| In the last segment we discussed the lines of the new Excelsior-Henderson and what we planned for it. As you know as well as I do, any custom job is a matter of dreams, someone’s ability to conceive a great notion, and the team of experts you put together. We were blessed on all fronts.
Not only were we graced with the opportunity to work with a brand-new manufactured bike, but we were fortunate enough to work with Marty Ruthman at Hi-Tech Custom Cycles in Van Nuys, California. Here’s what went down, once the madman came around. Marty took off the fenders, the handlebars, the brakes, the front end, the fender rails, the rear brakes, both wheels, and then called us. “What the hell do you want me to do with this crap?” Once he calmed down, we called him back, and a plan was hatched. Marty grabbed a couple of scrap Jesse James fenders and hacked the shit out of them. In fact, the rear fender is barely the fender tip of one of Jesse’s creations. The front unit was once one of Jesse’s long sweeping fenders. Our notion was not to make it look like a H-D custom. Something needed to be done to the front end, but one of our goals was to continue to work with the original front end, which had caught some flack from a handful of the motorcycle press. We decided to chrome the rear legs and Marty took it a step further. He stripped the front end of the brakes and controls and sent the whole batch to the chrome shop. The next move was to add high bars and a slimmer front wheel. We decided on a 19-inch and sent the hub to the experts at Buchanan’s. We were under somewhat of a time crunch so we asked them to move on it. They didn’t and ultimately delivered the wrong wheel. So we erased them from the competent list. Marty and Jim, his machinist, went out on a limb to round off the corners of the Super X looks by manufacturing axle caps, axle adjuster caps, a master cylinder cover, and a platform for two of the E-H turn signals to reside as taillights. We found some wild lenses to fill the bill and the license plate bracket acts as a mud flap. Oh, yeah … the seat. We went to great lengths to find a custom seat for this puppy, only to have it miss the boat and the trip to the Badlands. There will be some shots of both here so you can compare them. I think that’s it for now. I’ve listed the team for the project. I’ve been building bikes for 30 years, and if I list someone, it’s because they know what the hell they’re doing. |
| Ride Forever, –Bandit |
He’s the type of motorcycle maniac who wants to experiment with anything big twin, so when we said Super X, he didn’t say, “Fuck you guys, take it some where else.” He said, “Fuck you guys, don’t come in here, I don’t ever want to see your sorry asses on the planet again.” We dropped off the bike and left. 
It had to retain the original look, only chopped, and we were headed in the right direction. We raised the front of the gas tank one inch, which allowed the top of the tank to flow with the line of the frame and not dip in the front. It also allowed Marty enough space to fill the cups in the sides of the tank, so it flowed as a unit. 
While riding to to Sturgis last year, we discovered that guys with short fenders and fat tires sling the gravel. We wanted that rowdy look but not the heartburn for our brothers. I know I’m forgetting something, but you’ll catch it in the Sturgis saga when you check the final shots on the road. 
