07 Screamin' Eagle Hot Rod Softail Springer

It started, as most addictions and annoying habits do, when I was a kid. But my demon wasn't drugs, or alcohol, or even girls (mostly because all the girls I knew for some reason steadfastly refused to become my enablers....go figure). My "crack" were hot rods.........deuce coupes, bucket t's, fuelies, lowriders, dragsters, funny cars........you name it, and I lusted for it. Seems like every waking hour I wasn't held hostage in some beige box with an asbestos lid posing as a "classroom", was spent pouring over the tattered pages of any hot rod magazine I could get my slimy mitts on........Car Craft, Custom Cars, and Hot Rod just to name a few. I was hooked.............for life.

Even my first car, while not a "real" hot rod, wasn't exactly a plain Jane grocery getter either, not for this Big Daddy wannabe, no sir. A medium green 1969 Ford Mustang Mach One was to be my high school chariot........60 series tires, American Racing wheels, Hooker headers, oh yeah. But still the hot rod lust burned deep.......I wanted the real deal, maybe a '32 High Boy, or a dropped and chopped '51 Merc. Alas, not to be......if for no other reason than college, career, family, and the unavoidable fact that I possess no discernible mechanical skills. If I was ever gonna have a hot rod, someone was going to have to build it for me.

Fast forward a whole bunch of years and thank God for Harley-Davidson. You see they have this little in-house custom thing going on, it's called CVO, or "Custom Vehicle Operations", and they hand build the Screamin' Eagle model bikes one at a time. No really, the whole CVO "department" consists of a couple of craftsmen and a rolling cart thingy.........those two guys actually build your bike, no assembly line here. I've seen it for myself at both the York PA plant and Kansas City. Very cool stuff. I had found the guys to build my hot rod.

Well, they didn't know they were building one for me, that just sorta happened, as they say, by accident. I few years back as I trolled the showroom at McGuire Harley-Davidson (http://www.mcguire-hd.com/) during an open house event, I spied what I still think to this day was the meanest, baddest, lowdown, kickass factory build rig I've ever come across......a '07 CVO Screamin' Eagle Softail Springer. It was sick, fat 200mm rear tire out back, and totally trick old school springer forks up front. It was 30 days in county and a suspended license with the motor cold. I had to have it.

Only two problems. One, I already had a Softail Custom on order, with a factory paint set no less. Two, they only make about 2,300 or so of each model (in mass production terms, that's really limited edition), even less when you consider the three color schemes to choose from. And the one on the floor? It was spoken for. Damn. Or maybe not. A hurried pow-wow with Mike and Steve, and problem one, and two were history. They'd simply take the Softail Custom when it came in and put it on the floor, no worries. And a quick check of the computer showed that another CVO Springer was due in December......and that bad boy was gonna be mine. A hot rod at last.

My '07 CVO Springer (FXSTSSE for you purists) was the first in a series that lasted for three model years, and is by far the best of the bunch, and not just because I have one.......in '08 HD killed the the 21 inch narrow front tire; in favor of a wider, smaller diameter setup to improve handling. Really!? It's an f'n Springer, it will never "handle", it has the performance characteristics of a Conestoga wagon. As it should be. The team knew what they were doing when they penned it with a 21.......shame on you Motor Company. But it gets worse, in '09 they mucked with the profile of the rear fender.....no more "flip", looked truly awful. It had all the charm of an OCC chopper.......

So what's so special about these CVO machines, other than limited edition bragging rights, and a fat price tag? Lots actually. Aside from being literally hand assembled, which when you think about it, is about as cool as it gets, you get the largest displacement motor that Harley offers.......110 cubic inches of fun and felonies. Let me tell you, there's some serious grunt in these lumps. In addition to the big motor, there's chrome upon chrome, upon chrome........over the top? Maybe. But to be honest, each models accessories "theme" is so well thought out, and integrated so seamlessly that they manage to pull it off. From the mirrors to the footpegs, wheels to handlebars, every bit and piece of a CVO bike is designed for, and assembled with, premium parts straight out of the Harley catalog........which is why it all just "works". That's not to say that yours truly wouldn't mind seeing an understated, maybe flat black, minimal chrome, "rat bike" inspired CVO roll out of York someday........dare to dream.

Speaking of paint, every CVO bike's paint set is a flippin' masterpiece, I'm not kidding. We all know that the Motor Company lays down the best stock paint work on the planet (did you know that folks that work in the paint room have to sign a document that restricts what kind of food they're able to consume, lest it be too greasy, in which case it could escape from their pores and contaminate the atmosphere of the paint room? How's that for attention to detail!), but the work put in on the CVO bikes is simply amazing. My particular rig is Abyss Blue and Blue Pearl........looks so good in the sun, it's almost better than black........almost.

If it's trick, it's going on a CVO machine.........braided lines, tachs, trick graphics, outrageous wheels, LED's, it's all there........and more. So it's perfect just the way it is right? Not quite sunshine, not quite. Remember back when we were talking about that uber cool Springer front end with the 21 inch wheel? Yeah, well the single disc, two piston brake is as weak as a Charlie Sheen alibi. Nope, this bad boy called for some work. Enter Performance Machine (http://www.performancemachine.com/), we switched out the two piston rig up front with a four piston unit, and for the sake of aesthetic consistency hung a four piston set out back as well. Stopping performance, while maybe not up to current MotoGP standards, just might keep me out of intensive care. What more can I ask?

Next we attacked the exhaust system........a little better tone, and a dash more horsepower and torque if you please. A quick call to Vance and Hines (http://www.vanceandhines.com/) and my good friend/guru Jim Leonard and a solution was on it's way in the form of a set of Big Shot Staggered pipes with the "quiet" baffles (even though they rob just a touch of horsepower, Jim was right, if you want to stay on speaking terms with the Smith's next door, get the quiet baffles.......please) and a Fuel Pak. While I'm gonna keep the dyno numbers between Jim and I, let's just say the improvement was more than noticeable......and the exhaust note......exactly as the gods of speed intended.

Rounding out my short list of mods (this is a CVO bike after all, ain't all that much "needed") were a new set of HD mirrors, just liked the shape better than the "stock" ones. an oil cooler, trick axle mounted license plate frame from Kuryakyn (http://www.kuryakyn.com/) and last, but far from least, a Le Pera custom seat (http://www.lepera.com/). I have to say, and I'd hope you'd agree, she came together nicely.

Every time I take this bike out I get smiles and thumbs up from cage drivers and riders alike. Just looking at it parked never fails to put a loopy grin on my mug. I love this bike. It may have taken a few years and a lot of miles, but I finally have my hot rod...........