Vrod Street Glide - Best In Class & Best In Show

speed · #1 (**permalink**) 01-12-2009, 09:49 PM

The following is from an email that I sent earlier today. I am doing a complete copy and paste, so I don't have to type, or edit it again.

Cheers,

Speed

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All,

Last summer I purchased a used 2003 Vrod with only 5,000 miles on it. After putting another 1,000 miles on it I elected to convert it to a custom bagger.

The bike first went to Wayne Hanson at Speed's Performance Plus near Knoxville Tennessee. We installed a Bassani two into one pipe before Wayne equipped the bike with a Power Commander and dyno tuned the stock mill. With no additional motor work - other than a K&N filter - the bike produced 110 horsepower at the rear wheel. We also reduced the front sprocket from 30 teeth to 28 teeth to provide a little more bottom end grunt.

From there the bike went to my good friend Lane Kelly in Cleveland Tennessee for the body work conversion. The bike was outfitted with bags, fenders and floorboards from Cycle Visions in San Diego California. Lane then custom mounted an OEM Street Glide fairing. The entire bike was rewired front to back during this process with some assistance from Wayne Hanson.

As you can see in the pictures below the bike was also fitted with a Harley Davidson Sundowner seat and Performance Machine wheels, brakes and pulley. Every piece of metal on the bike was either repainted, or sent out to be chromed. A very long list of custom parts and fabrication were required to bring the entire package together.

As most of you know I have an affinity for black bikes, black cars, black trucks, black snowmobiles etc. The silver frame and satin engine on this Vrod posed somewhat of a problem. I didn't want to replace the engine cases and repaint the entire frame black, so I was looking for other ideas. Lane came up with the concept of painting the bike in a sheet metal pattern, which led to it being dressed up as a tribute to the Memphis Belle. This only seemed fitting since the bike was being fabricated in Tennessee.

We enlisted nationally renowned painter Kenny Reynolds to do the custom paint job and art work. In less than half an hour the three of us had our ideas on paper and Kenny went to work. To truly appreciate the quality of Kenny's workmanship you have to see this bike in person. He did an outstanding job for a very fair price.

This past weekend Lane and Kenny entered the bike in the O'Reilly World Of Wheels show in Chattanooga Tennessee. This is one of the largest ISCA (International Show Car Association) events in the southeast. The Chattanooga Free Times Press is reporting that 40,000 people attended the show.

The V-Glide (as Lane calls it) won the following awards:

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BEST IN CLASS
1st place "Road Bike"
(Road bikes include baggers and cruisers.)

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BEST IN SHOW
1st place "Street Competition"
(This includes ALL street classes such as road bikes, choppers, crotch rockets etc.)

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TOP 5 BIKE - ENTIRE SHOW
"Chattanooga Charlie" award for first time motorcycles shown at the world of wheels - including ISCA bikes.
(ISCA bikes are show pieces that aren't driven on the street.)

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I would like to congratulate and thank Lane Kelly, Wayne Hanson and Kenny Reynolds for doing an exceptional job on this project. Well done gentlemen.

Cheers,

Chris

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speed · #2 (**permalink**) 01-12-2009, 09:51 PM

Two more pictures ...

Cheers,

Speed

speed · #3 (**permalink**) 01-12-2009, 09:52 PM

For posterity's sake I should mention Lane is our very own Rammedic from Hawg Zone.

Cheers,

Speed

GzrGldGeo · #4 (**permalink**) 01-12-2009, 09:57 PM

Very cool Bike Speed.

Very nice job Rams.

Mominatrix · #5 (**permalink**) 01-12-2009, 10:23 PM

It is an awesome bike. A real head turner to say the least. I'm so proud of Lane and everyone involved in the process to create this awesome ride.

Speed you have a true one of a kind ride now!!!