I STARTED riding dirt bikes when I was 17-years-old. I did this for two years then decided that dirt was no longer for me. I wanted a road bike and went to an RGV250 which was the love of my life at the time. I rode around on that little beast for about 12 months before progressing to a Kawasaki ZXR750, and then I had another ZXR750 after having a fairly bad accident. After the ZXR750 had its time, I had a Fireblade Honda 900 which was a fantastic lightweight bike — really, really racy — and it really took me to the next level of my riding. Most of my riding was road riding but I did like doing a lot of track days and hence I had bikes which were suitable for the track days.

After the Fireblade, I had a TL1000 Suzuki which I absolutely hated. Even though it was a nice bike, it just wasn’t me. It was big, cumbersome and heavy, but I loved pulling wheelies all the time. I then went to a Yamaha R1 which became the new love of my life. Lightweight, super powerful, lots of lairy days, lots of track days. I did track days everywhere — Phillip Island, Broadford, Sandown. Philip Island was the absolute pinnacle hence why the Moto GP and Super Bike riders ride at that track. That track became a real popular past-time for me and my friends. Then I was blessed and progressed to a Ducati 996R. There were only 500 of them in the world and I had one of those for about 18 months.

Then I had cancer. Unfortunately, it reminded me of mortality and I temporarily gave the bikes a rest for about two years before coming back with a vengeance on a big 1300 Suzuki Hyabusa. Now in my 40’s, the Hyabusa was getting me into a lot of trouble. It was a super, super fast bike with more than 200 horsepower at the rear wheel and I lost my licence, getting fine after fine after fine and still lairizing.

I decided I always had a secret passion for Harley-Davidsons. I did my homework and had my mind set on a Softail Deluxe, and low and behold, I walked into a Harley-Davidson dealership on a Saturday afternoon, not looking to buy anything, and there was a shop custom that had been literally finished one hour prior. I walked in and saw the ice pearl blue Deluxe, and within two days, I had put down a deposit and it was going to be mine.

I’ve now been on the Harley Deluxe for two years and I love the whole lifestyle. Harley doesn’t just represent riding for me (riding is a major part of it because it’s been my obsession since the age of 17), it’s became my obsession in more ways than one — the customising and the new family I’ve got. I’m a member of Oz HOG and I’m very happily entrenched in it. I’ve got lots of great friends there, and socially, I have my own personal friends and a lot of them have Harleys too.

So over the course of the last two years, I took what was called a shop custom, where it was partially customised, it to where it is now — spending a lot of hard earned money and a lot of time invested scouring YouTube and all the internet sites looking at all the hot-up parts and putting as much as I could on it. That then lead me to, by default, people asking why didn’t I show my bike. Hence, I’ve been in six shows now and I’ve been lucky enough to take trophies in five of them. 

The shows I’ve entered are The American and British where I was fortunate enough to take out The Best Twin Cam Nostalgia category. I then progressed to The Iron Horseman Bike Show where it took out both Best Twin Cam and People’s Choice. Next was The Outlaws show where I was fortunate enough to take out the judges’ Show Favourite which was very exciting. The judges really loved the bike on the day, and when it took out the trophy, it was very humbling. I then entered it in the Keilor Rotary show where it took out Top USA Bike which was fantastic as well.

Also, I did a poker run with the Black Uhlans in Coburg and, fortunately, out of 700—800 bikes, I took out Best Bike.

When I bought the bike from Harley Heaven, it was the brain child of Brett Pearson who I’ve become good friends with; and Andy Martin with the spanners who I’m also friends with now. I must thank them for their input and valuable advice and assistance on my project. What they did to the bike prior to me taking delivery were mid-western bars, the beautiful 21-inch front wheel, chrome fork legs, Vance & Hines dual fishtail pipes, and a host of little chrome bits here and there.

Since that time, I’ve taken the bike to another level. I have Screamin’ Eagle Stage 1 air-filter and ProRace Tuner; Metzeler front and rear white-wall tyres; Harley Badlander seat, chrome switch blocks and switches, front and back axle covers, smooth covers for air-filter and horn, visors on the headlight, auxiliary lights and blinkers, floor-boards, brake pedal and gear change lever, spark plug and head bolt covers, chrome fork legs and upper tins; every bolt has Harley-Davidson chrome caps to give the bike a show finish and I had the front-end lowered one inch with Harley-Davidson springs; Chubby1 knuckle handlebars and risers, Roland Sands grips and front master cylinder, Arlen Ness mirrors, Diamond Back braided lines; Legend Air rear air shocks with handlebar mounted billet switch and billet air pressure gauge; Joker Machine dash panel; Willie G points cover and derby cover.

The motor itself is absolutely standard but it’s a very punchy engine. It’s been tuned by the boys so that it takes advantage of the Screamin’ Eagle air-filter and ProRace Tuner and the pipes. 

There are future thoughts of potentially putting some more money into it but the bike has cost me a lot which I won’t mention here. But it’s my pride and joy. I love showing it even though I didn’t build it for that reason. I love being part of my club, riding with friends and enjoying the whole lifestyle the way it looks, the way it sounds.

The bike is featured in a music video thanks to Maxi and the song is called ‘In a Little While’. The bike has also featured in a lot of weddings and has got a lot of positive remarks from the public so I’m blessed in that regard.

My beautiful partner Em should take a lot of compliments as well because she has been my rock in terms of always being very positive. She’s never once said, don’t spend money on it. She loves the bike as much as I do. I can’t get her off the back. Every time I’m riding she’s on the back with me. She has also been a second set of eyes when I’ve customised the bike. She was raised with Harley-Davidsons — her family has always appreciated them — and when we met and fell in love, she took to the bike from day one and has helped me along the way customising it.

We are now in the process of saving for a tourer. We have taken this bike to where it should be. I don’t think I want to be spending too much more money on it. So we’ll buy the tourer so that we can do the interstate trips with Oz HOG, rallies, weekends away, etc. Unfortunately, the Softail isn’t designed for those types of trips. I’ll definitely keep this bike though. It will never leave my possession. This is my first Harley. In the past my sports bikes have been pretty much like, I’d keep them for a year and then move them on. This Harley will never go. We already know what type of tourer we want to get. We’d like an Ultra Electra Glide which is king of the tourers.

In my family there are no motorbikes — my family has always been dead against it — but from a very young age I’ve always bucked the trend. I’ve been the black sheep of my family since I was a teenager, and although my family probably wouldn’t like me to ride anymore because of my accidents.

I’ve had about five accidents. I’ve been hit head on by a car, I’ve hit poles, etc, and touch wood, although I’ve had some fairly major accidents, I’ve never broken a bone. The accidents have been major but the damage to me hasn’t. When I got hit by the car, I went over the car and was bruised but nothing broken. When I hit the pole — I went around a corner too fast and took out the pole — again no broken bones, just cuts and bruising.

The big difference between the Harley-Davidson and the sports bikes is, I absolutely love, for the first time in my life, doing the speed limit. It’s all about the bike. It’s all about the experience it gives you. It’s because of the note, because of its low down torque, because of its ability to put a big smile on my face, I don’t have to speed anymore. Doing 110 km/h on a freeway is like doing 200 km/h on a sports bike. You can really feel it. There’s no faring, no front screen, so you are getting the wind so it feels like you are going a lot faster than you are and I like that. I love doing lots of trips through the mountains and taking it all in. Whereas, on a sports bike, it was all about cornering, all about high speed, and really, you should only do that on a track, even though I used to do it on the road (not that I’ll own up to it).

I’ve done my penance — lots of fines for speeding, lost my licence, etc. I’ve been on this bike for two years and not one fine, and that’s the big difference. That’s where I can see myself now until I can’t ride anymore… on a Harley-Davidson.

Words by John Scodellaro; photos by Jen’s Freelance

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