When it's all said and done and the TV cameras are long gone, the truth about who was cool and who was a fool will be known.
Nobody intentionally wants to write about a butthead, but as they say, every dog deserves their day. Recently, we decided to delve into our photo archives and locate every un-run bike feature we've ever shot and consider it for this issue. Unfortunately, and we know this happens at the other motorcycle magazines as well, photos sometimes get overlooked or lost-not to mention there's a tremendous backlog of great bikes to run.
Our first phone call was to the owner of a trendy chopper with ornate embellishments and a oddly-proportioned profile that was shot over two years ago in Reno, Nevada. Frankly, this bike was not a timeless beauty and we were hoping the phone number would no longer work. No such luck; after about 10 rings an elderly sounding lady with a nice disposition answered and we explained to her our plight. She had no sooner told the bike owner what we were after when the guy almost bit the old lady's head off and screamed in the background he wasn't interested. You can't blame the guy for being mad at us, but he didn't have to yell at his grandma like that.
Clearly, this un-run feature bikes search wasn't going to be as pleasant as we had hoped.
Our next phone call was to Scott Morgan of Delano, Minnesota, and he's the owner of the '00 Springer Softail you see pictured here. After the last guy's response, we were a little sheepish to say the least. "Hey uh, Scott, uh, we were wondering if uh, you uh, were still interested in us running your bike?" Boy, the difference between a butthead and a good guy can be determined with only a minimum of words uttered before you know which sort you have contacted. Scott was real pleasant and explained that having his bike featured in our magazine was the ultimate affirmation of everybody involved in the build having done a good job. He went on to explain that it was a perfect conclusion to a lot of hard work and he was excited his bike was going to be published.
Scott commissioned Donnie Smith of Donnie Smith Custom Cycles in Blaine, Minnesota, to build his Springer Softail. He chose to build around a Harley-Davidson platform instead of a special construction registered bike because genuine Harleys are easier to insure for their actual value and are listed in the Kelly Blue Book. Scott bought his '00 Harley-Davidson Springer Softail in August of '99, there weren't many off the shelf custom parts available for Twin Cam models at that time. Most of all the parts on Scott's Softail are modified factory parts. Starting with the forward controls, Donnie modified the existing Harley units and fabricated custom plates to conceal the valleys that couldn't be reached with a polisher. Notice in the detail shots of the brake pedal and master cylinder how much nicer they appear than stock production examples. Note the hydraulic brake line as it exits the brake master and conforms around the frame's right lower leg, then disappears from sight. Look rearward towards the custom fabricated exhaust system by Donnie's long-time fabricator Rob Roehl and observe how it exits the front cylinder head in a straight line and semi-circles the ignition cone perfectly. Custom exhaust pipes are judged by how evenly they parallel each other and the overall look of their design. From the exhaust tips forward, notice how Scott's parallel the Arlen Ness 250 kit and flow with its lines. The Donnie Smith custom fabricated integral rear fender houses an Avon 250 tire mounted on an 18-inch DNA wire wheel setup with a stainless steel brake rotor and a specially modified GMA brake caliper.