There's two shots of the stripped King by
Markus. The remaining amatuer shots were
taken of the loaded King after a 650 mile
weekend run to Laughlin and back to the west
coast.
Over the last year we've tore into this
classic 2003, 100th anniversary Road King. I
figured I wanted a touring bike for the long
haul. The notion was designed around
maintaining the 100th theme, adding to the
blackness and durability. I wanted a tough
black bastard to ride, not detail or polish for
shows. A bike for years to come. What could
be better?
We used 90 percent H-D parts including a
modified taillight bracket, Screamin' Eagle
turnsignals and narrow light bracket. Much of it
was powder coated by Custom
Powdercoating in Dallas
We kicked it off with light styling and
safety accessories like a blacked-out dash,
lowered shocks, rewired turnsignals, touring
components and detachable back rests.
Here's the lowered backrest which was
black powdercoated. More items need to be
blacked out.
We worked with a dealer for more
involved tech mods and performance
enhancements. Our formula was designed
around beefing the low-end torque with cams,
Screaming Eagle heads, air cleaner and two
into one pipes. I ran it directly from the lift to a
dyno, for a comparison test, which resulted in
68 horses, an 8-horse increase and 76
pounds of torque, a 6-pound increase.
With 16-inch apes from
Custom Chrome and new cams it was a
different beast as I rolled the King out of the
service area and peeled down the street.
Here's a shot of one of the Screamin' Eagle
ported heads. I went with the silver heads for
the old Shovelhead or Pan look.
My old school notions leaned toward
blacking out the king. If the frame had been
another base color we might have followed it,
but unity was the slogan behind design
changes. I worked with Custom Powder
Coating in Dallas as we stripped the touring
model, inventoried the elements and sent
them to the masters of powder
(214)638-6416.
The Screamin' Eagle two-into-one pipes
and air cleaner were Jet Hot coated by
Engineered Applications in Vernon, California,
(323) 585-2894.
I rode over to Henry Figueroa's Auto
Restorations, a steel corrugated building on
the wrong side of town. We removed the
license plate holder and rear plastic fender tip.
The filling and paint came from Henry (310)
218-9097. Henry filled the holes in the bottom
of the fender and prepare it for George, The
Wild Brush, to perform classic pinstriping
magic (310) 488-5488.
Here's an example of the Wild Brush pin
striping on a super clean H-D Street Stalker
fender.
I wanted to flame the bastard but paid
homage to the 100th anniversary of H-D,
reluctantly. We compromised and snatched
the gold and silver (or gray) from the edge of
the 100th tank band and expanded it to other
elements of the King.
Stock horn cover, black powdered and
touched by the magic Wild Brush.
We installed a factory oil cooler and
tested it on the road to Barstow, California.
Every goddamn element was covered in techs
right here on Bikernet. Keeping the oil at a
resonable temperature is critical to long rang
reliability.
Returning from Laughlin we checked the
oil temperature after 300 miles and it read a
comfortable 226 degrees. This is the tightest
H-D twin cam cooler yet.
Since I might ride the King to Sturgis this
year and pack a Bikernet babe, we installed a
detachable back rest for long distance runs.
The windshield was trimmed for the
Custom Chrome 16-inch apes and splattered
with bugs on the return trip from Laughlin.
The King was enhanced and
prepped for the open road, or it's capable of
being stripped down for around town. What
could be better?
The King loaded down for the road to
Laughlin.
"It could be flamed and raked," Renegade
shouted from behind his rigid, kicker-only,
magneto charged Shovelhead.
That's all folks, chart to
follow
PARTS
H-D Lowered shocks -- For coolness
without disturbing the ride.
H-D Shock pump tool -- For ease of
modifying and checking ride ability for single
or double-up runs.
H-D Taillight/brake light mod -- To turn
the turn signal lights into brake
lights for added stopping visibility.
This puppy is golden. With a touch it shows
the oil temp. Can't beat it for monitoring the
condition of the engine's blood.
H-D Digital dipstick -- For ease of
observing oil temps.
H-D Docking kit -- For backrest and
fender rack capabilities.
H-D 100th Anniversary Cobra style seat
-- For coolness.
H-D Blacked out dash panel -- For
coolness and lack of sun glare on the open
road--get it?
Since I didn't go for the tour rack or dresser
box I needed help.
H-D Crash bar bags -- For additional
touring space.
H-D Mobil windshield -- For low or high
touring.
H-D Windshield bag -- For windshield
storage
Screamin' Eagle Teardrop air cleaner
cover--Style.
Screamin' Eagle Heads--Enhanced flow
and increased compression.
Screamin' Eagle Air Cleaner
Kit--Improve air velocity
Screamin' Eagle Two Into One Touring
Exhaust--Matching exhaust with heads.
H-D Speedo/Tach--More tuning
information for the rider.
Screamin' Eagle EFI turner kit--Tuning
software.
H-D SE-203 cam set--Specific low
end/mid range performance enhancement.
Goodrich Hydraulic lines and
fittings--Extended lines for highbars.
Barnett's Tool-- Extended throttle and
clutch cables.
Custom Chrome 16-inch High
Bars--Changing the nature of the beast.
I still want to have these wheels machined
and completely black powdered for a solid
black look.
H-D black mag wheels and floating rotors
with black centers--Adding to the blacked out
look.
H-D fender brackets--Allowed the solid
black Street Stalker fender to be bolted to the
touring front end.
Screamin' Eagle teardrop turnsignals
and the narrower light bar--All style
H-D fender, license plate mount--Moved
the bracket out of the way.
H-D New oil cooler for 1999 and later
touring models--essential to cool the King.
H-D custom billet tab for the rear of the
stock seat--We needed an extra one.
H-D Front and rear detachable docking
hardware kits--Allows for detachable touring
accessories to be mounted
H-D Lower backrest/sissybar--Designed
to pleasure the ladies.
When ya can't go black, there's only one
place to go, but chrome details.
H-DClassic hexbolt covers and stainless
Allen caps to begin an engine detailing
process.
H-DClassic Chrome Axle caps--Factory
styling additions that prevent chrome shop
runs.
It runs well. I've got proof. A ticket for 92 in a
55.
