Chopped Rat Harley-Davidson Softail

IT’S ALWAYS been choppers for me. Even in primary school I had a poster from the movie Easy Rider on my bedroom wall and loved to make chopper and hot rod kits. I’m a 1961 model and all this was bombarding us from the States. Next it was chopping pushbikes with water-pipe fork extensions and rattle-can paint jobs. Then next came motorcycles — they changed my life. I’m now staring down the barrel of 60, but nothing has changed and I certainly haven’t grown up — hopefully, never will. 

I bought this Harley-Davidson Softail Standard brand new in ’06 from Coffs Harbour V Twins. It’s a good year model — first 96 cube, six-speed with the 200 mm back wheel. It has actually been featured before in Ozbike before (#376 Rattle-Can Rat) but a lot has changed since then.

The most obvious change is the front-end. I started with four-inch-overs and five-degree triple-trees but it just wasn’t enough. I looked into cutting the frame, but besides being virtually irreversible, I couldn’t find anyone I’d trust to do it properly and my welding confidence isn’t that high. Then I noticed all the bolt-on and weld-on neck kits that are all the rage in America for those freakin’ ridiculous big-wheel bagger conversions. From there I stumbled onto Chopper Kit USA. I was very dubious but the more I researched them, the more viable they seemed. In the end I chucked caution to the cyclone and ordered a set of eight-inch-over tubes and 14-degree triple-trees. 

Once they’d arrived it didn’t take much to fit them up. Amazingly enough, they weren’t just top quality but also worked just as they promised. The secret to them is that the whole fork pivot point is both raked and moved forward (as if the frame was chopped) and there is also rake in the trees to correct the trail. 

While obviously steering is slower due to the longer wheelbase, it still handles surprisingly well. I still stay up the front on poker runs, and we all know how it gets up at pointy end of the pack. 

The handlebars I made out of a pair of Biltwell Window bars that I cut the top off and welded on a pair of Burleigh Bars Westerns that I ground the risers off; bloody comfortable and just weird enough for me. For good measure I fitted a RSD fork brace and a Screamin’ Eagle (SE) floating disc same as the rear. 

I had been having ongoing issues with the electrics and the EFI for a while, and one day giving her a sound thrashing, I managed to blow the ECU and a few other expensive bits. I was tired of being at the mercy of the dealership and decided it was time for a change. Out came the EFI wiring, ECU, throttle body, tank, fuel pump, etc, etc. I already had an S&S E series carb and got hold of an Altman stand-alone ignition from Germany which works solely off the crank sensor (there is no way to fit an ignition under the points cover like earlier models). 

Harry from Harry’s Customs in Queensland sourced the hard-to-find manifold and sorted a few issues in the conversion while his electrical genius Holga (Zap Electrical) wired it all up. It now idles and spits and snarls like a Shovelhead. 

I then used an extra wide S&S filter element and cut down the cover as small as I could. 

I had a set of Harley-Davidson SE255 cams lying around from a previous 110 build so they went in along with a high-flow oil-pump, etc. It’s also running a thermostat and oil cooler out front. That raw aluminium, finned, primary cover came from EMD in Spain, and inside it has a SE lock-up clutch and SE compensator. 

The two-into-one pipe is a titanium Akropovic which sounds as wicked as it looks. I used a die grinder with a wire wheel to remove the black powder-coat off it. 

Finished off with a grunty Accel coil and SE plug leads she’s a solid useable donk, and after 120,000 km still hasn’t had the heads or barrels off. Goes nice and snappy too.  

The fuel tank was a $50 swap-meet find and a mate TIG welded the raised filler and relocated the Pingel high flow tap so I can get the most out of the 3.3 gallon capacity (thanks Stroker). 

The back guard is a cut down Harley-Davidson Fat Boy with a trailer light and trail-bike blinkers on a home-made mount. 

I did all the leather work; it’s all 3.5 mm buffalo hide. It’s the first time I’ve done it but it really wasn’t that hard. Those who know me would be very surprised that the saddlebag is custom-made to fit four tallies of VB. 

I also decided to try my hand at paint. It’s a combination of rattle-can red oxide primer and matt black with Dulux Exterior Gloss hand-painted flames. Nothing but nothing is too good for my girl!

I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love the way she sits and looks, and most of all, how she feels to ride. It’s like a cranky old 1970’s chopper but as reliable as the day is long. It’s never really finished and I’ve got some pretty out-there ideas for it in future so maybe you’ll see it here again in another five years. And it’s still ridden every day!

Photos by Rod Cole; words by John.