2004 H-D Road Glide
For those of you lucky enough to have visited RNR Custom Cycle in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, you know that there is always a line of bikes out the door. People from all over the United States and Canada have their custom bikes built by the talented craftsmen at RNR Custom Cycle as well as the hundreds of the V-twin enthusiasts who bring their bikes in for service. Lets just say that there is a shortage of both floor space and lift space in Ryan Robinson's shop-no matter how much he expands!
To hear that Ryan found enough time to actually build a bike for himself is sort of surprising. Another surprise is that it is up to his demanding standards of being reliable yet performing like a hot rod bike. It was constructed into the rolling piece of art you see on these pages in 60-days-worth of nights and weekends. No wonder he is the boss!
Ryan started with an '04 Road Glide and tore it down to the bare frame and then some. He filled the freshly polished engine cases with all the performance parts, then topped the fresh lower end with a host of brightly polished go-fast goodies to turn the motor into a stout 95ci monster. He then filled the H-D tranny case with a set of Baker DD6 six-speed gears and a polished deep sump oil pan and connected it to the motor with the stock H-D primary and a Scorpion clutch.
With the motor and tranny back in the chassis, the front suspension was fit with a set of Race Tech emulators and springs. The rear of the bike was fit with Alloy Art stabilizers, Performance Machine brakes, and then the bike was treated to a set of 18-inch RC Components Czar wheels wrapped in Metzeler tires were bolted up to turn the bike back into a roller.
Ryan then fit the bike with a front fender, fuel tank, dash, and bag lids from RWD. He also frenched some Hi-Tech LED taillights into the rear of the bike before sending everything off to Mark Swift for paint, Jason Gateman for graphics and Rollie Guertin for pinstriping. With all of the paint cured, Ryan reassembled the bike using a set of Dakota Digital gauges, J&M Speakers, PM hand and foot controls, Drag Specialties mirrors, PIAA headlights, Flanders handlebars, Excel grips, and a Saddleman seat.
It seemed like it took forever to finish the bike, but it only took 60 days of nights and weekends to get everything wrapped up. From the moment that the lift was aired down, the bike has been on the open highway. In fact during the time that this feature was written, Ryan called in to check our progress from different fuel stops and hotels on a fall road trip where he and some friends were putting on a couple thousand miles before the first snowfall.