Benevolence In Black Harley-Davidson Evo Chopper

Take a stock H-D and strip off all the unnecessary shit to make it more streamlined with a healthy dose of custom accessories—that’s what Danny’s bike is all about.

“THIS IS my third Harley,” said Danny Proietti. “First one I bought off Picko from Southern Custom Cycles back in 1998. It had a custom Santee hard-tail frame, 80 cube Evo, four-speed castle-top gearbox, three-inch belt-drive, etc. The second bike was bought off a mate—a 98-cube Generator Shovel, 1967 rigid, that I totally rebuilt from ground up at a mate’s shop after hours.”

They say that every cloud has a silver lining and how this bike came into Danny’s possession is one such story.

“My mum passed away after battling the dementia illness and left me some coin. So instead of pissing it up, I bought this bike in memory of her. I bought the bike off a guy in Melbourne who needed to sell some toys that he had stored at his mum’s place who, ironically, was suffering from the same disease and they were selling her house and putting her into a nursing home.”

The bike itself is a chopper in the true sense of the word. Having started its road-going life as a 1988 FXRS Low Rider, very little of the original bike remains in its current guise.

“Tony, the previous owner in Melbourne, built the bike; I just changed a few things to my likings. I handmade the seat, repositioned the fuel tank, cut and reshaped exhaust pipes, remade stronger brackets that hold various parts on bike.”

She now sports a wide-ass kit (16 x 6 inch, 200 rear tyre); 34-degree rake in the neck; Mid-USA Generation-3 springer front-end; 21-inch front wheel with old school Speedmaster front tyre that runs fenderless; and a set of Roland Sands, black powdercoated, 16-inch ape-hangers to aim it in the right direction.

The frame has been smoothed out and powdercoated.

LED, slim cats-eye, custom side-mount tail-light and a custom design peanut tank with pop-up fuel cap add to the look.

A rebuilt, 80-cube Evo moves things along, with ported Evo heads, Evo Stage-3 cam and running 10.5 compression.

A five-speed gearbox with a wet clutch primary drive delivers the power to the rear wheel that connects to the swingarm courtesy of a set of lowered Progressive rear shocks; housed under a strutless custom rear fender.

Future plans for the chopper include a set of 16-inch Carlini Menace handlebars and some black rim, Mammoth Spoke wheels.

Danny would like to thank John Moorhouse from Ergo Motorcycle Seats, Terry, Norm, Tony, and Easy R Motorcycles at Geebung.

Pics by Jo; words by Chuck U Farley

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