Bon Jovi sings, “Dead Or Alive,” while the detail-shots show pegs, pipes, ignitions. The silver scoot roars into New Year’s night. The daylight shows the lonesome rider in the desert and sun. Our eyes have a walk and the spirit is on holidays. Some minutes later the rider of the silver bullet arbitrates a dispute in a gas station. While leaving he tells his name to the cashier-girl: “Harley. Harley-Davidson.“ Mickey Rourke spoke the magic words in the 1991 movie Harley Davidson and the Marlboro-Man, short before he met Don Johnson. It became a cult-movie. Those who don’t fire up their own engines for a night-ride through their hometowns, after watching the opening sequences, may surely not be real bikers at all.
In our story the Harley’s counterpart is much more attractive, much more matching the spirit of us bikers. And the bike is special, really. It was built by Wolla’s Garage in Schwelm, Germany. Worldwide there is a whole bunch of replicas of the “Black Death,” called bikes, some good and many not so good ones, but what Wolla and the owner and planner Markus put together comes really close to the movie-bike. Lots of details had to be gathered and what wasn’t available had to be custom built, and that wasn’t few.
To gain informations and specifications they contacted the company Black Death Motorcycles for detailed basics. The guys helped our builders a lot with tech specs, pictures and some hints. Plus they sent a long-sleeve shirt to show how much they appreciated Wolla version.
Infos and parts completed the former FXR-model got new bodywork. The flat rear needed lots of tinning and molding to achieve the smooth and flat racy look. The chrome-shiny side-covers are custom-made, as well as the risers. The engine comes from S&S, is in fact a little more modern than the movie’s, for it was produced in 1992, but optically close to it and performs much better.
The gearbox also matches the engine and the look and comes from JIMS’s. The exhausts had to be street legal and good looking in one. So both was solved and they do their work on Germany’s streets now. The foot pegs and controls are custom made. The front end comes from the mother company, but is widened to 6-inches by SJP-triple trees.
A concession to the rainy weather conditions in Germany was the paintjob. In the movie the Black Death wears no color at all, pure metal to be seen. But that was too tricky for most of the days during a German bike-season.
It’s much more like NY or WAS. So the bike received a metallic silver coating, clear varnished and perfectly finished to keep the rust away.
And after all that was done they sent pictures of the ready assembled bike to “Black Death” with the wish for a close-up of the original paint job on the tank. And again they received an answer. Now House of Kolor had the template to do their great work. After the shiny silver they painted the logo on the tank-halves, very detailed and accurate.
To reassemble everything and to make it street-legal it took about 18 months, some breaks in-between, especially to get perfect details. The mirror is another concession to Germany’s street laws.
Barely legal was the posing of model Jill Diamond with the silver bullet. Her movies are kinda famous as well. She stars in a variety of fetish, bondage and vintage erotica films and picture-series. She is well booked erotic model, specialized in ‘50s rockabilly-series.
As I told her the plot of our series she was fired up at once. I showed her the movie and we made a Marlboro-girl out of her that Mickey Rourke would have wished to play with – er – in a movie.
Those who know the movie surely will regard similarities and details from it. Those who did not see it, shame on you–go watch the movie!
links:
builder: www.wollasgarage.de
model: www.jill-diamond.com
author/photographer: www.wikinger.com
Builder: Wolla’s Garage
Wolfram “Wolla“ Friedrich
Eisenwerkstr. 65
58332 Schwelm
Germany
Owner, Co-Builder Marcus Thissen
Model Black Death
year 2004
building time 18 months
Motor
brand S & S, 113 Cubicinch
year 1992
modiefied Wolla’s Garage
carb S & S
airfilter S & S
ignition Crane Hi 4
exhaust Drag Pipes
Transmission
gearbox JIMS 5-gear
Paint
colour House of Kolor
Frame
Make H.D. (modified) 1988
rake 37°
shock Rigid
Accessoiries
handlebars Dragbar
controls Ness
mirror yes, one
instruments Jay Brake
speedo H.D. Cat eye
footpegs Jay Brake
tank Flat Side welded together
oiltank W & W
swingarm W & W
headlamp H.D.
taillight Lukas
electrics Wolla’s Garage
brakes Performance Machine
seat custom WG
Frontend
Make H.D. 6 inch over
triple trees SJP
forklegs FLT (modified)
Wheels
type W & W stainless steel
spokes 40 stainless steel
size 21 inch front, 15 inch rear
tires Avon
