The Retro-Modern Cyril Huze Tribut Bike started out life as a 2006 FXST Softail Standard. I took the bike apart completely. I sent the frame, swing arm, oil tank, fenders, gas tank and other pieces out to be stripped of everything. Then, they go to the polishers for polishing, and then to the plater for a shot of nickel, and then copper.
From the plater, they go back to the polisher for a high luster polish, and then immediately to the powder coater for clear powder coating, to capture the luster as copper starts to turn green fast when exposed to oxygen.
I ran into problems at this point, because the powder coat was coming out yellow. We had to experiment with the temperature and duration numbers until it came out perfect. We realized that the copper was reflecting the heat back onto the powder coat, overheating it and causing the yellowing.
It took us four tries until we got the figures right, but each time I had to go through the process of stripping, polishing, re-plating, then polishing before continuing on. This is what you get for doing something new & untried. paint
Once all this was done, it was then off to the painter, for all the paintwork. The painter hadhis hands full already, as I had him painting the wheels, brake calipers, belt buckles (that I converted into Tank Badges), etc.
The bike has an open belt primary, which I took apart and had copper plated and painted.
Progressive Airtail Shocks out back, with On-Board Compressor Kit & Progressive Springs out front.
The bike has internal wiring and internal throttle. The controls are three button OMP units from Cyril Huze. The grips & pegs are Arlen Ness / Battistini pieces which had the copper treatment done to them.
The Velocity stack is from Cyril Huze. Goodson Air Cleaner from Cyril Huze which I copper plated and converted into a horn cover.
Arlen Ness / Battistini wheel out front which was painted blue in areas. Tires are Metzeler ME880’s. The rear tire is a 210/50ZR-17-78W. Exhaust
The Exhaust system is a Paul Yaffee “Three Shield X Pipe. I had the exhaust stripped, ceramic coated in and out, then powder coated in gloss black on the outside. The heat shields were copper plated.
The crankcase vents are skulls from Joker Machine, which were painted up. The rear license plate / turn signal unit is from Joker Machine, which was painted as well.
The blond engine has a 1550 big bore kit, with Screamin’ Eagle Jugs. The lower part of the cylinders were powder coated in gloss black to give it that old school ‘70s shovel look. The bike is estimated to have over 100 HP. Though it has been fired up, the bike is brand new with zero KM’s on the clock.
Forward controls are from Harley’s P&A catalogue, as are the fork lowers which feature hidden axles. Seat is from Harley-Davidson, right off their 2007 Softail Custom. The dash is an H-D piece as well.
There is a great deal of colorization on this bike, using red, blue, bone, black, chrome & copper. You can look all day at this bike and you will not find one instance where two pieces of the same color touch one another. It took me three months of charting this out on a spreadsheet to get this accomplished.
This bike was an exercise in colorization, to show Harley-Davidson and perhaps convince them to offer frame colors in the future, like red, blue, bone & copper. They could then create layers of parts that are chrome & red, chrome & blue, chrome & bone as well as copper & red, copper & blue and so on. Right now, all they offer in P&A is chrome & black.
I used the Harley-Davidson Skull as the main theme, and wanted the bike to look old school 70’s style, thus the name “Retro-Modern”.
I dedicate the bike to Cyril Huze, because anytime I had a problem or a question regarding the parts I purchased from him, he was there for me. Every time I would call, he would put down what he was doing and gave me his undivided attention. Getting this kind treatment & service directly from a master builder like him was an honor.
–Marc Frantz
marc@kitchenerharley.com
