Down Under Softail

Classy.Stylish. Tasteful. Refined. These are but a few of the adjectives that come tomind while eyeballing this svelte chic who goes by the name of Haley. Oh, andthe bike’s not bad either.

In the twoshort years since Blair Freeth opened Adelaide Bike Works the company has gonefrom strength to strength, with mechanical repairs, servicing motorcycles andperformance-enhancing the mainstays of the business.

As a dealerfor Performance Machine (PM) as well as Roland Sands Design (RSD), Blairthought he would showcase a swag of their products and the result is the verytidy bike you seen on these pages, a bike which began life as a 2003, 100thAnniversary Softail Standard.

But beforewe look at the bolt on items, let’s recognise the fact that the boys at ABW areall incorrigible petrol head bikers and could not, even in their wildest dreams,think of prettying up a chopper without significantly increasing itsperformance.

So Craig,the ABW performance guru, got to work on the donk, sending the heads to MarkHood, the hot up specialist at South Australia’s Hood Motor Service who,somewhat conveniently, is just around the corner. While Hoody fired up his flowbench and boring bar, Craig stripped the motor down and fitted a Timkenbearing. Once the barrels – now bored out to 95 cubes – and the heads werereturned, Craig fitted some Wiseco 10.5:1 forged pistons, Andrews 55G cams,S&S lifters and S&S pushrods.

Hoody hadfitted the flowed heads with Crane valves, springs and retainers once he’dworked his particular brand of porting magic on them and, after bolting themback on, Craig installed a Daytona Twin Tech ignition, re-jetted the Mikuni42mm carby and invited the air fuel mixture in via an RSD velocity stack. Thespent gases exit through the RSD Flat Tracker exhaust.

With a rearwheel horsepower output of 95 ponies an Energy One Racing clutch was fitted tobeef up the torque transfer. These are proving a popular clutch for higher thanstock horsepower bikes and according to their web site, their “Big Twin kitsare complete and include a full set of performance friction plates with amaximum groove pattern for heat dissipation and fluid circulation, with a coreof either 6061 T6 aluminium or high tempered steel for maximum durability,along with our race proven friction material. All steel plates are made with ahigh tempered steel and vibratory deburred to extreme flatness for positiveengagement and performance.”

Apart fromthe clutch swap the transmission was left stock as was the final drive belt,however, a stack of other changes were made by Blair himself, beginning withthe fitting of a set of Rocker C forks up front, which were shortened by oneinch and the front guard was put aside for a rainy day. An RSD Diesel ContrastCut 21in wheel was slotted in between the fork legs along with matching rotorsand a PM 6-spot brake caliper. And, as might be expected, the rear unit isanother RSD Diesel Contrast Cut, this time an 18in one, running a matchingrotor and a PM 4-spot caliper, with both front and rear calipers fed throughcustom brake lines.

The RSDVintage Apes look as cool as all get out, are mounted on stubby risers from RSDand feature PM hand controls and master cylinder. The switchgear is out ofsight as is the starter button and indicator switch and up front is a Batesstyle headlight and when he chooses to run mirrors PM get the nod here also.

The rearguard is an RSD Vintage item given some panel work, RSD also supplied the seatand the fuel tank, along with gas cap, the replacement timing cover and therocker covers, while the hydraulic clutch slave housing is from PM. Feelingsomewhat lonely perched up there on the rear guard is the taillight, said unithaving being sourced from CCI.

Blairwisely chose a subtle, almost understated paint scheme in silver and black,partly to pay homage to the 100th Anniversary models and partlybecause it made the most sense with the silver and black contrasts elsewhere onthe bike.

Gun spraypainter Troy, of Nightmare Designs, got the nod for the paint and once againcame up with a flawlessly executed top-notch job. All told this is a very sweetcustom ride and Blair reckons it goes like the clappers and he had a ball on itat the street drag racing meet he sponsored recently.

Finally I’dlike to thank Paul Andrews for the studio shots of the bike adorned with thelovely Haley, and Haley herself for making a great looking bike even better.

GUTS&BOLTS TECH CHART

 

Make: H-D

Year andModel: 2003 Softail Standard

Capacity:1550cc

Builder:H-D/Craig Carling

 

ENGINE

Cases:Stock

Bearings:Timken           

Barrels:H-D bored/Mark Hood

Bore: 37/8″

Stroke:4″           

Pistons:Wiseco forged

Compressionratio: 10.5:1

Cams:Andrews 55G

Lifters:S&S

Pushrods:S&S

Heads:            Mark Hood

Valves/springs/retainers:Crane

Oil: Belray

Ignition:Daytona Twin Tec

Carburetion:Mikuni HSR 42mm

Fuel:Premium 98        

Aircleaner: RSD Velocity stack

Exhaust:RSD Flat tracker

Power: 95hp

Maximumrevs: 6500

Top speed:Hang on

 

TRANSMISSION

Year: 2003

Type: H-D

Number ofgears: 6

Gearchange/forwardcontrols: H-D

Clutch:            Energy One

Activation:PM Hydraulic

Primarydrive: H-D

Rear Drive:H-D

 

SUSPENSION

Frontforks: Rocker C

Length:1″ under

Tripletrees: H-D

Rearsuspension: H-D

 

WHEELS

F wheel:RSD Diesel Contrast cut 21″x 2.25″

F Tyre:Dunlop MH90-21

Brakecaliper:            PM 6-spot

Brakerotor: RSD Diesel Contrast Cut

Brakelines: Custom Goodridge

R wheel:RSD Diesel Contrast cut 18″x 5.5″

R Tyre:Dunlop 180/55-18                       

Brakecaliper:            PM 4-spot

Brakerotor: RSD Diesel Contrast Cut

Brake line:H-D           

                      

FRAME

Type: 100thanniversary Softail Standard

Year: 2003

Rake: Stock

Seat: RSD

 

CONTROLS

Handlebars:RSD Vintage apes

Grips/levers:            PMHand controls

Risers:            RSD Stubby risers

Mastercylinders: PM

Switchgear:No switchgear/hidden starter button and indicator switch

Mirrors: PM(when fitted)

Headlight:Bates 5 3/4″           

Footpegs/forwardcontrols:            PM           

Rear brakemaster cylinder: H-D

Speedo:Motogadget (just fitted)

Taillight:Custom Chrome

 

GUARDS/TINWORK

F guard:RSD (in the cupboard)

R guard:RSD Vintage/panel work

Fuel tank:RSD

PAINT 

Paint: Troyat Nightmare Designs

Colour:Silver/Black 2-Pak

 

 

 
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