| When I was growing up in the 60s I always fancied the Harley motorcycles that were around at that time. There were a lot of Harley 45's and 74 Dressers and a few Sportsters (very few). The Harleys in this area belonged to the hard core Harley Davidson red neck breed. The Harley dealer would not even talk to you if you had long hair or didn't fall into a certain stereo type. Needless to say in order to have a Harley you had to buy it used and had to customize it to make it a suitable machine for looks and comfort. The nice Harleys as seen in biker type magazines didn't exist in this area but a change was coming. The movie Easy Rider popularized the Harleys to the younger more hip generation and brought on a change to the area and eventually a change of hands at the local Harley dealership. The 60's were a time of freedom of expression and we were all looking for that freedom to escape the confines of the redneck generation and their rules. To own a Harley and to ride free and be free. With Vietnam dangling over our heads, a stranglehold that our parental generation brought upon us, we needed an out and riding free was one of the ways we could express ourselves and break away from big brothers grip. We had our own music, our own lifestyle and our own motorcycle. Our motorcycle was the customized Harley. Apehangers, long springers, extended forks, small fenders and custom paint all made them our generations Harley. I had many motorcycles when I was growing up,always wanting a Harley, but never able to dish out the kind of money to buy one. In the seventies Harley was bought out by AMF and because of the companies lack of interest in their product the Harley sales were down, which was causing dealerships to go bankrupt. One of the local Harley shops had gone bankrupt and they had a large auction selling off their inventory. I thought that it was an excellant opportunity to buy a new Harley. The parts and bikes sold at a real reasonable price and I captured the bid on a new 1978 1200cc Superglide. I paid $2800 for it and the showroom price at that time was around $3800. One of the first things I did to my Harley was to remove the AMF sticker fastened to the tank. I broke the bike in carefully and enjoyed the feeling of the stigma of owning a Harley. I owned the bike for over a year and added a few accessories and chrome, but the bike was just another showroom Harley with chrome on it. After that first year I knew I wanted more. I wanted something that would stand out in the crowd. I put a for sale sign on the bike that winter and to my surprise I soon had a buyer. I almost backed out of the sale, but gave in when I was offered more money. I then started my new project, a customized Harley different than anyone elses. I started out buying parts at swap meets and from freinds. I found a rigid frame and a set of 1941 Harley Knucklehead cases. I liked the look of a rigid frame but can't stand the ride, so I traded it for a swingarm frame. I pieced together enough parts, new and used to build the engine. Working at the motorcycle shop helped me buy parts at dealer cost, which made it easy to put it together right. I smoothed out the rough spots of the frame and prepared it for the paint job. My choice of colors was candy apple brandy wine metallic. A color that looked a little different depending on the way the sun reflected off it. I knew a paint man that was good at painting custom murals. I gave him a description of what I wanted painted on the tank and he did the rest. It turned out beautiful and with some custom gold pinstriping the final paint was magnificent. I built custom fenders and added a tailight of the 40's era. I ground off the imperfections on the wide glide front fork tubes and had them chrome plated. Apehanger handlebars, an exposed belt primary drive, forward controls, magneto and custom oil tank all added to the mystique. Stainless steel braided cables and oil lines, gold plated pushrod tubes and an S&S carburetor touched it off. The one thing I couldn't quite get to where I wanted was the wheel rims. I settled for stock looking mag wheels which I painted to match the bike, but never really liked them. The big 2 inch drag pipes had a real throaty knucklehead sound and was special in its own way. The end result was a head turner. I took it to the ultimate bikeshow, the Sturgis rally. I enjoyed standing back in the crowd and watching onlookers come up and make compliments on how great it looked. Now I look back and I feel proud to have had that moment of glory in my life. Even though now I may ride a stock showroom Harley, I will have that custom Harley in my heart forever. |
| Harleys |
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