Bat Out Of Hell Softail Standard
My thinking is there are a few good used Softail Standards getting around now at reasonable prices. This type of bike is a great base for a custom bike.
MY BIKE started off as a Softail Standard. Over the years it has seen a fair few changes; some good, some down right bad. The bad ones were mainly from listening to guys who never thought outside the ‘H-D Motor Co’ square. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but when I think of a custom Harley, I think of a bike that stands out from the pack, rather than one that blends into a mass of factory chrome and other factory accessories.
The first modification that really impressed me a few years back was the 95 cube kit and the flowed Rocket Heads designed by Rick of Twin Tech on the Gold Coast. Coupled with a 42 mm Mikuni carby, it made all the difference in the power and torque gain.
The latest customisation—the 200 tyre and paint job—has to be the best by far. I know some of you might be asking why didn’t I just buy a later Standard with the 200 tyre already fitted? I already had my bike and was happy with the performance plus it comes back to a bike standing out from the pack thing again. I wanted something that the guard and wheel looked like it is a feature of the bike, not just another 200 tyre Softail Standard with an over-sized factory guard.
I knew what I wanted as far as the rear guard and wheels went. I decided to use the LED rear tailight and indicators all combined in the one unit, plus the bullet indicators on the side of the rear guard.
Roscoe set up the 18 x 5.5 inch PM wheel and 200 Metzler tyre in the standard swingarm after Rick machined the rear belt pulley down to fit the 20 mm belt. Rick and Jimmy then did the work on the rear guard, recessing the light fixture and profiling the guard. They also had to modify the struts for the guard as well. Rick had a Milwaukee Iron front guard he was going to use on the Alien Chopper (Oz Biker Nation #301) but changed to another style, so needless to say, I jumped at the idea of getting that guard on my bike.
The bike’s tin-ware was sprayed by Craig from Custom Spray Painting Concepts on the Sunshine Coast and Perry from Mallet Custom Art did the artwork. Those boys really know their business.
Needless to say, I couldn’t be happier with the results of my bike. A big thanks to Rick, Ross and Geoff from Twin Tech Motorcycles; Perry and Craig for the great paint work.
words & pics by Rod Cole
