olina.
Edward had
one request of Shannon, “Make the bike as trick
as my truck.” Shannon has a long
history of building award-winning bikes
and was more than up to the task at hand.
The stock bagger was torn down completely,
and the transformation began. The stock drive train
was left intact, but the 96 c.i. Twin Cam engine did
receive a thorough diamond cutting along with
some dress-up parts from Roland Sands and a
new exhaust system from Jerry Covington at Cov-
ington’s Cycle City. The frame was stretched a
whopping 10 inches, and the neck rake was
kicked out to 45 degrees by Terry Buckingham.
Terry also installed an air ride system with 9 inches
of travel in the rear along with 4 inches in the front.
Don’t let the bike’s “down on the ground”
stance fool you. With the air ride, Edward
can dial in plenty of clearance to
make the bike rideable without
risking any of the custom
body work in the process.
Edward said this bike is a
rider, and he intends to
ride it to rallies, not
trailer it in.
The front end received American
Suspension
triple
trees
with an additional 9 degrees of rake to put
the massive 30” Metal
Sport “Don Juan” wheel
out where it needed to be.
Carlini handlebars wearing
Arlen Ness controls top off the
front end. Performance Machine
handles the front end braking chores while HHI
provides the slowdown power in the rear.
The inner and outer fairings, saddle bags, side
covers, rear fender and fuel tank are all highly
modified parts by Shannon. Check out the trick
concave sides and molded dash of the fuel tank.
Notice how the side covers are molded to not only
follow the leading edge of the saddle bags but also
follow the rear line of the frame. The fuel tank to
side cover to rear fender transitions are flawless.
Notice how the saddle bag tails flow in to meet the
rear fender lines. These little cues may seem trivial, but in fact, they make the bike stand well above
the crowd. That trick fairing houses a Pioneer double din head unit that drives a pair of Rockford Fosgate 6½ inch speakers in the front and a matching
pair of 6X9’s in the rear. The audio signals are fortified by a 500w 4-channel amp between the
head unit and the speakers. The fairing was
topped off with a Dirty Bird shield and ZX10
lighting. The bags wear Dirty Bird lids are operated by Speed by Design electric hinges. The
chin fairing is also a modified Speed by Design
offering. The front fender is a B-Cool piece that
hugs the 30” wheel/tire beautifully. Butch Watson at High Roller Seats came up with a great
saddle for the scooter that flows flawlessly with
the body lines. Arlen Controls were used for
hand and foot applications, and Carl Brouhard
foot boards complete the package.
When the mocked up bike was torn down,
Shannon laid out a jaw dropping layout of browns,
tan, and silver PPG hues that make the final package jump out and grab the viewer’s eye. The entire process was accomplished in a 6-month time
span, and the end results, as you can judge for
yourself, are incredible. Our congratulations go out
to Edward for winning the Baddest Bagger in
Kansas City!
Wide Open 41