Thunderbike Justin's Personal • Custombike & Harley-Davidson Gallery

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Justin’s Personal

Justin is part of the wrenching crew in our service workshop.

With his FXR, he has built himself the dream of a real riding machine.

Anyone who works on the sometimes highly customised bikes of others on a daily basis will inevitably start dreaming of their very own bike sooner or later. But what should this dream look like? In order to find the right basis, it is best to know what you like beforehand. The choice of engine alone is a question of faith for many enthusiasts of the brand. For Justin, it was clear from the start that he wanted an Evo Big Twin.

The engine that would bring the Motor Company huge sales success from 1984 with the simultaneous introduction of the Softail frame. For many, it was the last “real” Harley engine, as unlike its successor, it was developed without balancer shafts and therefore delivered the “good vibrations”. So far so good, but what style should the Evo look like afterwards, should it be a Chicano, a Bobber or perhaps a Chopper? Justin opted for the so-called club style, a style characterised by the American 1%er MC scene towards the end of the 80s, in which the performance of the bike is more important than its looks.

For a Harley, the bikes had to be as light and fast as possible and, to a certain extent, suitable for long journeys. But a tourer was not only expensive and heavy at the time, it also did not fit the image of a wild rebel. A model that was very influential for this style was the FXR, Harley’s attempt to keep up with the much more dynamic bikes from the competition in Japan. The frame was a completely new design, improved rigidity, the engine mounted in rubber and an atypical shape for Harley.

However, the club style only really became popular in Europe when the TV series “Sons of Anarchy” was broadcast, in which the protagonists mainly ride Dyna’s converted in this style, and through the impressive stunt videos by groups such as “unknown industries”, who exclusively use converted Dyna’s and FXR’s for their stunts.

But back to Justin and his FXR, true to the motto “Don’t dream your life, live your dream”, a weekend in October ended for Justin with the spontaneous purchase of a 1989 FXR Super Glide.

Mileage unknown, various leaks in the engine, not in original condition and a staggering 6 previous owners on the licence, ideal conditions for advising someone not to buy it. A quick check of the chassis number in the Harley dealer portal revealed that this was actually a German first delivery and there were no signs of any major accident damage, reason enough to go for a short test ride. Afterwards it was clear that the mop rides better than it looks, there were also boxes of original parts and accessories, and a short price negotiation later the FXR changed hands. The adventure began on the journey home, because what do you do with a newly acquired classic car on two wheels? That’s right, you drive it 200 kilometres home on your own wheels, the first endurance test, so to speak. What he didn’t realise was that it wasn’t going to be an endurance test for the bike, but for himself, because the home-made seat was nothing more than a square piece of wood covered in artificial leather. When he arrived home a few days later, he began to dismantle the FXR piece by piece and inspect everything in detail, as the engine was leaking.

Once the engine had been removed, the frame and swingarm could actually be recoated directly, as they already had a few small rust spots. Easier said than done, because in typical FXR fashion, the swingarm axle was naturally stuck in the gearbox housing, and Justin painstakingly separated the swingarm from the gearbox housing with a small saw blade. In the end, the only thing that helped was to carefully drill out the swingarm axle so as not to destroy the gearbox housing. The next step was to dismantle the engine, once disassembled, all the bearings could actually be replaced. No sooner said than done, the engine was then completely overhauled and re-mounted from the crankshaft to the rocker arms.

Driven by a slight penchant for perfection, what was initially intended as a winter project increasingly degenerated into a complete restoration. All parts were reworked, there is not a single screw on this bike that Justin did not have in his hand, engine, gearbox, primary, fork, brakes, even the starter motor was dismantled and checked by him. “If you’re going to do something, do it properly”. The planned weeks turned into months, but the result is impressive. He replaced the typical FXR Super Glide tyres with a wire-spoke wheel at the front and a cast disc wheel at the rear with original HD 9-spoke cast aluminium wheels, while at the same time converting from belt drive to chain drive to give more air for a 150 mm tyre at the rear. Just as typical for a Super Glide, the 39mm fork with only one brake disc was replaced by an FXDX 39mm fork with adjustable rebound and compression damping and twin disc brakes, with matching 4-piston brake callipers at the front. The short rear suspension struts were replaced by longer 13.5 inch Bitubo suspension struts with piggyback to achieve more ground clearance and better driving dynamics. Driven by a slight penchant for perfection, what was initially intended as a winter project increasingly degenerated into a complete restoration.

All parts were overhauled, there is not a single screw on this bike that Justin did not have in his hand, engine, gearbox, primary, fork, brakes, even the starter motor was disassembled and checked by him. “If you’re going to do something, do it properly”. The planned weeks turned into months, but the result is impressive. He replaced the typical FXR Super Glide tyres with a wire-spoke wheel at the front and a cast disc wheel at the rear with original HD 9-spoke cast aluminium wheels, while at the same time converting the belt drive to a chain so as to have more air for a 150 mm tyre at the rear. Just as typical for a Super Glide, the 39mm fork with only one brake disc was replaced by an FXDX 39mm fork with adjustable rebound and compression damping and twin disc brakes, with matching 4-piston brake callipers at the front. The short rear suspension struts were replaced by longer 13.5 inch Bitubo suspension struts with piggyback to achieve more ground clearance and better driving dynamics.

The engine has been given a sharp camshaft to ensure that the bike moves forwards accordingly. In conjunction with the existing 2-in-1 Supertrapp exhaust system and the larger S&S carburettor with open air filter, the whole thing is sure to put a big grin on the rider’s face.

For the typical club-style look, the bike is fitted with T-bars, either in West Coast style (long risers with welded-on drag bar) or alternatively high risers with low MX bars or lower risers with higher handlebars. In order not to destroy the line of the bike by having the speedo sticking out over the small quarter fairing like a mickey mouse ear, Justin opted for a set-up consisting of our pullback Clubstyle risers in 7 inches with 4.5 inch high handlebars from Biltwell. This means he sits very comfortably upright on his bike and can easily cover longer distances without his arms getting tired so quickly. To ensure that the old original round speedometer with mechanical drive remains intact and stays on our riser bridge, a speedometer cover had to be specially made for it.

The indicators should blend in as unobtrusively and harmoniously as possible with the overall appearance, which is why our LED strip indicators were chosen for the front and rear. The original LED daymaker from a current Street Bob at the front and a tinted LED rear light with a laydown look at the rear ensure good visibility even in the dark. For the paint kit, Justin turned to Chiko from Chiko’s Pinstriping, resulting in a very eye-catching two-tone paint job with metal flakes and golden pinstripes, with a certain old-school flair and lots of bling-bling ……….