Deluxe Harley-Davidson Nostalgia
“I like my bikes with lots of chrome and I am lucky enough to have the time to spend keeping it polished,” said Bob.
MY BIKE is a Harley-Davidson Deluxe and the colour is sunburst red and birch white. This is bike number 21 for me since I started riding in the ’70s. That was a great time to be riding with some classic bikes being released. Some of my favourite bikes I had during that time were the Honda CBX six-cylinder in the candy apple red colour and the Honda 1100RD. It was also a great time to be riding with friends on their Kawasaki 900s and Ducati 900ss models.
As I lived close to Amaroo Park race-track in Sydney, I was able to go to a couple of Castrol Six Hour races and see the likes of Graeme Crosby ride a CBX 1000 and Wayne Gardner a Honda 1100R on different occasions. In those days, these races were important as the bikes were basically stock and whichever bike won that day was the one that most people wanted to look at on Monday.
After returning to riding after a 15 year break, I quickly went through two Yamaha cruisers. Then finally my long term goal of owning a Harley-Davidson came true. I was able to buy my first Harley, a Softail Springer. I had the bike for 18 months and it was kept basically stock with no engine modifications; just some 14-inch apes and Renegade wheels.
My next two Harleys were the Softail Custom and the Wide Glide. Both these bikes had lots of chrome accessories and the Screamin’ Eagle Stage 2 engine upgrades.
But it was the Harley-Davidson Deluxe that really grabbed my attention. I really like the nostalgic look, especially with the whitewall tyres, tombstone tailight and the low profile cargo rack. So I made the decision to sell the Wide Glide and get a Deluxe.
Gold Coast Harley-Davidson really looked after me for my previous Harleys so it was back to see them for all the parts I needed. After installing the Screamin’ Eagle Stage 2 engine upgrade on my Softail Custom and Wide Glide, I always regretted not getting the Stage 4 so it was the first part I ordered for the Deluxe. The Screamin’ Eagle Stage 4 kit comes with factory CNC ported heads and SE 259E cams. At the time of the photo shoot, I am running the bike in but it will be dyno’d down the track.
I like my bikes with lots of chrome and I am lucky enough to have the time to spend keeping it polished. Some of the parts are Vance & Hines Big Shot staggered pipes and Performance Machine brake rotors; the down-tube, swingarm, speedo, and neck covers are from Kuryakyn as are the covers near the foot pegs. All the other parts are Harley-Davidson and include the 16-inch Blade wheels front and back, 12-inch mini fat apes and tribal mirrors. There are still a couple of parts I will get down the track such as the Harley-Davidson combination speedo/RPM gauge and a Badlander seat.
Everyone asks me how long is this bike going to stay for and I say that this is a long term proposition. Each time I go into the garage and see the bike there is nothing on it that I don’t like. But then again…
Photos by Rod Cole; story by Bob
