2007 H-D Road Glide
Like a lot of other stories in the bike scene, the one about Kevin Mason's '07 Road Glide starts with a completely different motorcycle. It actually started with an '06 Road Glide that he had been working on with some help from his brother, Jim, who just happens to be one of the lead mechanics for Fat Baggers Inc. (FBI). He finished tightening the last bolt on the bike that had plenty of goodies from the FBI catalog and packed the bike into the back of his truck with all of his and his wife's luggage, and made the long journey from New Virginia, Iowa, to Sturgis, South Dakota.
Now we would ordinarily have to give Kevin a little bit of ribbing here because he loaded a perfectly good touring bike into the back of his truck and drove it to Sturgis for the Black Hills Rally. But, he explained that between not getting an opportunity to put any shake-down miles on the bike, plus he could catch up on sleep while his wife drove after being sleep deprived from working on the bike and we gave him a pass.
So he and his wife rode to all the tourist attractions such as Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, Deadwood, and even Rapid City for a nice late lunch on Saturday, and it was really starting to feel like a vacation. Then on Sunday they rode the bike down to where FBI had its truck setup. They left the bike close to the truck as they went exploring downtown. As they made their way through the jungle of bikes and vendors, Kevin's cell phone rang and it was one of the salesmen from FBI on the other line. The salesman was talking to a customer who was in love with Kevin's new bike and was interested in buying it. Kevin told the salesman to go ahead and sell it if he could, not thinking that he would really go through with it. Kevin and his wife continued to enjoy the scenery downtown for just about another hour when Kevin's phone rang again; it was the salesman telling Kevin he had to come clean out his saddlebags so the new owner could pick the bike up.
Kevin was shocked that the guy actually sold his new bike. It was a good thing they had their truck there, because if it was just the two of them on the bike they wouldn't have a way home. Since we all know that the Black Hills Rally is no fun without a bike, Kevin and his wife got in the truck and finished off their vacation by going to Yellowstone National Park.
After they were back home in Iowa for a couple of weeks, Kevin went out and bought a brand new '07 Road Glide and started over. It only took a few months to turn his total stocker into the killer custom you see on these pages. Oh, and if you are curious Kevin and his wife rode the bike out to Sturgis this year. It was the only way Kevin knew to ensure that he wouldn't sell his new bike-he and his wife needed it to get back to Iowa somehow!