Thunderbike El Sicario • Harley-Davidson Heritage Umbau

Highway towards sunset

As world-renowned customisers, we do a lot of riding on our Harleys. Riding through the Arizona desert on Highway 10 towards the sunset is a familiar experience. Just past Tucson we like to pull off to the right to smoke a cigarette, shake our limbs and listen to the crackle of the engines as they slowly cool down in the still hot evening sun.

Spirit Leather once again transforms cowhide and crocodile into works of art

As an official Harley dealer, we are also distributors of the company’s Empire floorboards

Chiko’s Pinstriping panel painting matches the colour of the Sierra’s spring blossoms

The Chicano's place in the landscape

When our Señorina emerges from among the prickly plants and embraces her hombres with Hispaniolan warmth, we have all the data: Sí, señorina, this time it’s a Chicano, he fits in with the landscape, with an award-winning panel painting by Chiko’s Pinstriping in spring green, which only shines briefly in the desert. Spirit Leather also made a saddle in cowhide and crocodile, two animals you don’t see very often in this part of the world. The rest is from us, from Thunderbike, Germany.

Even if it’s no longer about leather, the great advantage of a Chicano is that we can really let our hair down. We put the spurs to the former Heritage Classic with its 16-inch wheels and put it on a bigger foot.

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Our 23-inch front and 18-inch rear Digger wheels also look good on the Sierra: two-tone, high-gloss black powder-coated. At the front, the wheel desperately needs a bigger brake disc to get the proportions right. So now we have Spoke discs at the front. For their huge diameter of 340 millimetres, we also have the matching adapters and stylish Classic brake calliper covers, also in two-tone.

We have a fork bridge with an extra 6 degrees of rake to fit the 23″ Digger wheel into the front end

The disc brake has our spoke design. The side number plate holder is also ours, of course

The 340mm spoked discs can also be fitted with our own adapters

Air Ride also in front

The fork is not just lowered. Even at the front, our Air Ride can send it into the sand with a vengeance. Of course, the huge bike with its El Dorado fender only fits into the front end because we have given it an extra 6 degrees of rake with our El Dorado triple tree. A custom headlight fairing closes the gap between the triple clamp and the headlight.

We finish it off with an El Toxico handlebar in the characteristic omega shape. No, Ma’am, that’s not Spanish, that’s Greek. The handlebar is 35 centimetres high and sits on our old-style risers. The hydraulic lines for the brakes and clutch follow this shape, guided by our clips. We’ve tucked the Stripe turn signals well under the dashboard, and the satin grips flatter our skin when we ride in the heat without gloves. They are finished off with Joker mirrors and two-tone drilled toppers.

We have also kept things simple with two colours. Less is more, for example, when we prefer the Oval Grand Classic airbox cover or the Empire floorboards in plain black. We have also completely blacked out the engine. All to make sure the technology at the back of the bike looks even better!

Of course, we also have an Air Ride at the back

Das war uns aber noch nicht tief genug. Deswegen haben wir unser El Toxico-Schwingenkit aus dem Regal gezogen. Dessen Achsaufnahme schließt mit leichtem Schwung in einer Erhöhung – und damit liegt das Rad noch tiefer. Um das mit unbeschränkter Sicht zu würdigen, haben wir die Bremsscheibe rechts verschwinden lassen und als Pulley-Bremse im Spoke-Design auf die linke Seite versetzt. Dort findet ihr natürlich auch unsere seitliche Kennzeichenaufnahme und die Inside-Kennzeichenplatte. Die 3-in-1-Club-Series-Rücklichter auf den Struts fallen nur bei genauem Hinsehen ins Auge.

But that wasn’t deep enough for us. That’s why we took our El Toxico swingarm kit off the shelf. Its axle mount closes with a slight swing in the raised position – and so the wheel is even lower. To give you a clearer view, we removed the right-hand brake disc and moved it to the left-hand side to give you a spoked disc brake. Of course you will also find our side license plate bracket and Inside number plate. The 3-in-1 Club Series rear lights on the struts are only noticeable on closer inspection.

This is what a Chicano should look like at the rear. Our El Toxico swingarm’s sweeping axle mount lowers it even further into the El Dorado rear fender

The Club Series rear lights do it all in a single housing, and can only be seen on the struts if you take a closer look

The brake and clutch hydraulic lines follow the swing of the El Toxico handlebars

Saying goodbye in peace

Anything else would have offended the El Dorado fender. These Chicanos are not to be trifled with, they have their own sense of honour. That’s why ours is called El Sicario, because he boasts of being a killer. You don’t have to take that too seriously with the Latinos, they like to brag, and they do it in a big way. Anyway, we say goodbye to the very impressed senorina in peace: Adios, buenas noches! We have to continue on the N10 towards the sunset.