Jim Forler's not fond of Harleys. He thinks they're overrated and underpowered. Luckily, he's channeled his sentiments into a bike that can walk the walk. But Forler's 1998 Bully Valkyrie isn't just a canvas for his Motor Company malice--it's a righteous custom on its own.
Forler has built customs before and he prefers his bikes streamlined. His intent was to make that apparent on the Bully Valkyrie. Its front forks are one inch lower, and the rear three inches lower thanks to shorter Progressive Suspension shocks. A stretched Headwinds headlight grabs the eye instantly, until you refocus on the long, flowing ProDyno tailpipes curving outward from the back. It's clean.
And the chrome, you'll notice, is everywhere--Forler chromed the forks and swingarm and mounted up Cruise Concepts' Pegasus wheels, which were also chromed. The Bully's shaft housing, exhaust brackets and swing arm pivot cases received a chromium bath, too. Behind the ignition switch and chrome tranny cover lurks a chrome bracket. Control cables were switched to braided steel, and switch covers were chromed. Chrome velocity stacks from Aeromach were installed in the engine bay. The Bully Valkyrie is hard to miss at high noon.
But there's more. Forler found a unique custom grab bar with LED lighting at the All Cycles shop in Tempe, Arizona, and Lazer brake lights and rear turn signals for an interesting rear lighting combination. He then combined a Corbin seat, Cobra floorboards and brake pedal for a superior riding position. Dakota Digital gauges were planted in the instrument panel. Bourget's Bike Works in Phoenix smoothed and filled in the rear fender and mounted a custom license holder off the left side with integrated LED brake lights. They also provided the Bully Valkyrie with a custom Monster drag bar and applied the southwestern-themed paint.
Though he did much of the custom work himself, Forler says finding all the parts for the Valkyrie would have been impossible without the resources of the Internet. He tells us the best shop for accessories is still the Valkyrie Rider online store. Probably because there are no Harleys allowed.
For more articles on custom bikes and articles about how to customize and modify your motorcycle, see the Custom section of MotorcycleCruiser.com.