Once the freshly machined parts were back from a swim in the chrome tank, he wanted a little eye candy, so Alfonse started wrenching. He reassembled and shortened the front forks by 1.5 inches using one of Progressive Suspension's lowering kits, then slid them into a Harley-Davidson factory-chromed triple tree. A shorter-than-stock pair of Skullman shocks were fitted to the tweaked swingarm, lowering it an equal amount.After a pair of Metzeler 880 Marathons, a 240 rear and 3.00 front, were spooned onto the rims, the bike was ready to roll, though not yet ready to stop. With one front binder deleted, Alfonse figured the remaining stoppers would need all the help they could get. Accordingly, a black-anodized six-piston PM caliper was hung on the left fork, while a matching four-piston unit was installed out back. Both calipers squeeze Wrath rotors, and reportedly provide plenty of whoa power, at least at rational speeds.
With the bike rolling, Alfonse focused on the bodywork. The front fender is a West Coast Choppers Mama Jama. At the time WCC didn't offer the fender in a 21 x 5.5-inch version, but using his considerable powers of persuasion, the ones with Ben Franklin's picture on them, he got the company to roll one up for him. As delivered, it wasn't quite right, so Alfonse and his grinder went to work removing tiny bits of metal until the fender's contour perfectly matched the wheel's.
Alfonse wanted the fender/fork junction to have an integrated, factory-installed appearance, so simply hanging the fender from a set of spacers wouldn't cut it. Since he had no practical way to machine what he wanted, he acquired a second set of lower legs and sliced the fender mounts out of them. The amputated mounts were worked until they fit perfectly between the stock mounts and the new fender, which gave him the seamless look he was after. It may seem roundabout, but it turned out just fine.
Breathless Performance supplied the rear fender with an edge-mounted LED taillight, which Alfonse also reworked using his trusty grinder and a bucket of fiberglass until its bend perfectly matched the front fender's. They also supplied the functional ram-air/frame covers, the chrome screens being Alfonse's handiwork, and the side-mounted license plate bracket.
The factory handlebar was way too high, so Alfonse ditched it and had Custom Cycle Controls create a lower-than-stock drag bar. The custom bar contains the switch wiring as well as internal master cylinders for the clutch and front brake. It's a neat job that really cleans up a normally cluttered area. The only problem was that once the bars were lowered, the speedometer housing stuck up like a sore thumb.
Alfonse figured that with a little heating, grinding and reshaping he'd have a complementary speedometer housing to set off his trick handlebars. OK, so the first one broke while he was kneading it, but surely he'd have better luck the second time around. Well then, maybe the third one would do the trick. Just about the time the parts guy suggested ordering the housings by the gross, Alfonse made one that worked, perseverance apparently going hand in hand with resourcefulness. The final control details include a CFR seat and H-D accessory-catalog slotted foot controls.
Eschewing a fancy paint scheme—it wouldn't have been in keeping with the bike's spare look—Alfonse had Adrian Auto Body of Yorktown Heights, New York, apply eight coats of gloss black followed by eight coats of clear to all the bodywork, with the exception of the speedometer housing. Alfonse painted that with a rattle can, just because he could. Believing 110 horsepower was more than enough and wanting to maintain the reliability of the stock engine, Alfonse wisely left the mill's internals alone, though it did receive a full complement of genuine H-D chrome dress-up goodies to give it a little shine and a few bolt-on performance accessories to wake it up a bit.
Carry Faas Racing supplied one of its megaphone exhaust systems, the airbox top was removed and discarded to improve airflow and a K&N filter was installed. The final touch was downloading a Screamin' Eagle FI program, which remapped the injection system to work with the less-restrictive pipe and air filter.
Two and half months after he'd busted his first knuckle, Alfonse's ripped V-Rod was up and running. From the jump the bike proved to be everything he'd hoped for and then some. Displaying outstanding workmanship and exacting attention to detail, the bike was an instant success on the local show circuit, picking up a best in class and two best of shows in its first three outings.
But more importantly, the bike is a fun to ride, practical custom that shows what can be done by the average Joe (or Alfonse) with a little resourcefulness, some imagination and the right help. When you consider his lack of resources and limited mechanical experience, it makes it doubly impressive. Proving, I suppose, that whether you're building bikes or bodies, when you have the will and desire, the rest is just a matter of hard work.
For more articles on custom bikes and articles about how to customize and modify your motorcycle, see the Custom section of MotorcycleCruiser.com.