THE #1 CUSTOM MOTORCYCLE MAGAZINE IN THE WORLD
HOTBIKE.COM OCTOBER 2017
EXCLUSIVE FIRST RIDE
INDIAN’S SCOUT
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ROLLER
SOFTAILS HARLEY’S FOR 2018 BIKES AT A GLANCE
WORDS: JEFF G. HOLT PHOTOS: HARLEY-DAVIDSON
ALL-NEW T
A NEW ENGINE IN AN ALL-NEW CHASSIS o celebrate its 115th anniversary year, Harley-Davidson has launched eight allnew Softail models. The new bikes feature a stiffer and significantly lighter frame built for the torque of the new dual-counterbalanced Milwaukee-Eight 107 and 114 engines. The bikes also come with a high-performance front suspension and an adjustable hidden rear monoshock, replacing the aged and untunable pull shocks of past Softails. These upgraded 2018 Softail models are 65-percent stiffer, substantially lighter, and from what the MoCo says, they’re better handling than any of this model’s predecessors. We will be road testing all of these new Softails real soon and will let you know our thoughts on them. So stay tuned! HB
FAT BOY
HERITAGE CLASSIC
FAT BOB
STREET BOB
LOW RIDER
SOFTAIL SLIM
DELUXE
BREAKOUT
For more info, visit harley-davidson.com
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LE T YOUR B IKE D O T H E TA L K I N G . Every ride has its own story. With Rinehart Racing pipes providing the soundtrack, you can be sure it’ll be a story worth hearing. It’s a sound unlike any other, born in the racing pits, bred for the open road, and 100% American. Sound travels. Where will it take you? Rinehartracing.com
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Pictured Product: Dyna Street Bob with Rinehart Racing Kickbacks in Chrome with Black End Caps Part number: 300-0204 Any add-on or modified emissions-related parts contained in this advertisement that are subject to anti-tampering laws have not been evaluated and exempted by the California Air Resources Board. As a manufacturer, Rinehart Racing makes no representation or warranty with respect to whether the emissions-related parts in this advertisement are legal for sale, installation or use in any state unless the part is installed in a vehicle used only for closed-course competition. This disclaimer shall apply in the State of California or other states where anti-tampering laws regulate modifications that affect emissions for motor vehicles. Rinehart Racing expressly prohibits the use of any Rinehart Racing product that violates or is used in such a way to violate the laws of the State of California as shall be administered and enforced by the California Air Resources Board. For further information relating to the use of emissions-related parts or components on pollution-controlled motorcycles, visit the California Air Resource Board’s web page at http://www.arb.ca.gov.
FOREFRONT
THE FAT LADYg n a S
SPEED-KING CYCLE’S NEVER-ENDING CUSTOM DYNA 24 / HOTBIKE.COM
WORDS: STEVE EDGAR PHOTOS:WORDS: RYAN LOUGHRIDGE CABANA DAN PHOTOS: COLLEEN LAKE
T
his bike came to me a few years ago pretty much stock with the typical sweet, old-man modifications like a windshield, clamp-on aux lights, etc. It was the perfect candidate for building a solid runner. It turns out this story is one of those classic ones that just when you thought your bike was done, it’s not! I had this bike set up how I wanted it when my friend Otto called me to discuss working with Gigacycle as their West Coast dealer. I accepted his offer; it worked out with a new Corsair D front end en route to me for install and R&D. This one thing completely changed everything! All the parts that had gone into making my bike what it was at this point no longer looked correct to me. It was time to step my game up. I decided to put together a budget-build bike that is affordable to the common working man and built almost entirely from the catalog on our website speed-kingscycle.com.
OCTOBER 2017 / 25
ICONIC
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WORDS: JOHN ZAMORA PHOTOS: PETER LINNEY
PROPER CHOPPER HOG KILLERS’ CLEAN AND CORRECT PANHEAD
B
ike builders are a special breed. Whether it’s the backwoods of a remote town buried deep in middle America or all the way from a foreign country like Japan, each builder has its own unique style and way of building custom bikes. Originally from Fukuoka, Japan, Aki has had a passion specifically for Harley-Davidson motorcycles since he was a young man. His desire to work on motorcycles brought him to the US in 1995. Hog Killers was opened in January of 2009 after years of apprenticeship and
working under the direction of Jesse James. Today Aki is one of the staples of the custom chopper scene, and his work is easily recognizable and well respected. This 1961 Harley-Davidson FLH is the perfect example of one of his clean and correct custom builds. When asked why he built this bike like he did, Aki responded, “I was shooting for a simple and clean chopper. This is my favorite setup: jockey shift and suicide clutch with no front brake.”
OCTOBER 2017 / 43
BOBBIN’ WEAVIN’ AND
2018 INDIAN SCOUT BOBBER EXCLUSIVE FIRST TEST RIDE
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WORDS: JEFF G. HOLT PHOTOS: JEFF G. HOLT AND TIM SUTTON
A
s you know we at Hot Bike are not really into the box-stock bike test and review game, but when Indian approached me for an exclusive first ride test for the magazine I thought to myself, “What could it hurt?” Even though it was water-cooled and didn’t really have any sort of classic lines of the Scouts of old, I didn’t hate the previous model first released in 2015. But I did have my fair share of issues with it. See, I am not your typical magazine editor when it comes to dealing with testing and reviewing factory-fresh motorcycles. When I first look at any stock bike I really can’t help to pick it apart with my eyes and fight the urge to start pulling, hacking, and cutting most of the OEM parts off it until I get something that can be customized to its full potential. Once I throw a leg over the same box-stock machine I immediately start critiquing the ergonomics and cursing the engineers and designers for doing whatever they did to irk me. And that is usually a lot of things. Then I kick the bike into first gear and really let the games begin. And so begins my test of the 2018 Indian Scout Bobber… The Scout Bobber is powered by a 69ci (1,133cc) liquid-cooled fuel-injected V-twin and delivers 100 hp and 72 pound-feet at 6,000 rpm. The Scout Bobber breathes
in with a healthy 60mm throttle body and exits those spent gasses easily thanks to a blacked-out and louvered dual exhaust, which also has a built-in crossover to even everything out. I can say that this motor is very lively in its stock form, and after three years of looking at it in the other Scout, its looks have really grown on me. The bike rolls on a set of blacked-out aluminum “mag” 16 x 3.5 wheels wrapped in vintage-style knobby 130/9016 73H front and 150/80-16 71H rear tires. For those of you wanting a more classic look, there is a spoked-wheel upgrade available through Indian’s parts and accessories line available through its ever-growing dealership network. Braking is done by a single 298mm rotor with a twopiston caliper up front and a single-piston caliper with the same size rotor in the rear. There is also an ABS option for $1,000 more. Suspension is handled by a 4.7-inch (120mm) travel cartridge-type telescopic front fork and a set of dual 2-inch travel progressively wound coil-over shocks out back. The low-slung shocks faired pretty well over the famously rough Los Angeles freeways. Even on the infamous pothole-ridden 710 Long Beach freeway and expansions of the Vincent Thomas Bridge the combination of puffy tires and factory-tuned suspension did far better than I imagined. OCTOBER 2017 / 55