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Contents

Issue Twenty Three Weise textile riding gear, Hood armoured motorcycle jeans, Tailsafe secure soft luggage, I-Nek neckwarmers, Pinstriping and Kustom Graphics magazine

17: 2007 VICTORY HAMMER-S

Take an already stunning motorcycle, refinish it in lustrous colours and trick wheels and make it more rideable, and you end up with a traffic-stopping, head-turning motorcycle that you just have to ride that extra mile.

26: BRUNO’S 1959 PANHEAD

Closer to the original bike than either of last issue’s Pans, Bruno’s ’59 Duo Glide is still prime example of a subtly modified bike, whose originality won’t deter him from using it as it was intended to be used: to ride.

33: DAYTONA 2007

A couple of readers hit the Florida beaches for Bike Week – actually many of them did, but Gordon Jenner and Ian Craggs sent us back some pictures.

40: 2007 HARLEY-DAVIDSON VRSCAW V-ROD The tried and tested way of making people look again at a bike they think they know, is to slap a bigger strip of rubber in the back. Is the 240-section too much for the Water Hog? Or will it make it into the bike that’ll capture imaginations?

48: SUPERCHARGED VRSCBK NIGHT ROD … okay, so there’s another way of attracting attention: having already slipped a 240 into a Night Rod, MTC stuck a Magnacharger blower on it. There’s not a hope in hell that you’ll walk past this without noticing!

55: THUNDER ROAD’S OPEN WEEKEND AT ARROW MILL Finally made it! The Victory model range has matured and broadened enough to put up a creditable fleet for test riding, and as the only dealership already dedicated to American motorcycles, Thunder Road act as an honest broker for those who want to know more.

60: THUNDERCITY’S 2006 BIG BEAR CHOPPERS’ SCREAMIN’ DEMON The motorcycle formerly known as Sooty rises Phoenix-

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS B&H Motorcycles: 32 Bennetts: 85 Black Bear: 54 Bulldog Bash: 15 Carole Nash: 7 CNT Distribution Ltd: 32 Custom Chrome: 100 Custom Wizard: 85 Harrison Billet: 25 Krazy Horse: 16 MAD: 47 Motorcycle Storehouse: 25 MTC Motorcycles: 47 Nick Gale: 39 Rainy City HDC: 47 Rich King Illustration: 32 S100 Cycle Care: 16 Scorpion Racing: 85 SHD: 25 S&S Performance: 13 Thunder City: 99 Thunder Road: 54 Warneke & Faust: 31 Warrs: 5 Zodiac: 2

like from the ashes of Thundercity’s problems last year, announcing that it’s business as usual in Leeds. But what does it say about Big Bear Choppers’ commitment to the traditional chopper?

66: HDRCGB REGION 7’S TALGARTH RALLY There’s a very different kind of thunder in the valleys, when Great Britain’s oldest established Harley-Davidson riders’ club takes over a small town / large village in Wales … and are welcomed with open arms.

72: WILL’S 1926 MODEL J

Nervous about taking your old Evo out? Not sure whether the arrival of the 96-inch Twin Cam has consigned it to the dustbin of inpracticality? Don’t worry, Will’s probably done more miles this year already than many will have done on their Twin Cams, and the technology of his 74-inch J was replaced by side-valves nearly eighty years ago!

80: LAST TRAIN FROM BELFAST

Introduced to us as ‘What can you do with a Night Train’, the answer appears to be use the engine and about ten per cent of the frame, and then create the bike that you always wanted.

86: PROJECT VEGAS

A burst of activity and a rethink of some early plans as our Victory takes shape. While still very much a Vegas, it is starting to move away from the production bike’s lines, and demonstrating just what a difference some handlebars and a digital speedo can make to function and form.

90: LE ROCK’S EVIL TWIN

Kev French, tired of building and fixing everyone else’s bikes takes time out to indulge himself by building a simple one of his own … and then managed to volunteer himself to enter it at the AMD Pro Show in Mainz, which raised the bar a little.

96: NORTHERN HARLEY CLUB’S KICKSTART SUMMER RALLY Before the torrential showers of May, the NHC managed to grab a weekend of blazing sunshine to really put the spring into summer at a venue normally reserved for gentlemen with odd-shaped balls.

98: RIGHTEOUS BROTHERS

R ’n B try their hands at radical engineering with their usual enthusiasm, with somewhat unexpected results.

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6: NEWS & NEW PRODUCTS 11: REVIEWS

American-V American-V # ONE

News & Products

INDIAN BACK? Editor: andy.hornsby@american-v.co.uk Features Editor: rich.king@american-v.co.uk Contributors this issue: Amanda Wright, Ian Cragg, Gordon Jenner, ‘Little Mo’ Design: dean.cooper@american-v.co.uk All editorial enquiries to: editorial@american-v.co.uk Advertising Manager: Emma Howl EmmaHowl@warnersgroup.co.uk 01778 392443 Advertising Sales: Andy Fraser 01778 392054 Advertising Production: Joanne Osborn: 01778 391164 joanneo@warnersgroup.co.uk Trade Sales: Natalie Cole: 01778 392404 nataliec@warnersgroup.co.uk Subscriptions: 01778 392484 Annual Subscriptions UK: £24.75 EU: £36.75 RoW Zone 1: £38.55 RoW Zone 2: £42.75 (all include postage) American-V, PO Box 336, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 7WY. Tel: 0207 993 8002 Fax: 01270 540111 (Ring first) Printed in the UK by Warners (Midlands) PLC, Bourne.

Distribution by: Warners Group Publications Plc West Street, Bourne, Lincolnshire, PE10 9PH Tel: 01778 391135 Now in its second year in the newsagents, its fourth year on paper, and its sixth year of continuous publication since launching on the Internet, American-V sets out to be the magazine that its founders actually want to work on ... and mostly succeeds. The full archive will remain on-line at www.american-v.co.uk and might even be brought up to date one day. Don’t hold your breath though.

E&OE Copyright 2007 American-V.

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You can now place an order, and pay a deposit on a 2008 model year Indian Chief right now! You won’t know quite how much the final payment will be, and the final specification is yet to be announced, but Harley’s old sparring partner is moving inexorably forwards.

What we are told is that the range will comprise a family of five Chiefs on a common platform – three undressed, two baggers – and will start with the relatively minimal Chief, then the DeLuxe, Springfield and Roadmaster with a betassled and riveted Vintage topping it off.

It is said that they will be powered by the existing Powerplus engine, still a 100-inch motor and obvioiusly with Fuel Injection to meet EPA and Carb requirements, and presumably Euro III/IV as they are on record as suggesting international shipments will starting in 2009. The motor will be assembled in-house at Indian’s Kings Mountain facility, in North Carolina, and is currently undergoing “significant internal changes”, and they’re setting great store by their desire to ensure that our, and their quality expectations are met. Stephen Julius, the CEO, is says on the indianmotorcycle.

com website “We will remain true to the rich heritage of this incredibly brand and do things slowly and thoroughly”: a luxury the previous owners could ill afford. No decent sized pictures exist yet, but those that do suggest they will bear close resemblance to the last of the Gilroy models, which is what the photo are.

While the Chief will be the foundation of the new company’s range, they are bullish and say that that future models are already in the planning stages, “and will continue to balance classic design with modern technology”. Watch this space. www.indianmotorcycles.com

Roadtest: 2007 Victory Hammer S

HAMMER

TIME!

If there was ever a Victory that created an impression wherever it went, and which caused people who had previously dismissed the New American Motorcycle as a nice try but wide of the mark, the new Hammer-S is it.

Âť

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider Hot on the heels of the pair of Panheads that we featured last issue comes this Duo Glide that was originally to have been the third bike in something of a Panhead special. The thing is, themed issues and bi-monthlies don’t work too well together so we held it over to give Bruno a chance to finish it off, MoT it and put it on the road.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON

DUO G While it is closer to the original bike than either of last issue’s Pans, each of which had evolved in their own way, Bruno’s ’59 was still very much built to be ridden and he’s looking forward to realizing its potential through the summer, before it comes off the road again for next winter to tidy a few more pieces up, taking it closer to the bike that originally rolled off Harley’s production line nearly fifty years ago. Don’t worry though, it’s not going to be an over-restored carbon copy of that bike when new: original parts will be used wherever possible, and that means the possibility of half a century’s worth of wear and tear on high quality original items that will be able to stand the years better than most.

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He’s had it for about three and a half years now, and while he makes no bones about actually setting out to get a ’49 Hydra Glide, he’s more than happy with what he’s got – well, wouldn’t you be? The ’49 was beyond his budget, being highly sought after as a landmark model year – being the fi rst big twin with hydraulic forks – and he missed the 1958 changeover to the Duo by twelve months but it doesn’t detract from its usefulness as a working machine. Unusual for someone who is aware of its investment value, and made his buying decision accordingly, Bruno doesn’t plan to wrap it in cotton wool or stick it in a glass case.

Classic: Harley-Davidson 59-FL Sport Solo

LIDE

»

He found the bike in Michigan and imported it privately, taking on the import duties and registration himself before cautiously testing it out on English roads: there’s no guarantee with forty-five year old motorcycles and it’s a long way to take it back to complain. He knew that the engine was a good one, but was pleased to note that it was actually better than he dared to expect, but the rest of it … well, that was another matter entirely.

No stranger to the spanner, he embarked on an ambitious rebuild, stripping it down until he was left with the crankcase, gearbox and the frame with its swing-arm, checking, cleaning and polishing every piece,

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Event: Daytona 2007

DAYTONA2007 Daytona has been done to death by motorcycle magazines or the last couple of decades, by clever journos on expense accounts, professional freelancers on a budget, and Rich on a pilgrimage, so we decided to take up a couple of readers’ offers to bring us back some pictures to give a flavour of what they actually found as visitors: one on his umpteenth escape from his post office desk, and a second on his first, and much anticipated trip. » Pics: Ian ‘Skully’ Craggs, and Gord Jenner

When Gord and Sue went into Walmart there was an open aisle here, when they returned, the OCC boys had been and gone.

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2007 VRSCAW V-ROD

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Roadtest: 2007 VRSCAW V-Rod

A what?? Where did the ‘W’ come from?

Tired of watching from the sidelines while the world sticks ever wider rubber into the polished aluminium swing-arm of their new range, Harley-Davidson have added a fat tyre into the stock model themselves … and to make sure you noticed, have bolted a ‘W’ for Wide to the model ID.

»

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider

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Tech: Blown Night Rod

If there’s one thing that owners of American motorcycles like to do, it’s change them. Once the novelty of a ‘new’ one has worn off – and it always does, and it always will – out come the spanners and one of many things starts to happen: more basic or more bling, or more speed: in any event it becomes ‘new’ again. It’s a welltrodden path, and one that allows owners to go way beyond where Harley can walk, constrained as they are by legislation.

VRSCK Have you ever wondered why the VR hasn’t … errr, lived up to expectations, shall we say? Quite apart from the fact that it has a completely different power delivery to everything on the street that has worn a Harley-Davidson badge before it, you need look no further than its upgrade path.

Sure, you can slip on some mufflers and remap the ECU, and there a few odds and ends that will dress it up but – and it’s a big but – it doesn’t have anything like the tuning potential of a Sportster, never mind a Big Twin.

If you do want to your V-Rod faster, the best thing you can possibly do is to fit the American gearing and remap its electronics to cover it, which will get you off the line quicker at the expense of absolute, and largely irrelevant, top speed. Beyond that, try to find a VRSCSE 1 or 2 which came with a 1,250cc motor in place of the 1,130cc stocker and learn to live with the bling, or else nip to your local dealer and sign on the dotted line for that rarest of 2007 models, the Screamin’ Eagle VRSCX, which are only available

if you ask nicely. Bet your life we won’t be road-testing one: we can’t get hold of one.

If you want to go faster than that, take your V-Rod to pieces, get the motor out, strip the top crankcase off and send it back to Milwaukee.

They will machine it to take new wet liners for a bigger bore and then send it back to you. No, you can’t go and buy a new top crankcase because that’s where your engine number is located. And if you want an even bigger bore, you’ve got to do it all over again. And if you decide that it was better the way it was, tough: you can’t fit the original parts because the old liner will just drop through the machined case. You’re not obliged to send it to Milwaukee because Zippers and Wiseco both offer the same service, but it is the same service: there are no shortcuts.

Zippers are brave enough to post their full catalogue and retail pricelist online, and from that you can tell that they don’t bother with anything as trivial as a 1250cc kit, but start at 1320cc starting at $3,495 for ‘Street’, climbing to $5,345 for ‘Hot’, and also offer a scary sounding 1,434cc starting at $6,795. Prices include the machining of the parts, and last time we heard Twin City Motorcycles up near Newcastle-upon-Tyne – who also happen to be friends of the VR – were their UK agents.

Or at least that used to be your best, if not your only hope.

Now there’s a choice. It’s not a cheap one, but it will be a very visible upgrade. And better still, I know what it goes like because I’ve ridden it.

There is, you see, another way to make an engine bigger without actually making it physically bigger, and that is to stuff as much fuel and air into it as though it were bigger: ladies and gentlemen, I give you forced induction. Behold, the Supercharger.

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»

Event: Arrow Mill Open Weekend

ARROW MILL OPEN WEEKEND It’s taken me three attempts to actually arrive at Arrow Mill, near Alcester, west of Stratford-on-Avon for Thunder Road’s open day but thankfully Gil and Jude have always been exceptionally patient with me and let me off on receipt of a note from my mum: “Please excuse Andy for not attending the show: he is an idiot”. »

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Issue 1

Elvis’ Panhead • FXST Softail Standard • Tech: tyres • H-D History: 1903-1954 • XL1200C vs FXDL • Screamin’ Eagle Stroker Conversions • Heart and Soul Rally 2002 • Rear-engined trike • Indian 101 racer • Victory V92C • Dyna Custom • Indian Riders Rally 2002.

Issue 2

FLHRCI Road King Classic • H-D History: 1955-1978 • Tech: Back to Black • Evo streetfighter • VRSCA vs XB9S • FLHS Sport Electra Glide • Daytona Bike Week • European Bike Week • Tech: Steering Committee. • XL883R Sportster • American-V Launch at The Ace.

Issue 3

Victory Vegas • H-D History: 1979-2002 • Ape Cam • Evo Lo'svelte • CCE Show • German bobber •

FLSTF vs FLSTC • K-Series flathead • The Fat Boy that never was • FXDX-T • Tech: Injecting enthusiasm for EFI • Living with a Walz Hardcore Lowrider • Minehead revisited.

Issue 4

Buell Tube Frames • Bad Boy • Dutch Evo • VINs / Model IDs • Indian Despatch Tow • H-D 2004 • XLH883 vs FXD • The Farmyard Party • Tech: Wheels • FXD Super Wide • FXDL • Two Buell S’s • Eustis show • Daytona 2003 • Northern Harley Riders Club Rally.

Issue 5

1957 XL Sportster • 2003 XL1200S • Milan: Italian International Bike Show • Rock n’ Blues 2003 • Bren’s chop • Milwaukee’s 100th Celebration • Stage One Deuce vs Stage One Vegas • Tech: Staging • Jay Springsteen's XR • Long-stroke Buell evolution • Bulldog Bash 2003 • Prototype Vee from John Reed and CCI.

Issue 6

Evel Knievel’s XR750 Jump Bike • XB9R Vs XB12R Buell Firebolts • Shovelhead Low Rider • Biketoberfest 2003 • Grant’s Twin Cam, Twin Carb Fat Boy • Vikings Show, Eire • Loveless Lost • Partying with the catalogue boys: US and EU • Cornish Cream Panhead • Tech: SVA • 40’s factory trike and its forty-five friend • Roadtest: XL1200R • Tech: Helmets.

Issue 7

Ten years of the Road King • Tech: Building your own – the basics • Muck n Bullets: proper chopper • Excelsior Henderson and Mk1 Victory • Hot Rod VRSCA • FLHRSI Road King Custom • Interview with Erik Buell • Tuned XL1200R vs XB12S Lightning • FXR Road Rocket • FLHRI Road King.

Issue 8

Running-in the new King Pin • Grub’s Shovel • Dennnis’ 1948 Panhead • FXSTB Night Train • Tech: Engines • XL1200 Metisse • Harley Night at the Ace • Indian Motocycle Company History • Devil’s Own Custom Show • New Sportsters head-to-head • Well-sorted Sportster custom • Pro Custom Show, Doncaster • Cal Rayborn-inspired XB9R Firebolt • FXDI Super Glide.

Issue 9

FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide • Sally’s XL Chop • Tech: Brakes • NEC Bike Show 2004 • Long Term King Pin: opening it up • VRSCB V-Rod - the budget option • 2004 Bulldog Bash. • Tweaked FXDX Super Glide Sports: One stroked, One blown • Jeff’s Softail • W&W’s End of the World Tour. • 2004 Rock n Blues.

Issue 10

2005 XL883C Sportster Custom • Hank’s Softail • 2006 VRSCR Street Rod • Men of Iron: pair of preEvo XLs • 2005 Buell XB9SX City-X • Yabba Dabba Doo: Jamie’s Fatboy • Dealer Days – quick round-up • Dyna Street Customs: FXDC vs FXDL • Reno Street Vibes • Crazy George’s Bagger • CCI/AMD ProShow, Morgan Hill • Long Term: Victory Vegas.

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If you don’t wish to cut the magazine, a photocopy is fine.

If you’re as confused as I am right now, order by phone on 0207 993 8002.

Issue 11

2005 FLSTNI Softail Deluxe • Richard Sansone’s S1 Low Rider • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow • Binnzy’s Updated Ironhead • Moto Salon, Paris • Snob’s Buell • Inside the Victory V92 • Harley tourers head-to-head • 2005 Doncaster Pro Custom Show • 1940 Indian Chief • Oatcake County Chopper • Death and Taxis.

Issue 12

2005 XL883R Sportster • Devil’s Own Custom Show • Gilroy Indian PowerPlus Chief • Fightin’ Torque: SE V-Rod vs VRSCA • Long Term Victory Vegas • Shovelhead FXR Custom • Buell S1 Lightning • 124inches of All American Motorcycle • Hoggin’ the French Riviera • Confederate F113 Hellcat • Synister Rumblings.

Issue 13

2005 FXSTSC Springer Classic • Rainy Daze II • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow • 2005 XL1200R PandA Special • 1996 Rubber-Mount Sportster • Harley-Davidson 2006 model news • Buell 2006 model news • Victory 2006 model news • Rosso Corsa Ferrari Bike • 1938 Harley-Davidson ULH • Kit Bike Round-Up 2006 • Speed Demon • DVD Reviews.

Issue 14

2006 FXDBI Street Bob • NEC International Bike Show • Victory Vegas Long Term • Turkey’s Shovelhead Chop • Shipley 2005 • “Bonneville Special” Buell • Stop! Rich’s Road King does now • Zeel’s “Phenom” • Brightona • Krazy Horse’s “Zeroesque” • 2005 VRSCR Street Rod • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow: Combustion pt2 • The Electra Glide that never was.

Issue 15

Buell XB12X Ulysses • MotorSale 2005 • Best in Show: Charly’s Revenge • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow: Bore and Stroke • Gunboat Diplomacy: Army FL • Project Victory: AmV Vegas • Jeez Louise – proper Bobber • Low Rider vs Low Rider: ’04 v ’06 • Viva Las Vegas: AMD’s ProShow • Freestyle Winner: Goldammer • Speedliner: Wizard’s Gee Bee • Dynamic Choppers’ Ruthless 360 • 2006 Heritage Softail • International Events Calendar

Issue 16

2006 FLHX Street Glide • 1981 FLTC Tour Glide • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow: Bore and Stroke cont.d • Scotty’s Acid Monster • Sturgis 2006 • 2006 Wide Glide vs 2003 Vegas • Thundercity’s repatriated Exile • DVD Reviews: Fix my HOG, US Biker Build-Off boxset, Duke’s Muscle Bikes • Project: Fat Boy on Steroids • New York City Chopper’s Knucklehead • 2006 FXST Softail Standard • International Events Calendar.

Issue 17

DVD Reviews: Choppertown; Building a Chopper Chassis • 2006 VRSCD Night Rod • Last Year’s Model • 1982 FXB Sturgis • Suck Squeeze Bang Blow: Exhausts • Sin City Steel Cycle • Laughlin 2006 • Boss Hoss 350 • Project Victory: Slamming the back end • Mainz 2006 • OldsCool: Tony’s Patrick-engined bobber • Project Fat Boy: installing the steroids • Oscar’s Evo • 2006 XL1200L Sportster Low • International Events Calendar.

Issue 18

RIP John Davey • 2006 Victory 100/6 Hammer • Australian Rules Dyna • Harley-Davidson 2007 news • Buell 2007 news • Victory 2007 news • ProCustom 2006 • Maria’s Mischief • Project Fat Boy: porting for the Supercharger • Makin’ Bacon • Head to Head: FLHS and FLHR Dressers • Americana 2006 • Pepe le Pew • Project Victory: Reassembly with air-ride • Drakey’s FXR • Thundercity / CCI Spirit Bobber roadtested.

Issue 19

2007 H-D Models • Big Beautiful Doll • Surrey HOG 15th • Roger Allmond’s XYZ Victory • FXWG • Rainy Daze III • ’06 vs ’07 Fat Boy • Shipley 2006 • Jack’s HardAss • Bulldog Bash 2006 • The Springster • HDRCGB’s Oz 2006 • 92ci vs 100ci Vegas • AMD World Championshop 2006 • Gary’s hot S1

Issue 20

News and New Products • Christmas Gift Ideas • XB12Ss Buell Lightning Long • NEC2006 • Killarney 2006 Winner • Brightona 2006 • 2006 Victory Jackpot • Dave’s Shovel • Quickspin on 2007 Night Train • The Ecosse Heretic • XL883 to 1200 Conversion on 2007 EFI • Thunder in the Glens • Patrick’s very special KHK • AMW Bagger Cam Conversion for TC88 • Krazy Horse’s 10th Anniversary • World Tour Pt1: Northern Ireland • La Cucaracha – CCI’s new kit for ’07?

Issue 21

News and New Products • 2007 Fuel Injected Sportsters • Book Reviews: Motorcycle Electrical Systems / The Harley Reader • The all new S&S X-Wedge engine • Tosh's Parts Bin Special • STAGED 2007 BIG TWINS: HarleyWorld ... Fast Boy Vs Heroic Softail • Choppershack/Exile Dragster • Project Victory • 2007 Softail Custom • Nu-Ness - Radical Custom • XLCR Cafe Racer • Fat-tyred German XB Buell • STAGED 2007 BIG TWINS: Thundercity Night Train vs Overnight Express • Suicide King: stunning American Shovel • 2007 Calendar of Events • Readers Rides

Issue 22

News and New Products • 2007 Street Bob • CCE Show, Mainz • XL1000 • Road Kong: 103 or 113? • Hot Rod • FXR4 first generation CVO • Black Bear Bagger • Panhead and Shovel FLs • Ernie’s Pan • Walzing with Horses: Phil Power’s Supercharged Hardcore and Krazy Horse Waltster • S&S X-Wedge pt2

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THE MOTORCYCLE FORMALLY KNOWN AS

SOOTY Thundercity Motorcycles’ take on the Big Bear Choppers’ Screamin’ Demon old-school bobber kit. »

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Quickspin: 2006 Big Bear Choppers’ Screamin’ Demon

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider

TALGARTH 2007:

REGION 7 HDRCGB 66

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Event: Talgarth 2007

Friday 27th April, 2007 and I found myself fraternizing with ‘Denial’ once again. It was 2pm and I was stuck at university trying to ignore the realisation that I hadn’t the slightest inkling of what the hell I was supposed to be doing. I had, at least, finished my final year essay and moved house, but I needed to escape!

I was in need of a bit of fun, a distraction, and time-out from everyday routine so that I could come back with renewed vigour and a clear vision. And then the beautifully obvious answer of what I should do to cure me of this creative block hits me like Timmy Mallets inflatable namesake: I needed to ride into the distance, imbibe copious amounts of alcohol and partake in a few of the oldfaithful dancestep routines that only the truly inebriated can master (it involves a natural synergy of leg action/control; if you stagger to the left you know you need to stagger back to the right in order to counteract and balance the forces of gravity).

Fortunately, a few days prior to acknowledging that I needed to escape everyday-routine matters, we’d been having a pint with Mike Pedlar of Victory Motorcycles and he mentioned that the 8-Ball demonstrator would be better off on the road than in his garage and could be made available, should the desire take me. Better still, it was the weekend of the Talgarth Rally, which was another of those events that Andy reckoned he should have been to previously but had never managed.

It looked like a plan: we had a bike each and we had a clear-cut destination; what could possibly go wrong?

We needed a tent! Last year I left mine at the Bulldog Bash, as it was way past its sell-by date, although I did manage to convince a bloke in a tent of the same design – and state of dereliction – that he needed the flysheet and might find some other useful bits and pieces, which saved me a trip to the communal rally rubbish bins! So while our chosen route from South Cheshire to South Wales would have been a matter of comparative simplicity, heading in the general direction of South, as is only to be expected where Andy and I are involved, it would prove to be anything other than a direct route.

We spent the night before trawling the internet looking at tents and the geographical locations of suppliers, having to take into consideration that Andy, at six foot plus, wanted a tent he could stand up in (groan) and I quite liked the idea of decent sized windows, eventually settling on a wonderfully weird something called an Evo – what else? – from regular bike show traders,

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider

HARLEY-DAVIDSON

26-J 72

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Classic: Harley-Davidson 26-J

Every generation of Harley-Davidson engine is met with accusations from one corner or another. The new 96-inch twin cam will be a retrograde step to some, just as the 88-inch was an evolution too far and the Evo was too modern for others. Remember those “See on Evo, Hear no Evo, Ride no Evo” stickers and t-shirts? Remember them? Hell, you can still buy them! Still, I’m sure a generations of Twin-Cammers will wear them ironically.

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider

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Custom: Proppa Choppa

There are two schools of thought when it comes to building a custom bike: you either buy the right bike and build upon its lines, or else you buy and engine, source a frame and start from there.

LAST TRAIN FROM

BELFAST Both have their advantages: the former has the luxury of everything needed to make a bike run – although that does tend to steer you a little, because there’s a natural reluctance to cut too deep for fear of wrecking it – while the latter is a completely blank sheet, and while you start with nothing that’ll make it run, it does mean you only get what you need, inheriting nothing.

And then there’s a third school of thought: buy a donor bike with absolutely no intention of using any of it in its original form. The big advantage of that route being that you’ve got a legitimate frame number, and you can therefore bypass a lot of the mess involved in registering a new bike. The finished bike has got to be able to pass an MoT when the time comes, but as the requirements for SVA are different to those

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Technical: Victory# ONE American-V

PROJECT VICTORY PART IV

If you’ve followed this from the beginning, you’ll have seen our Vegas evolve rather gradually. Lots of grand ideas but no desire to lose the use of the bike, and therefore something of a softly-softly approach has been adopted, which is how most custom bikes develop.

It makes it frustrating sometimes because nothing seems to get done, but on the other hand it means you can sit back and make sure that the original direction was a sensible one, and you’d be amazed just how much things change with just the odd bit here and there.

All of which is a way of saying that the yokes are up for a rethink, as are the wheels, because some very simple stuff has made a substantial difference. It started with the clocks, or rather their removal.

As much as anything, I wanted to fit the Motogadget Mini speedo/ tacho, because I wanted to see what it looked like when it was litup. The original intention had been to run it alongside the original instruments, which would make calibration a doddle – having heard horror stories about how complicated it can be with some digital instruments – but I couldn’t find a satisfactory mounting point for it.

As it happens there were dozens of them that I just didn’t spot, but it was all rather immaterial because it turns out that the Germans have done a cracking job with the software set-up on the Mini.

So, having removed the clocks when I was playing with headlamps last time around, I decided to try and set up the digital speedo before putting it all back together. The hated headlamp was going to have to go back on again while I worked out how to mount its replacement, so the shell was refitted and the harness drawn back through, and the speedo was

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ceremonially removed from its packaging.

I’d need to hold it securely to the bike when it was running, so I had a look around to see what I could use either as a bracket or a strap.

Brackets are a bit of an issue on the Vic because there’s not a massive range of places to mount anything – even with the original clocks off – but this was only going to be a temporary experiment. Having discarded the idea of elastic bands, I discovered some hi-tack double-sided mounting tape and decided that it would probably be strong enough for testing purposes, and with the clocks out of the way there was a flat slab in the form of the front of the top yoke which I could stick it to: we were in business.

Granted, it took not one read-through but three of the instructions before I really understood what it was trying to tell me – cross-referring to the original harness, the oh-so delicate wires of the Motogadget and running through dry runs in my mind between each – but then the penny dropped. If you don’t understand the instructions, don’t attempt the job – unless you can afford to mess it up – read them and read them again until they make sense: it’s a mindset thing.

Tinnig the exposed ends the Motogadget’s wires with a coat of solder, I got them rigid enough to push-fit them into the female plug on the Victory’s harness, and they were gripped firmly enough to inspire confidence: and after all, it was only going to be a short term expedient while I confirmed that the Mini would be as lovely in reality as the original Motogadget speedo that I’d originally coveted. With that taken care of it just needed a pair of wires to the push-button that I’d badly mounted: that would be the mode switch and sole programming interface and back to earth – there’s no point in trying to find a reliable earth point on the rubber-mounted bars or headlamp shell, and even the stud that I’d mounted the inappropriate bracket to was rubber isolated.

Then I could switch it all back on again.

As if by magic, the word ‘motogadget’ scrolled across the diminutive screen, clear and readable, and then it was a matter of running through the software set-up. It could hardly have been easier: press and hold the mode button until the menu options come up. It takes two seconds to get to and between main sections of the menu, and four to confirm, and is similar to setting up a computer printer. It wanted to know how many cylinders, what the scale of the rev-counter should be, whether it was going to be working in miles per hour or kilometers, the circumference of the tyre, and how many iterations the speedo’s proximity sensor would register per revolution of the wheel – which

was the only thing that worried me. If the worst came to the worst, there was a new proximity sensor supplied with the speedo – which would be essential if you had an old-fashioned cable-driven speedo head – which I could point at the bolts that hold one of the disc rotors on. In that case, it would be nice and easy: five. As it was, the Vic’s sensor points at the rear drive pulley and substantially more than five teeth passed the sensor. No matter, it looks like you can enter any three figure number, which will cover every serious eventuality.

And that was about it – apart from telling it how bright the display should be in daylight and at night – so I could take it off again and refit the clocks … but I just had to make sure it worked. I slapped in a modified lens from a shell that is eventually destined for my XS1100 outfit – don’t ask – to replace the broken one and took it round the block, then the town, then the county. It’s not been off since, and is working like a dream. I’ve even dialled in the original odometer’s mileage, and I will fix the wires properly when I finally fit the chosen headlamp, but the contacts in the plug are holding reliably and I like the cleaner lines it gives the front end.

I’ll admit that if I thought I’d be running it for as long as I have, I would’ve mounted the mode switch more intelligently, or at least less awkwardly, because any Victory owner will tell you that the trip meter is a useful back-up to the low fuel light, and there are times when I want to know what the engine speed is, more accurately than the line of LEDs across the top of the instrument can tell me, but hey? It’s a clean, functional and super trick piece of kit: I decided to live with it.

Without the clocks in the way, the back of the huge headlamp shell takes on Fat Boy proportions, which I can live with too for the short term. I quite like the reflected sky in its lustrous chrome, but it’s still got to go. It really isn’t the same quality as the rest of the bike, and the fastener that holds the rim together is a complete waste of time.

Something else that is a waste of time, I discovered, turned out to be the poorly-mounted pushbutton for the speedo, which doesn’t like water.

Perhaps I spent too long reading the wiring and calibration instructions to notice that it should be mounted somewhere dry, but after washing the American-V.co.uk

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Xl1200C Vs Dyna Low Rider

EVI

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Custom: Evil Twin

LTWIN You would have seen the Evil Twin in last issue’s report on the Custom Chrome show in Mainz, except that as a black bike next to another black bike, in a dark corner of a dark room, it was impossible to pick out its lines on a photograph. I almost missed it myself, to be fair, while wandering around, but when I bumped into Kev French, from Le Rock, at the bar and he’d asked me if I’d seen it, I made a point of going back to have a look, and I was damned glad I did.

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Event: Northern Harley Club

NORTHERN HARLEY CLUB KICKSTART SUMMER PARTY, 7TH APRIL 2007

Take one well-appointed rugby club in the middle of nowhere, a decent sized camping ground an independent regional Harley-Davidson owners club and just add decent weather for a great start to the year. Then again, the weather in April can’t be guaranteed and the majority of these folks would’ve been here it had been snowing, so scrub that last bit: when it happens it’s just a bonus.

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