was sauntering by the Boardwalk. But, there’s the finishing touch which is the use of copper plating throughout the build from the wheels to the engine and most anything that wasn’t blue. It really sets off the bike and even from a distance, I knew this was something special long before I could even begin to tell what it was. It just gleamed and reflected back the sun into my eyes from both the striking paintwork to the extensive copper plating.

    When I did get up close and personal, though, it was things like the towering curved copper apes that were devoid of any controls other than an internal throttle. And that copper work includes the grips too. Simple copper foot controls managed the rear brake and the clutch while one of the most delicate looking hand shifters ever topped with a 10 ball gracefully whips itself out and about until it’s easily reached outside a left leg. Everything is different on this bike, but everything has a purpose other than just being different too.

   You know, I must be getting old because when I saw the tartan plaid cloth used for the insert on the distressed leather seat and the side bag, I just thought it was a cool use of something different. Then, it clicked and it’s the old school-girl look favored by many an exotic dancer for your viewing pleasure. Xotic does all of its own upholstery work in-house and the craftsmanship is first class and then some. Xotic’s Jen the stitcher probably is an underpaid, but very talented person who takes great pride in a stitch well done.

   As I mentioned earlier, Xotic Dancer has been killing it on the show circuit. All the hard work Derek and his crew put into this build has paid off handsomely with many more awards at other shows too. I got a strange feeling that this bike will have a long show life and any testing on my part of the 200hp Knucklehead will probably have to wait until its show days are over. Hopefully by then it’s glory days will lie ahead where someone will get a chance to ride the pee out of a 77-year-old turbocharged Knucklehead. The best is yet to come.