While we were talking with a few friends on the East Coast, a pal of ours mentioned that the Shadley Brothers were at it again, only this time with an orange batwing bagger. The bike was built by the brothers for Keith Lapides, who already had a nice rigid bike but wanted something a bit more comfortable for him and his wife to ride to Sturgis on. After a bit of soul-searching, Keith had the Shadleys rebuild a 2005 FLHTCI with his only request being to make it bright, flashy and fast.
For the fast part of the equation, the show-chromed and mirror-polished motor was punched out to 95ci and doles out 100hp and 105 lb-ft of torque. It does this by way of a Shadley head, Wood cam and Wiseco pistons. A little ECU tweaking and throttle body manipulation coupled with the use of Manley valves aid in getting the gases forcefully passed through the chrome Rinehart two-into-one exhaust.
As far as flashy goes, a set of chromed-out Performance Machine Strut wheels in 21x3.5-inch front and 18x4.5-inch rear wrapped in Metzeler rubber are mated to a 13-inch polished PM floating rotor with a single chrome six-piston PM caliper up front and an 11-inch polished PM rotor with a chrome H-D caliper out back.
There are tons more flashy items, such as the chrome 2-inch-under fork, 2-inch-lowered chrome Progressive Suspension rear shocks and polished Performance Machine foot controls. Up top, chrome H-D hand controls cinch down on a set of Roland Sands Lazy Boy bars, which are also dipped in chrome.
Now getting to the bright part of the bike. The Shadley Brothers started with some choice sheetmetal in the form of a Klock Werks front fender and some custom-built fillers, rear fender and gas tank that was stretched and pounded out by the brothers themselves. Once all the tin was ready to shoot, Russ, who is the resident painter at the Shadley Brothers, prepped them to perfection, shot a base of Oh So Orange and then let John Hartnet loose on the graphics and pinstriping. Countless hours went into this paintjob, with massive hours just in taping off the different patterned graphics, which intermingle throughout the bike. The brothers even went the extra step and painted both the frame and inner fairing, which is where many other so-called builders try to shortcut the job. Other handmade items that stand out on this bike are the one-off motor mount and combination front-mounted voltage regulator/air dam, which of course were both handmade by the Shadleys.
For decades, Mark and Paul Shadley have been able to consistently build remarkable bikes in many facets of the custom-bike building realm, and with Keith Lapides' Electra Glide they have firmly cemented their significance in the world of baggers. B