Mason Pugh's | 2003 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic Firefighter Edition

Some boys, when they are young, play with fire trucks. Some of those boys grow up to be firefighters. And some of those boys get firefighter toys. That's how the story of this bike starts out.

Mason Pugh, the owner of this bike, is a full-time firefighter for the city of Watertown, Wisconsin. Much like other Harley riders, Mason has been riding bikes of various shapes and sizes for a long time. But it was in 2008 that Mason picked this '03 Firefighter Edition Ultra Classic with only 10K miles. It was just getting broken in.

Mason doesn't leave anything stock, and this bike would be no exception. He started to get ideas and things lined up for the first round of the custom stuff. One morning, leaving the firehouse after a shift, Mason had to lay the bike down after a lady in a cage turned left in front of him. The bike took some heavy damage and Mason took some heavier damage. He underwent surgery and his bike did too. "The work started sooner than I expected," says Mason. For the rest of that summer, he replaced a lot of the chrome with gloss black parts. He installed a Vance & Hines Pro Pipe and a pointed air cleaner that a friend had made. He also added spiked grips, pegs, and axle covers.

As it happens, Mason was friends with Ilya "Bull" Levkov, a customizer for a Wisconsin Harley dealership. Bull started planting ideas in Mason's head about doing more custom upgrades to his Ultra, taking it to the next level. That winter was Mason's first dose of over-the-top customization. New paint on the outer fairing, saddlebag lids, a gas tank, and a front fender were added. Then came the Cycle Smiths 13-inch ape hanger handlebars. Bull then suggested Wicked Image foot controls.

While visiting Bull one day, Mason came across a great deal on a set of Renegade Wheels and Metzeler tires. So, on went the wheels and new rubber, a 21-incher up front and an 18 in the back. Mason rode the bike for the rest of the summer, getting compliments and looks from civilians and firefighters alike.

Right about this time is when the insurance company finally came through with the settlement for the accident. Mason suddenly found himself with unexpected money and decided to use it to take the bike to that "next level."

During the winter of 2009 and into 2010, Mason added the stretched Bad Dad rear fender with the All-In-One taillight and the Bad Dad saddlebags. Since the bags would have to be painted anyway, Mason went ahead and got a new fender from Klock Werks to closely follow the front tire. Paintwork was handed to TS Customs in Waterford, Wisconsin. Jeff and his son Adam did a great job on the firefighter red and black flames. They also added some very special graphics to the side covers of the bike.

For months, Mason and Bull searched for floorboards for the bike, but they kept running into the same problem: all the cool floorboards didn't have matching passenger boards. So Mason got Küryakyn Iso-Boards and had them powdercoated gloss black to match the rest of the bike. Mason also changed out the spiked footpegs and handgrips for the more shin-and-head-friendly units from Avon.

Mason was a stereo guy from his younger years doing car stereos, so it's no surprise that for this bike he added an Alpine head unit with a Hawg Wired controller driving Kicker 6x8-inch speakers in the fairing. Out back, Mason installed a Power Acoustics four-channel amp to power the two Polk MM 6x9 speakers and two Polk MM 6 1/2-inch speakers in the saddlebags. And let's not forget the two Polk MM 5 1/4-inch speakers in the now detachable Tour-Pak.

It was at this point that Mason named the bike "Inked." Mason says that the paint and graphics on the bike were inspired by his tattoos.

Now you would think that the bike would be done at this point-not so fast. Bull continued to tease Mason because the bike only had an 88ci motor. So the motor got disassembled and an S&S 97ci kit went in with an upgraded billet cam plate and oil pump, Mackie cams, and a Horsepower Inc. throttle body. This combination finally took Mason to that elusive place that performance guys called the 100/100 club. Mason's Inked now gets more than 100 hp and more than 100 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheel. Not too bad for a touring bike.

Mason, Bull, and other friends had plans to go to the 70th Sturgis this past August, all riding custom baggers. Shortly before Sturgis, Mason started talking about the handlebars being too short. Mason, after all, is 6 feet 4 inches tall. So off went the 13-inch apes and on went the 16-inch apes and new cables from Magnum Shielding. The Sturgis trip went without a hitch and Mason's firefighter Ultra became a huge hit with crowds in Sturgis and all along the way.

Mason wants to give special thanks to Ilya "Bull" Levkov for the customizing and design ideas. Bull has a tendency to drag people kicking and screaming to the bike of their dreams. Mason wants to give special thanks to his family and his mother for dealing with his eccentricity and his firefighter's schedule. "This project meant a lot to me," states Mason. Working on this bike on his days off kept him tied up and away from some special events. But he is already looking forward to his next collaboration with Bull on a wilder, faster, louder bagger. Get a hold of Bull at hdoutlaw@hotmail.com, and get yours today.