AmV46Snapshot

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Project: Road King Resurrection

It’s almost a year ago now since I took my tired 1994/5 FLHR Road King down to Leicester to consult a very old and irritable friend, Tony, who runs Classic Approach – a respected motorcycle paint shop – and who is also extremely handy around bikes generally.

PROJECT ROADKING

I was looking for a quick tidy-up because, bless it, it was definitely looking its age.

Furthermore I was hoping to get Tony to slap on a shiny Twin Cam chain-case I’d scored sometime back and a delicious pair of S&S silencers that I’d bought from Bill at the Trading Post before he called it quits.

The consultation/piss-take started well but Tony soon spotted a potential problem. Both gusset plates supporting the rear loop of the main frame, right by the swing-arm mount looked dodgy, and Tony – apologising as he did so – pushed his finger right through the flaky paint and then, more alarmingly, right through the rusted steel: damn you, British winters and salted roads!

A small job had just turned into a major rebuild.

I can’t say I was delighted, but hey, that’s why I’d ridden the bike over to Tony’s in the first place: he’s got a practiced eye for just that kind of thing.

Not knowing what other rot might be lurking elsewhere around the frame, it was quickly agreed that the best thing was just to strip the Road King down completely, blast the frame clean, repair it where needed and then either powder-coat or paint it.

Cycle Enterprises was Tony’s suggestion for the strip and rebuild, and while Tony sweet-talked Geoff, I rode back to Manchester ... considerably more carefully than I’d ridden down.

Not normally all that flush with cash, I had just sold a load of my old cast-offs to a mate, ex-cop Nick who had just scored a 1995 FLHR himself. But while he virtually cleaned me out of unwanted chrome gubbins, I had to let him have the S&S silencers too, which in fairness was all he’d really come over to see anyway. They would have fitted his original header pipes much better anyway, than those on the saucily named Bubba Cross Dressers that I fitted half a dozen years ago.

Cash in pocket and Tony by my side, I returned to Geoff ’s, where we chatted about what would happen next.

Geoff would strip and rebuild it, checking the top end of the motor while it was out, and have a look at the forks, which had never been brilliant.

Tony would ferret away the liberated parts, clean them and then either polish or paint them.

And I would tearfully leave the Road King with them, with a

down payment and a rough check list: 1. Frame: Bead blast it clean, repair and re weld as required then paint or powder coat it depending on bank balance.

2. Engine: Look at the top end, decoke it, possibly port and polish. Fit the new and shiny Terry’s starter motor (because I had one thanks Reedie btw). Repaint the barrels and bottom end, fit the new Twin Cam primary cover – with a one off adapter to take my old Evo 3 screw derby cover (thanks Reedie, again) or strip the old chain case and either polish, re chrome or paint black. Generally fettle. Possibly fit a new exhaust system, or fettle the existing one.

3. Wheels: Re paint black and polish the rims. Paint or polish the centres of the floating JMA front discs.

4. Brightwork: Paint to be kept standard – it’s the original Road King colour scheme and I like it – but Tony to bring it back to life and relacquer. Other dodgy parts, like the rear subframe covers, to be stripped of chrome and painted black: cool.

5. Odds & Sods: Stuff like cables and switchgear. I’ve left them to Geoff ’s discretion: if they’re needed, they go on.

The end result should be really very nice, most definitely a 1995 Evo Road King, but improved somewhat, cleaner and maybe even a bit meaner.

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American-V.co.uk

59

PROJECT VEGAS IV ... Ish

This is rapidly turning into an explanation of how complicated a simple job can turn out, but then it was never intended as a specific “how-to” feature so much as a generic “what and why?”

We left the newly named Vegas Stripper last issue in a state of undress, not absolutely sure as to where we were going with it. And some of that is still going on as I write, because we’re fitting it round free time when we can get to it.

BUT, things do move forwards.

We’re close to a decision on paint, from a range of options given to us by 8-Ball and inspiration from Mainz.

68 American-V.co.uk

Andy at Thundercity Motorcycles has piggy-backed the motogadget m-unit onto the existing harness, and has had all the switches that we built with Steve at SHD working, and the lights lit.

The bars are on hold, because we really need the bike with its forks and tank is situ so we can take measurements, and we need to make a decision on yokes because that could have a bearing.

Realistically, though, completion in time for California Dreamin’ is looking more like an ambitious pipedream than a realistic deadline.

So, from the top.

Dave and Rich at 8-Ball Custom Paintwork have workshopped a few ideas based on what I told them I wanted, but you might have got the sense last issue that I was changing my mind: I was.

The weathered fifties paint scheme was hanging by a thread and it was almost heading towards bare metal with a logo ... even wondered about casting a logo as a tank badge, but there’s way too much work in that as each side would have to be different – the red lines have to face backwards – so it was abandoned before it got chance to be important to the build.

It is still going to have a distressed look, but it’s going to be a little more businesslike.

We’re also taking 8-Ball up on their offer to fill the recessed sides of the Vegas tank, which will give them more to work with, and will give us the chance to visually move the tank forward, extending that panel forwards, as well as making it taller using a coachline and very probably a coloured panel … although Pete at Rocket Bob is trying to turn my head with suggestions of fabricating it in steel.

It almost made it to a bomber art style, which would have worked in with the name, but to be honest I don’t want a girl draped over the side of the tank or the riveted steel effect. I’m hoping for an original scheme, and want the name to say ‘stripped’ more than ‘Stripper’.

Roland Sands Design ‘Mission 200’. Image courtesy of RSD

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