Club-Style Harley-Davidson Dyna Rider

I’VE been riding motorbikes my whole life. Like, I’ve been into dirt-bikes and pit-bikes and whatnot, but was always riding without a licence; and when I ended up getting a licence, I got my first bike, a XVS 650. It was a red looking piece of shit and I poured a lot of time and effort into it; bobbed it out; it looked pretty cool for a learners bike and I actually made money on it.

I’ve been a big fan of the club-style Harley-Davidson for a long time. You don’t see much of it out here in Australia — a couple of guys are doing it like Josh at HD Hooligans — but there’s a lot of good stuff on Instagram with guys in the States doing the skids and wheelies; getting them pretty vertical. 

Basically, it’s a Dyna that handles with modifications to the suspension, front and rear, steering, etc. I started off with the front-end. It’s got the Low Rider S upgrade with the twin disks, and it’s got the mono-cartridge Progressive shocks. The wheels are, again, off a Low Rider S. I’ve got the standard brakes on the rear but I’ll be getting an upgrade on those soon.

Then you’ve got your Memphis Shades windshield, your Lucky Dave’s T-bars, and your adjustable Oberon levers. I’ve also got a San Diego custom handlebar bag so I can carry my phone and see where I’m going if I need the GPS or play a bit of music. 

I’m running Race Tech rear shocks. They’re custom-built for my riding style and weight. They’re not just ‘bought off the shelf’ like a K-mart scenario; they are made in America, crafted for my specs, pre-loaded, etc.

The slant air cleaner is from Roland Sands Designs. It’s a Lucky Dave’s seat which is super comfortable. The Roland Sands two-into-one, slant exhaust is also off a Low Rider S. 

It’s also got the flush fuel caps, CVO badges and a custom painted tank. The custom painted console was a massive mission to sand back to create a grey, stony sort of look. I’ve also changed a few things like the high-gloss powder-coat engine and gearbox covers, and the derby cover on the left side.

I’ve got the BMX style foot pegs on the bike. And then you’ve got the Custom Dynamics rear license plate. 

I headed down to see Simon at ColourFuel for the paint job. I heard from a mate how good he was and had checked out his website, Facebook and Instagram accounts. He spent a lot of time, a lot of effort — because I’m a picky bugger — getting the right colour. It’s a black base with gold in it, although sometimes I look at it and see a little bit of grey, I see black, I see a bit of brown, I see copper. Yeah, I see a few things.

A great handling bike was a high priority with this build. All the things you can do to help yourself survive in this world — everyone’s on phones and shit these days; and I live near the National Park so I get a bit of time to ride through there often — and I just wanted a bike that could handle corners and brake before doing any engine work.

I guess I was fortunate to start riding with a bunch of good guys from my mate’s shop. Those guys ride their Harley-Davidsons quick around corners so I had to learn fast.

A lot of people will write off Harley-Davidsons saying they handle like shit-bags but all you need to do is have a look at what the guys in America are doing — and those bikes are riding canyons; some of those guys have bloody raw scraped footpegs.

words by Darby; photos by George