Here is the pre-pimped Ultra patiently waiting outside the Kryakyn tent.
2007 H-D Ultra Glide
You have heard this scenario before. A guy steals his friend's ride, gets it tricked out and then returns it to him with much splendor and fanfare. We helped a son do just that for his father during this year's California Bike Week.
The players were our pal Brandon, his unsuspecting father and Marc Wolfram from Kryakyn. The plan was to get Dad's 2007 Ultra Glide away from him while he was at work and get it back into the garage before he knew it was actually gone. Easy, you say? No. We had over 50 parts going on this bike with only about eight hours to get the pimpin' done.
Harley-Davidson does a great job of making the Ultra Glide indeed ultra; the basic black bike just needed to be dripped in more chrome to set it apart from the rest, and since Brandon's dad not a young pup anymore, the pimping focused on comfort, chrome and safety. New foot controls for rider and passenger were a must. The Kryakyn offerings were longer, wider and more versatile than the stock stuff. Not to mention the adjustability of their footboards for riders in all shapes and sizes is second to none.
To make sure that this bike would be seen both day and night, HID and LED lights were employed. Using Kryakyn's Panacea multifunction LED lights with three-pulse flashing option out back definitely gets those tailgating SUV drivers' attention. We also opted for smoked lenses all around to get rid of the red and yellow Christmas-tree look. The 7-inch Xsighting Lighting HID conversion is a very simple one. The crisp white light it produces will rival any HID headlights from Mercedes and is easily three times brighter than the stock headlight. Look for the complete tech feature of this light in an upcoming issue.
Up top we replaced the grips with some good-looking yet comfy ISO-Grips. We also swapped the OE aluminum levers with chrome trigger units. The one item that really did a great job of cleaning up the front of the bike was a set of windshield-mounted mirrors. Although a simple item, they really help to reduce clutter in the bar/fairing area. To further complete the look of the bike, a 6-inch Slip Streamer windshield in dark smoke was bolted on in place of the rather large stock unit.
We also concentrated on heat displacement, both from the local desert air as well as the Twin Cam motor. In doing so, we replaced the stock fairing deflectors with a set of Dragon Wing variable wind deflectors. These gems offer a spring-loaded mechanism to adjust airflow where you want it. After that, we decided on a set of Kryakyn's Saddle Shields. These unobtrusive polycarbonate wing deflectors are perfectly positioned to dissipate the heat that seems to build up around the powerplant.
From there, we finally got down to the business of chroming out the engine. Various covers and replacement parts were used to do the job. Brandon was a bit skeptical of having covers bolted on the motor but was assured that once the covers were on, he would be hardpressed to find one that didn't look like it was on there from the factory. Once again the guys from Kryakyn were right, and if you didn't see the items being bolted on, you would think someone spent thousands at the chrome shop.
To pimp the Glide even more, we installed a set of Chameleon LED accent lights to further play up all the chrome that was added to the engine. With this kit, we had the choice of using seven colors by themselves or all at once, either in unison or continually fading into and out of each other. We opted for the constant setting in the color choice of Ice Blue, which set off the chrome nicely without looking like the circus came to town.
As the sun set in Pomona, California, the bike was finished well before Pops got home, mostly due to Kryakyn's quality fit and finish. Upon unveiling the bike, a father and son had a monumental moment in time, but for us it was a just another day of watching the clock and sweating bullets. Pimpin' ain't easy, but in this case, it was necessary.
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(1.)Kuryakyn tech Ron gets ready for the next eight hours of big pimpin'.
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(2.)The master list of parts took up more than two sheets of order forms.
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(3.)The length and shape of the Kryakyn brake pedal is just enough to make a positive diff
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(4.)The ISO floorboards' larger size seems to make them much better for long rides with bi
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(5.)Ron is shown installing and fitting the ISO boards onto the stock H-D mounting hardwar
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(6.)In go the chrome inner primary engine and cylinder base engine covers to add a bit of
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(7.)Opting to go with Kryakyn's Cruise Arm over the stock rocker setup means more room to
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(8.)Further pimping of the Glide shows Ron installing the replacement V-Shield horn cover.
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(9.)This photo shows the "before" shot of the engine without the chrome covers. Kinda bori