KEEP IT CLASSY, SAN DIEGO

A CLEAN, CLASSY, CROCKER-INSPIRED FXR

Growing up, my dad was a Navy Spec Ops guy, and our family was moving every two to three years. I spent the majority of my youth between Ventura, California, and different parts of Florida. When my dad was home, he spent pretty much 100 percent of his time rebuilding motors, muscle cars, or riding his Harleys. He restored anything from ’57 Lincoln Continentals to Shelby GT350s in there, and he was pretty well known for his work. My dad still wins lots of major shows today, and growing up he would always preach about keeping things clean, simple, and classic, as it never goes out of style.

When I picked up this 1993 FXRS, it was mostly to help my buddy Scoot out. I had picked up a 2009 Fat Bob with low mileage and a 110-inch motor in it for next to nothing from a guy who was selling everything and “moving to Mexico” in a hurry. Scoot was always having trouble with his FXR, which was the year and make I had been looking for. Since I also had a 2002 FXDP, we worked out a great deal for him to take the Fat Bob, and I got the project bike I wanted.

I knew I wanted to work with Chip and crew over at San Diego Customs and get it torn down right away to see what we had ahead of us. I also knew I wanted our friend Pete “HotDog” Finlan on the paint because he definitely knows classic paint jobs. I came to them with the idea of making a modern classic in the same fashion the old-timer bikes ran back in the ’40s and ’50s. I had always heard the stories of guys removing anything they didn’t need from their bikes and experimenting with different motor configurations to create these incredibly reliable sleepers—stories about guys leaving California to go to Daytona with $20 in their pocket and hustling other bikers in drag races to get the rest of the way. I wanted my bike to be like that—minimalist but deceptively quick and able to ride long distances.

One of the bikes that changed the game back at the start was the Crocker. Al Crocker always had a performance edge over the Harleys and Indians because he was the guy who developed a lot of the technology back then, from steering dampeners to competition cylinders and heads. He only made about 200 total bikes because during WWII his factory was taken over to make parts for the military. A lot of the Crockers I saw as a kid at the shows my dad took me to had these big tanks with scallop paint jobs, and I always felt they were perfect looking. HotDog knew exactly what I meant, and as usual he took my idea and made it 1,000 times cooler.

One of the guys who was riding the first of Crocker’s modern V-twins was Jack Lilly. He later became an original member of the Boozefighters MC, and his Crockers became well known for their speed. His bike was eventually redone with a green-and-white scallop paint job, which was the inspiration behind this FXR.

As far as the performance side, we kept it pretty simple. We sent out the 80-inch Evo to Harley to be remanufactured and added a Baker six-speed transmission. I had the bike for about two years and was made an offer I couldn’t refuse. The buyer is a good friend, a member of the BFMC, and a USMC combat veteran, so I think it was fitting it ended up with Jack Lilly’s club and a guy who represents them well. HB

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