Harley-Davidson Night Train from South Australia
"The front-end was torn off. I had to cut the motor out of the frame..." said Steve.
THIS IS my Night Train Softail, the 100th Anniversary model. I bought it from Peter Stevens in Adelaide; it only had 900 km on it. A guy bought it and his missus wanted to leave him quick, so they had to separate and get everything sorted out and I was lucky enough to get the bike. A shame for him but very good for me. I’d been looking for a Night Train. I was really impressed with the 100th Anniversary colours, the black with the grey stripes and the badging.
It’s been through two full revamps. The first time due to a miscalculation—I started to chrome everything on the Night Train. It was actually overkill and I wasn’t happy with what I‘d done because it had lost the Night Train features totally.
I rode it for about six months after, but due to a mishap, it went through another major rebuild. This time it was the front-end and frame; the original motor and gearbox internals were intact, the back wheel was intact; the rest of it was pretty well gone. The front-end was torn off. I had to cut the motor out of the frame; she was pretty bad so it was a bare frame rebuild.
That was done by me at Chromemasters. It’s not something I do as a line of business; it was just because it was my bike and I wanted to put my own personal touches on it and know everything about it. I did everything on it, every bit of it except the paint… I even did the chrome!
The pipes are Martin Brothers pipes. I ended up sourcing them from DG Design in Sydney, the importers. I’m pretty sure I’m the first in Adelaide to have them. They’re called Shockwaves; magic pipes, absolutely magic, and cheaper then Vance & Hines.
I got pulled over by the defect blockade on the Jokers Wild Poker Run and I’d punched a hole through the centre of the baffles because when they first came over they were too constricting and I couldn’t get anything out of the bike. After punching the hole and getting the bike to run absolutely perfect, I found it was only 93 decibels, so with a limit of 95, I passed.
It’s just smooth and comfortable; it’s beautiful to ride. It’s got a lot of clearance even though I’ve lowered it about an inch; due to the pipes being up where they are it’s only the frame I’ve got to worry about. And if you get a bike over that far, you’re really pushing it anyway.
There’s a KraftTech frame with a 49 mm Dyna Wide Glide front-end, Pro One front wheel, Deuce rear wheel, Burleigh V-bars, Skinners solo seat, and Ness mirrors that I had supplied bare and chromed by Chrome Masters.
It’s going to get a full workover once it hits 40,000 km. It’s done 36,000 now so it’s very close. And I want to thank Belinda and the kids, and Mick, the resident polisher.
pics by Chris Randells; words by Steve
More amazing related Ozbike features to check out:
