A Fire Glide from
the King of Flames
You don't get to be the King of Flames by skimping on the gravy when it comes to paint; you either bring it large or not at all. Case in point: this 2008 Road Glide custom by Dave Perewitz. Some folks say his motorcycles look like rolling Easter eggs, but that's the effect you get when you go with tons of bright colors on a bike (and not the worst thing you can say about a painter's work by any means). This time around, he laid down an attention-grabbing mix of light watermelon, big-flake rich yellow gold and PPG Spectraflame. Dave was so exacting about the color on this machine that PPG sent Paul Stole, himself an experienced painter, down to the shop with the samples so they could see what Perewitz wanted firsthand and mix it for him on-site.
"We wanted to do something different before these bikes really hit the market," the shop told us. Add in Keith Hanson's gold-leaf job, and you get an Easter egg that's more Faberg jewelry than food-color dye job. The paint scheme's the most obvious unique-ism on this cool dresser, but it's not exactly alone in that regard.
When Harley unveiled the 2008 Road Glide, the bagger gave fitment fits to the aftermarket, what with the new internal throttle, ABS system and how the seat and gas tank go together. Dave's shop started this project in January, and there wasn't much in the way of compatible parts available to address changes to the new stock design. Aside from new Bassani pipes and a Power Commander, he left the motor and frame alone. Same too for the handlebar; they already had an internal throttle and good ergos, so they got to keep their job. Performance Machine and Russ Wernimont Designs came through with a lot of parts for Dave's Glide, though, before their new gear even hit the market, like the wheels and fenders.
Pimping a brand-new stocker with awesome paint and a generous dose of new bling wasn't Dave's only motivation this go-around, though. There's a white whale in the motorcycle industry that builders just love to chase but rarely catch--a bitchin' personal custom bike of their very own. Mr. Perewitz started off Captain Ahab-ing that particular Moby Dick on this project, but when you create something you love, chances are someone else will like it, too. And want to take it from you. Hopefully with a big pile of Ben Franklins.
Playing the part of "interested third party" this time was Doug Robinson. He's one of Dave's good customers, and halfway through the build, he came around saying, "Can I haaave it? Can I haaave it? Can I haaave it?" like a greedy little kid until Perewitz relented, and it became Doug's bike instead of Dave's bike.* It's the fourth of Doug's Perewitz machines, and with his wife's bad back, going two-up on a bagger was a great idea.
Not only that, but all the prerelease parts and the one-of-a-kind color scheme make it pop out from the background, be it on display at a bike show or touring cross-country in style. When was the last time you saw an Easter egg do all that?**
*OK, Doug probably didn't say that, but you get the idea.
**Hot Bike Baggers would like to apologize to any members of the Easter egg community we may have offended with these remarks. As a proud supporter of People for Peeps, we'd like to say that some of our best friends are Hard-Boiled Americans, so please don't sue us or cancel your subscriptions.