Ice Magic Harley-Davidson Heritage Springer

GORDON’S BIKE was purchased as a stock Harley Heritage Springer and has been a work in progress ever since. It had been five years since the sale of his first Harley-Davidson and Gordon was not mucking around with his new ride when it came to doing some serious miles and to make up for all that lost time off the road. The first service was due in a week and his next ride was a 22,500 km trek which ranged from Darwin to the south end of The Great Ocean Road and everywhere in between.

Five years later, Gordon and his Springer are happily scooting down life’s highway on another Darwin to Victoria excursion, the bike, still in pristine condition, just outside Muswellbrook and BANG! Some brain-dead, one-armed prick in a Toyota ute does a right hander in front of Gordon leaving he and the bike buckled, bent and very bruised.

Not one to let things get him down, Gordon set about getting his bike back on the road while his badly injured ankle was on the mend.

The whole front section of the frame had to be replaced as was the entire front-end. While the bike was in for repair, Gordon decided this was the time to add on a few extra goodies for looks and practicality.

Ice, as the bike is affectionately known, due to the whiter than white paint job applied by Wally at Redcliffe and the $5500 worth of re-chroming, now sports a EV3 cam, Custom Chrome upswept fishtail exhaust and a set of mild ape-hangers.

The arse-end has been dropped down via a lowering kit and a PM rear set-up helps to avoid any more one-armed ute drivers.

The front guard on Ice is number four. One of which was totalled in the wreck and another was unceremoniously fucked by a Kamikaze wedge-tailed eagle that decided to play chicken with Gordon’s bike on one of his treks. Harley Springer: 1; wedge-tailed eagle: nil.

After all the miles this bike has chewed up Gordon proudly boasts that the motor and gearbox have never been pulled down and that it has only had new primary sprockets, clutch and a final drive belt all replaced at 175,000 km. Not bad going at all, I reckon.

Gordon has his next marathon trip planned, so life for Ice ain’t about to move into the slow lane anytime soon.

Now this bike may not be your average multi-trophy, show winning, billet shod custom, but in its 10 years it certainly has scored its fair share of special memories and road tales. Even as we took the snaps out on the beautiful Redcliffe Peninsula we were surrounded by a fair few curious onlookers and young Kazz was kind enough to throw a leg over (the bike) as an impromptu model for a few shots.

Gordon says the bike is a real chick magnet and told me of the night that he and a young barmaid from an undisclosed pub decided to go for a quick jaunt up the road and ended up doing the ugly-bump at over 120 km/h… but that’s another story.

words & pics by Chuck U Farley