SHE’S A Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail. I picked her up just over three years ago. It was a stocker with a midnight blue paint job. The Softail was all good for about three weeks before the ‘lack of power’ got to me. Going from a GSX1100 to a stock Harley-Davidson just couldn’t cut it. So in she went for some performance mods — S&S heads, pistons and carby; Crane ignition and cam — to give her the ‘get up and go’ I was after. She was going great too until I had 10 too many with the boys and put her down the road!

Painted the same colour as an XR6

So in to Geoff at Tune ‘n’ Choppers who put a 5-degree rake and 4-inch-over forks, dumped the arse an-inch-and-a-half, 3-inch-over forward controls, pissed off all the Heritage extras, and painted her Velocity Blue the same as an XR6. I’ve ridden it around since: Cairns, Adelaide, Perth.

While in Perth I met a bloke by the name of Johnno Bowman. He made the bike really come alive. He put on the Mikuni carb, Thunder-Header pipes, reset all the electronics, and changed it to chain and sprocket. Now it peels the rubber at the lights, no worries. I ran it down the quarter mile for the first time and got a 13.2. I’m going again soon; hoping for high 12’s.

All in all it’s been a good bike. I’m planning on putting in a 113-cubic-inch S&S this winter; got to show my mates what for.

I’d like to thank Richard Freeman for getting me involved with a good bunch of lads in Queensland; Geoff from Tune ‘n’ Choppers for the custom work and putting up with me changing my mind over and over; and John Bowmen for being the only bloke I’ll give the name ‘guru’ to — what he’s done with the motor is simply spot-on (only gas could make this Harley any better).

words & pics by Mick Miller