As I was sitting at my desk one afternoon, while working at Easyriders, I heard a rumor that the editor of one of our magazines had a Harley- Davidson motorcycle for sale. I had always wanted a Harley since I was a kid, so I hooked up with Mike Osborne the editor of Quick Throttle magazine and made plans to check it out. I had never owned a motorcycle in my life and had only ridden a few and had never ridden a Harley Davidson in my life!
When Mike opened his garage there she was, a dusty purple 1986 Harley-Davidson FXR! she was 11 years old, with only 2,500 original miles on the clock! She had buckhorn handlebars and a ’70s style tuck ‘n’ roll seat. Mike told me it was his wife’s bike and that was why it was purple. I didn’t care; I had to have the bike.
It would be my first motorcycle and first Harley! We loaded her up and I took her home. Before I even took my first ride the first thing I did was haul her to Road Dog custom cycles. The buckhorns came off and were replaced by a set of Flanders drag bars as was the seat which was replaced by a new Le Pera solo model
The turn signals found there way to the trash can. I also added an Andrews EV35 cam and adjustable pushrods. All before I even took my first ride! The stock Harley Davidson exhaust also were replaced for the first of many times. The initial upgrade included a set of Vance and Hines 2-into-one pipes then to a set of Samson Big guns, then to a set of black RB Racing LSR pipes, which I run today. In my experience these are the best pipes you can put on a Harley, I got an 11 HP increase on the dyno!
I was happy, I finally had a motorcycle and a Harley at that, I didn’t think It could get any better when Mike came into my office one day and told me they were doing a tech article on the new Screamin Eagle dominator kit and they needed a guinea pig to experiment on.
Naturally, I volunteered the FXR. The dominator kit included new Screaming Eagle cylinder heads, 10.5.1 aluminum pistons, roller rocker arms, adjustable pushrods, a Mikuini HSR42 carb, (which has since been changed to an S&S Super E with a thunderjet) adjustable Screamin Eagle ignition, Heavy duty clutch, slip on pipes, which I never used, new plug wires, new throttle cables, and an Andrews SEH-57 camshaft.
The kit was installed at Victorville Harley-Davidson in Victorville, California by the late Bruce Malm, and he could not have done a better job. This motor was upgraded 11 years ago and has not leaked a drop of oil since. It’s been completely reliable, runs strong as hell, and I have not had one single problem.
Other modifications included a custom JMC rear swingarm to hold the 17×9-inch Performance Machine rear wheel and matching brake rotor wrapped with a 190/50 Avon Azaro sportbike tire. High Tech Custom Cycles in Van Nuys, California cut the frame rails 1 inch on either side of the rear fender to allow the wider tire and swingarm to fit properly and also installed the chrome plated Progressive Suspension shock absorbers. The front wheel is stock H-D 19×3-inch with a matching Avon Azaro tire.
The frame was sandblasted and all the rough spots were ground down and smoothed before Advanced Powder coating in Baton Rouge, Louisiana sprayed it with silver metal flake and a candy blue topcoat. It’s screamin’ blue in the sunlight!
The stock Harley brake calipers were also treated to a layer of black powder coat.
The transmission was gone over and had a Hayden M6 adjuster added to keep up the primary chain under tension. To keep the oil cool a Jagg oil cooler was added to the left front down tube and an Arlen Ness oil pressure gauge was also added to monitor my precious oil level.
The front and rear fenders were removed, the rear was replaced by a 9’ wide horse trailer fender that just happened to fit between the rear frame rails, I had it chromed and it looks great on the bike. I don’t run a front fender at all, they just don’t look cool to me! I like the old school bobber/chopper look.
The brake lines were replaced with braided steel ones for a better feel under hard braking. The stock mid-controls were replaced with Custom Chrome forward controls, as were the stock hand controls. The head and taillights were also replaced with Custom Chrome pieces. The final drive chain is a nickel-plated 530 O-ring from Custom Chrome. The side covers are from Arlen Ness and are painted rattle can flat black. The front fork legs were removed, blasted and chromed by Baton Rouge chrome plating in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
I found that my Le Pera seat covered too much of the frame so I cut it down to fit and recovered it in vinyl and a few rivets. The dash is a late ’70s cat eye from Tim Bentley at Negotiable Parts in Riverside California as is the custom-made velocity stack.
The gas tank was purchased on EBay and I re-painted it myself, the original purple one sprung a leak and had to be replaced. A Pingle high flow petcock was installed because with all the engine mods we found that the engine was just not getting enough fuel, we also found that we had to start running premium fuel. The high compression motor just does not like the low octane pump gas. Tuning, tweaks, re-building, re-wiring, alignment etc. was handled by David Black at 3D Custom Cycle in Zachary, Louisiana.
BIKERNET EXTREME SCREAMIN’ BLUE MESSIAH TECH CHART
Owner: Thad Cranford
Bike Name: The Screamin Blue Messiah
City/State: Zachary, Louisiana
Builder: 3D Cycle, Thad Cranford, Battlefield Bikeworks
City/state: Zachary ,Louisiana
Company Info: Battlefield Bikeworks
Address: 11750 overton ford rd Zachary La 70722
Phone: 2253011787
Web site: 3dCycle.com
E-mail: ancientserpent@gmail.com
Fabrication: Harley- Davidson, Thad Cranford/Battlefield Bikeworks, 3d Cycle
Manufacturing: H-D
Welding: None
Engine
Year: 1986
Make: H-D
Model: FXR
Displacement: 80ci- 1340cc
Builder or Rebuilder: Thad Cranford
Cases: H-D
Case finish: Aluminum
Barrels: H-D
Bore: Stock
Pistons: H-D 10.5.1
Barrel finish: Blue powdercoat
Lower end: H-D /Stock
Stroke: Stock
Rods: H-D/ Stock
Heads: Screamin’ Eagle
Head finish: plain Aluminum
Valves and springs: Screamin Eagle
Pushrods: Screamin Eagle/ Adjustable
Cams: Screamin Eagle/ SEH57
Lifters: Screamin Eagle
Carburetion: S&S Super E / with Thunderjet
Air cleaner: S&S
Exhaust: RB Racing LSR 2 into 1
Mufflers: Nope
Other: Plenty!
Transmission
Year: 1986
Make: H-D
Gear configuration: HD/Stock
Final drive: 530 O-ring chain
Primary: Stock
Clutch: H-D/ Screamin Eagle
Kicker: Nope
Frame
Year: 1986
Builder: H-D
Style or Model: FXR
Stretch: None
Rake: Stock
Modifications: All welds ground off and the frame was smoothed out, no bondo was used.
Front End:
Make: 35 mm H-D
Model: FXR
Year: 1986
Length: Stock
Mods: Sandblasted and chromed
Sheet metal
Tanks: Stock/ FXR
Fenders: Horse trailer
Panels: Arlen Ness
Oil tank: H-D/Stock
Other: Jagg oil cooler
Paint
Sheet metal: Cheap Black and powder
Molding: None
Base coat: Nope, just some Krylon primer
Graphics: None
Graphics or art: Nope
Special effects: Nope
Pinstriping: Nope
Wheels
Front:
Make: H-D
Size: 19×3-inch
Brake calipers: H-D/Stock
Brake rotor(s): H-D/Stock
Tire: Avon Azaro
Rear
Make: Performance Machine
Size: 17×9-inch
Brake calipers: H-D/Stock
Brake rotor: Performance Machine
Pulley: Performance Machine, 45-tooth
Tire: 190/50/ZR17
Controls
Foot controls: Custom Chrome
Finish: Chrome
Master cylinder: Custom Chrome
Brake lines: Braided Stainless Steel
Handlebar controls: Custom Chrome
Finish: Chrome
Clutch Cable: Braided Stainless Steel
Shifting: Foot
Kickstand: H-D/ Stock
Electrical
Ignition: H-D
Ignition switch: Custom Chrome
Coils: Screamin’ Eagle
Regulator: Custom Chrome
Charging: Custom Chrome
Wiring: Custom Chrome
Harness: Custom Chrome
Headlight: Custom Chrome
Taillight: Custom Chrome
Accessory lights: Nope
Electrical accessories: Nope
Switches: None, no horn, no turn signals, no cigarette lighter, no vanity mirrors, no intercom, no ipod, no navigation, This is a motorcycle not a car!
Battery: Big Boar
What’s Left
Seat: Lepera, modified by Thad Cranford
Mirror(s): No Way
Gas caps: H-D
Handlebars: Flanders drag bars
Grips: H-D
Pegs: Custom Chrome. H-D in the rear when I run them.
Oil filter: Custom Chrome
Oil cooler: Jagg
Oil lines: Rubber
Fuel filter: Custom Chrome
Fuel Lines: There made of rubber too.
Throttle cables: Screamin’ Eagle
Fasteners: Nuts and bolts!
Specialty items: JMC rear swingarm
Comments: This bike made a little over 100 HP the last time it was on a Dyno. I can’t remember the torque numbers, but it was a lot! It’s one of the fastest 80ci motors you will ever ride. It has to be one of the best bikes Harley-Davidson rolled of the line that year. It might be for sale to the right person…
Credits: Easyriders Magazine, 3D Cycle, Victorville Harley-Davidson, Bruce Malm, David Black, and Mike Osborne
