Hell’s Bitch Harley-Davidson Softail Custom

HELL’S Bitch was built from a Harley-Davidson Softail Custom. It started out green and cream and it’s since under-gone massive changes,” said Shane from Heavy Duty Motorcycles. “It has a 103 cubic inch Screamin’ Eagle engine running 11-to-one compression. We’ve gone with a set of Screamin’ Eagle adjustable pushrods and Feuling lifters.

“We’re running the best of the S&S gear-drive cams—585 Easy Start cams. Basically, the two exhaust cams have a spring-loaded compression release lobe on the heal of the cam where the valve would normally be fully closed. The lobe holds the exhaust valve open slightly at cranking speed. This releases some of the compression making the engine easier to crank. Once the engine starts, and rpm increases, the compression release lobe is centrifugally retracted and the engine runs normally with full compression.

“To tighten up the whole bottom-end, we split the cases and replaced the taper bearing with a Timken bearing. It has a Screamin’ Eagle throttle body with larger injectors, and a ThunderMax ignition system which works very well.

“We put a 21 by 3.5-inch Performance Machine wheel on the front, and a 8.5-inch rear wheel with Arlen Ness matching rotors and pulleys; also a Roland Sands designed air cleaner; a set of titanium exhausts fully imported from Nova Customs in Germany; Roland Sands peanut tank which has been custom painted by Mark at Queensland Paint and Panel; Mean Street inverted front-end; custom VDO gauges including a custom fuel gauge; Arlen Ness forward controls and billet pegs combined with Harley-Davidson black grips; and a set of custom one-off handlebars which were made specifically for Hell’s Bitch by the crew at Burleigh Bars.

“I had Nasty Bitch, a Sportster 1200 which has been featured in Ozbike too,” said Rinehart, the owner of this Softail Custom Harley-Davidson. “I had just finished customising the Sporty but thought, ‘This is not the end; I want a bigger bike.’ 

“I’ve always loved the Softail customs so I bought one from Heavy Duty Motorcycles who had built the original Sportster for me. I’d been with Heavy Duty Motorcycles for about three and a half years so it was just a natural progression to give them the Hell’s Bitch project. I came into Heavy Duty Motorcycles and told the guys exactly what I wanted.

“Once the bike was completed, Rinehart didn’t think much of the handling,” said Shane. “At that point we just had the five degrees in the triple trees and it caused him a bit of wobbling at high speeds, and this bike is very quick. So we took it back and had Dave Kellet Motorcycle Engineering rake the frame four degrees which, with the five degrees in the trees, streamlined the rideability at high speeds.

“There was also trouble with settings on the Legend air suspension and, unfortunately, Rinehart lost a little passion for the bike and put it on the market. It had been on the market for around five weeks, and it even had a deposit on it, when Rinehart pulled it back off the floor. It is every bit a true love story. Hell’s Bitch is a daily ride for Rinehart and his only mode of transport so it’s a rider not a hider.”

Make sure you check out the feature on Alyin on the Hell’s Bitch Harley-Davidson Softail Custom.

Photos by Wall 2 Wall; words by Shane at Heavy Duty Motorcycles & Rinehart.