Unless we’re talking about the designers of one of those over-the-top all-chrome-everywhere bikes, even the most chrome-wacky designer will offer a bit of contrast to make the shiny parts pop. When I first laid eyes on this Bruce Glasper creation and its name (Bling Bling) I had to crack a smile.
Instead of electrocoating large surfaces with pounds of solid quicksilver to achieve the desired bling factor, Bruce instead went with copious amounts of powdercoating and used painted and coated aftermarket parts. To get the bling on the thing, all the ridges and connecting surfaces of different colored parts were “diamond cut” (by Diamond Heads) and made to sparkle like a gem in the sunlight. Pictures do not do the bike justice, as the even lighting of our studio shoot downplays the glittering effect.
Owner Darryl “Pops” Wadsworth was replacing a stolen Ultra, described as his “pride and joy,” when he found this ’02 Road King. He went to the Lab and good friend Bruce G to whip the thing into shape. It was at this stage that the die was cast, with some powercoating on the crash bars and fork lowers, along with some Diamond Cut heads. It was nice, but not quite what he wanted.
I really wanted a Road Glide.
Bruce honored his friend’s vision, adding the RG fairing and bits, but also added to it by spreading the diamond-cut edges all over the machine and with it the powdercoated parts. Complementing machined components from Arlen Ness, Battistini’s, Covington’s, and Sinister go together as if they’re all from the same catalog (in some cases, they are) and with the overall theme of the bike. Bruce’s detail work is phenomenal, the things that most builders just leave black and let disappear are mostly red or offset with a diamond edge. The end result is a bike that looks like every part was hand-assembled and examined—no short cuts.
It was, and this attention to minutia saved a trip back to the Lab and boosted the sled’s power to boot. The runout on the lower end was discovered to be on the loose side, so rather than simply doing a rebuild, Pops spent a little extra to upgrade the mill to a Screamin’ Eagle 103-incher, since most of the labor charges were the same.
With both show and go, Pops has a new pride and joy that is equally aggressive, trick-looking, and fully-functional, unlike most other show-quality bikes out there. What more could you want? Other than more chrome…B