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My Personal Ride
This is my personal ride, a ’93 Fat Boy. At least it started out as one. Unfortunately it was totaled in a head-on wreck in ’97, so the only parts left of the original bike are the frame (which I straightened), and the motor cases. Basically it’s a whole new Harley – built my way.
As it probably is with your own Harley, no pictures of my bike are ever truly up-to-date, since it’s never really finished. These were shot in March of ’06.
I did all the design, assembly, fabrication & motor work and my friend Al painted it Ford Laser Red (nearly twelve years ago for a mere $250).
You’ll notice I’m going for a classic Harley look, though it doesn’t accurately depict any particular year of Harley. It actually has parts and styles from many different years but most closely resembles a ‘50s Panhead (at least that’s what I was aiming for).
As you can see, there are no wires, throttle cables or hydraulic lines on the handlebars, just two symmetrically arching lever cables. There’s no master cylinder either, it’s hidden within the nacelle. The brake lever & bracket is actually a clutch lever & bracket flipped over, meaning the left and right hand controls are perfect mirror images of one another. You may have spotted the close-fitting LED turn signals mounted under the levers. They are quite bright yet have a 60° viewing angle.
The saddle you see here is a LePera Sorrento, one I use occasionally for passenger comfort. Normally I ride with a Harley Badlander, but passengers don’t seem to like it as well as I do. In case you’re wondering, no, I don’t particularly care for the LePera’s glossy vinyl, nor the stitching for that matter. It doesn’t cause the annoying whine that the Badlander does, though.
The front crash bar is a recent addition that I may make detachable sometime in the near future. The wheels are 3.5”x 16” tubeless rims with stainless spokes, made by DNA of California. Notice the re-angled rear brake lever.
This photo shows my “unitized detachables” ready to be remounted. The saddlebags are ’76 H-D fiberglass ones that I got on Ebay and modified to quickly detach leaving no brackets behind. The rear crash bars are attached directly to the bags rather than the frame. Unlike Harley’s original design, my bags have no visible locks, latches or hinges. You can see the keyholes here on the underside of each. The rear turn signals and running lights are LEDs built into the bags; red for running lights and amber for turn. The windshield is right from Harley’s catalog but I’ve added passing lamps and lower wind deflectors that stay with the windshield. Also I trimmed 3” off the top of the windshield and nearly an inch off each side. The passing lamps plug into a single hidden receptacle under the nacelle.
Here it is in full dress mode. It only takes a minute to make the conversion, but these simple changes make all the difference on the road.
Probably the most non-Harleyish aspect of the bike is my homemade modular fiberglass dash, but I like it because it houses not only the speedo and ignition switch, but also a tach, oil pressure gauge and flashing LED alarm light. The rest of the dash lights (neutral, high beam, turn indicators and oil pressure lights) are also LED but are recessed into the speedo face to make them less obtrusive. The whole dash just unplugs for easy removal.
These photos were shot on a somewhat overcast day, so you can’t really see the paint in its true light. It’s a very fiery red in bright sunlight. Ford still uses this paint (code E9) on Mustangs.
Here’s a closeup of the nacelle showing the windshield/passing lamp/wind deflectors ensemble. Notice there’s no bar under the passing lamps, just like in the good old days. This shot also affords a better view of the right hand controls showing the missing master cylinder and brake fluid reservoir.
Below is a list of non-stock parts & features in case you’re interested. It’s definitely subject to change without notice.
To see more photos click HERE. | 
