WOG Magazine

Hot Wheels, while cool, looked better with some fine pin striping or other simple mods. At about 15 I got my hands on my first truck and by the time I had my license (although in the small town I grew up in I had been driving since I was 13), that truck had custom wheels and hand-tooled leather on the interior.

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Things pretty much went downhill from there. My wife now knows we will never have a lot of money, because I continually find ways to spend it on the cars and bikes I own. It’s a sickness, but one I am willing to live with. Kids can get loans for college!

I really like subtle. I did a ’57 Chevy some years ago that had phantom flames on it so light that the only time you saw them was in full sunlight. My bikes often have to be looked over very carefully to see some of the detail I go to for something that probably only I will ever appreciate. I kind of liked to see how God sees us, he puts in a lot of work on the finer details of our lives that often only He will ever fully appreciated.

My bike, the one I do the majority of my ministry work and touring on began life as a pretty stock ’05 Road King Custom. The lowered stance of the Custom was a precursor to the current run of Street Glides and has since been discontinued, making it a keeper in my mind. I have really enjoyed the versatility of this bike and logged many miles on it.The general look I have been shooting for was a balance of black and chrome. I am not a big fan of the sea of chrome that often ends up on bikes, but black I can’t get enough of. The first major change was to put the 18” relief cut PM Judge wheels on. This changed both the stance and the overall look of the bike giving it an old school custom flair. To me the best thing about this platform over the current crop of touring bikes is the fact that it can be a base bike one day and a full on touring bike the next with just a few quick connects. Three years ago on the run back from Sturgis, I added a Kenny Day fairing and more recently a set of used hard bags that really improved its overall touring capability. I now have a bike that I can change the look of at will. Not possible with many of the fixed fairing bikes.

I began powder-coating parts and the good guys at Quality Powder Coating in Carrollton (972-488-0635) worked with me on both small items and larger volume. Most recently I took them the entire front end to powder coat, leaving only a few parts chrome to accent the black. Finding a good powder coater is key to keeping your customizing cost low. Quality has done vast amounts of work for me on numerous vehicles and the quality and the cost have always been great. Using the guys at Quality I have blended parts that are normally just chrome into something that is a real statement. You will notice some stock chrome parts I have powder coated with some chrome accents added or vise versa. I have found that utilizing this method has saved me countless dollars and provided parts that are every bit as resilient as chrome.

While having the front end powder coated I purchased a set of used hard bags on Ebay and after going back and forth on exhaust setups ended up getting to the guys at D&D Exhaust in Ft. Worth (817-834-8961) to get a D&D Fat Cat 2into1 black ceramic coated exhaust from them. This is by far one of the best exhaust systems I have used on my Road King (and there have been four now). The performance of the pipe, the exhaust note around town and the way it gets quieter as you hit highway speeds is perfect for the kind of riding I do. It is hands down a great pipe for a stock 88.

Shooting the hard bags flat black matched the color of the exhaust system almost perfectly and offset the Lava Red tins, the Liquid Black (powder coat) and chrome on the bike. What I want, visually, is a smooth blending of colors and tones that is pleasing and subtle with a slightly dark overtone. The multi-tone black lending itself to an old school look I highly prize and the red and chrome there to break up the darker base with an eye catching pop.

I guess that is why after looking at them at black exhaust shooting out the back and the headlight spine I left chrome the idea of the Red Baron hit me. My bike is a tool. Yes, it is a joy to both ride and wrench on, but in the end it is a tool that gets me into places and talking to people so I can tell them about the massive custom work God has done on me and with me. God graced me with mechanical ability, an eye for designing and building things, the ability to write as I do regularly for WOG, and a ministry through Biker Chaplain that allows me to connect with people on various levels. I meet so many people who believe they have no God given talents and I just want to scream at them to just let go and let God show them what He has in store for them. We have to get out of the way and allow God to open the doors He has planned for us. I know that is what it took for me to find my true path.

Red Baron Spec’s

2005 Harley Davidson Custom

Power train

Stock Harley 88
Stock Harley 5 Speed
D&D Fat Cat Ceramic 2into1 Exhaust

Wheels & Tires

Performance Machine 18” Judges
Metzler ME 880 Marathon – 130/70HR18

Body/Chassis

Harley Lava Red
Street Glide Hard Bags – PPG DP90 Epoxy Primer
Quality Powder Coating – Liquid Black (Just about everything that’s black)
Corbin – Hollywood Solo Seat

Speciality

White Brothers 36” Fat Beach Bars
Harley Soft Tail Sissy Bar/Back Rest (custom mount)
Rear Bar Eliminator
Shot Gun Rear Lights
Custom License Wrap Around Plate
Soft Brake Extended Brake & Shift Levers