Redrum Redrum | 2010 H-D Street Glide

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What is it that when someone says to you it can’t be done, we tend to try harder just to prove a point—it can be done? This ’10 Street Glide was just that, a challenge to prove that when someone said it couldn’t be done, it could. After seeing the Feb ’11 issue of Baggers and reading the headline “No Mo’ Chrome” Todd Baker was thinking to himself that bike was not what he would call “blacked out,” not even close. It got him worked up enough to start looking for a bike he could black out, or what Todd liked to call “Murdered Out.”

It was not long before Todd found a good deal on a stock matte black ‘10 Street Glide, he liked the look and lines of the bike even in its stock form. With the paint already black he could see where Harley had the right idea, just didn’t take far enough.

All Todd could think about was how much blacker he could take it. What parts could get painted and what parts could get powdercoated? He wanted every nut and bolt and cover-to-cover to be black. Todd started by putting a list together of all the things he would swap out on the bike, like the stock looking brakes, seat, and handlebars. So if these parts were available in a black finish then he would just replace the parts instead of having them painted. Once he had a good size list together he started looking for a shop that could do the job with all the details the way he wanted. But shop after shop kept telling Todd it was too hard to do, too costly, or just can’t be done. He was asking for way too much to be blacked out. He was told about a shop in Orange County, California that could get the job done. Todd headed over to Freedom Cycles in Orange to see about getting started on his bike and how long it would take. Todd discussed his ideas with Devin, the shop’s owner, and went over all the things on his list, which was turning everything black—everything! Todd handed the keys to Devin and said, “I want you to murder out this b#*@&.” At the time Devin was not sure just what that meant, but with a big smile he rolled the bike into the shop and started to pull parts off the bike.

The sheetmetal was already matte black and in great shape so other than removing the stock tank emblems and adding a new red-striped Harley decal, it was set-aside until reassembly time. Once the sheetmetal was off the bike it was easier for Devin to see how much work it was going to take to get this bike blacked out. Todd wanted every last piece black, so that meant everything was getting removed down to the frame, which was also getting powdercoated matte black as well.

The bike was new with almost no miles on it and Todd felt that the motor was fine the way it ran but not the way it looked. So it would have to get torn down so that the cases, cylinders, heads, rocker boxes, cam cover, oil filter bracket, and all the extras could get powdercoated matte black. The same went for the transmission and, primary covers. As all the parts were coming off the bike, Devin was putting two piles together: one was heading to the painter and one was heading to the powdercoater. As Devin was waiting for the frame to get done he started looking for all the replacement hardware, and this turned out to be much harder then he planned. There is no black bolt kit out there, however he found a place that had blackish hardware that happened to be gun metal black smoke, an almost dark gray. Devin had to order each and every replacement bolt to put the bike back together, and he said that was harder than rebuilding the bike.

As the bike was getting reassembled other details were put into place like the frontend. Devin replaced the lower legs with a set of Arlen Ness smooth black single sided brake legs and added a 4-piston Brembo brake caliper. Now I know you are thinking “why is it red”? Well Todd wanted it to look like a Porsche wheel, all black and then a red caliper to offset the flow. Then to really mess with Devin after the wheels were back at the shop and just about to go back on the bike Todd called and asked to have a red pinstripe added to the wheel’s lip.

The motor, transmission, and primary were rebuilt and put back into the frame and from there the bike started to move fast putting the sheetmetal and fairing back on the bike. However, the inner fairing had to get painted so the audio was upgraded at that time. The H-D head unit stayed in place but the speakers were swapped out for a set of Hawg Wired ZX Series 6.5-inch speakers along with a PSC1502 150 watt amp for an in your face sound. The final touches were things like an Exotic SX velocity stack, Arlen Ness saddlebag latches, and a new seat from Saddlemen.

Devin said this was a lot more work then he had ever thought it would have been but once he got started on the challenge to do this he was thinking how easy it would be to get carried away with black paint but really loved the look of the bike once it was done. It also gave a lot of ideas to many of his customers that saw the bike, so it was good for business. Then the day Todd saw the bike, all he kept saying was, “Redrum, Redrum” and that is what he named the murdered out bagger, Redrum.

After getting the bike home and showing his wife what he had done to his bike, she started to want a bike for herself but hers would have to get everything chromed out. We can’t wait to see that bike. B

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Spec Sheet