"That bike was done"

When I talk with older men about the bikes in their past they will often refer to a fondly held memory of a "done" bike. This term is tossed around often when you spend time with bikers and usually refers to a state of completion of the motorcycle. Usually, it describes their personal opinion of the features and look of the bike they so desired. For example, my uncle often talks about an old 1974 Super Glide that he had converted into a Wide Glide with Candy Root Beer paint. He often describes this bike as done.

That isn't the only time he's spoken like that though. Indeed, it seems every time he owns a bike he will spend hours and thousands of dollars to bring the bike to "done" status and then sell it. I think I'm beginning to understand. Once a bike is finished, what more is there to do? 

The issue is that the term done is very subjective. For some it may mean the motor has been completely redone, both top and bottom end, along with custom exhaust to allow for maximum performance. These men tend to be the equivalent of an audiophile, or someone who is more concerned with how things perform than how they look. The looks aren't as important if the sound is not perfect. 

Not a looker but the most powerful bike I have ever ridden.

I believe my father fit somewhere in this category. It at least would explain why he had so many extra parts lying around. His daily rider, a black Knucklehead bike he assembled in the '70s was an example of this. The look of the bike was bare. He included only the minimum to run the bike, mainly because it was his canvas. He worked from a pallet of  different cylinder, exhaust, valve and cam combinations in order to find the best performance. This, and even the purple 1946 Knucklehead would never be considered "done" from a aesthetic standpoint but the performance was unmatched! 

It seems as the older the person riding the bike, the less they care about looks and the more concerned they are with absolute mechanical synchrony. It is an art form of itself that truly demands respect and reverence. I can appreciate performance and mechanical tinkering but I also believe that if it is not broke, I should not attempt to fix it. 

There are those who spend hours upon hours customizing each small detail, smoothing all the trim and loading up the bike with aftermarket chrome and doodads. This camp of hyper-obsessive people, overly concerned with the look of the bike seems to have been born out of the cruiser customizing that occurred in the '60s and '70s with Harley Davidson.

This practice still exists today but seems to have been taken to an extreme. Custom choppers are mainstream. Tricking out bikes with spinning rims is not uncommon and people are adding ground effect lighting. I have seen some customized bikes sell for as much as $60,000! All of these different customizing options tend to take away from the actual ride. 

This camp is less obsessed with performance and comfort. It is not difficult to see some of these customized, highly stylized motorcycles and choppers and wonder how anyone rides them. I suppose that is the point though. These bikes aren't meant to be ridden, they are meant to be looked at and admired. 

I've never seen the practicality in something that can't be used. 

I think that even though my uncle is a fan of a bike being "done" he would still fall into the camp that I do; the balance camp. Indeed, my uncle takes performance, looks and practicality seriously. He is concerned with having a strong running, good mechanical order bike, that looks well styled and is comfortable to ride. I agree. 

He insists his bike isn't done. I disagree. 

Most of the modifications I have made to my bike are purely cosmetic. Truth be told my end goal is to make this bike look as close to my father's 1960 FLH as possible (my bike's model is FLHPI - "P" for police and "I" for fuel injected). I have refrained from mechanical modifications in order to prevent any issues that could be caused by messing with them. Essentially I don't want to start looking for trouble.

Always the goal.

So what else do I modify? Well, two of the last planned changes are adding a sound system (more on that this week) and changing out the gas caps. In addition I need to replace some fuel line and the kickstand spring.

All the money I will waste this month. The Boom! Sound system.

In the future I know the head gasket needs to be replaced. Although not as critical as the one on cars it is clear that it will need to be dealt with in the near future. I would also like to add True Dual exhaust system to the bike but that is something that will need to wait.

Finding black gas caps was time consuming and expensive. I hope it's worth it!

Cosmetically, the bike is where I want it to be. Now it is time to strike balance and invest in some of the more mechanical aspects to ensure this bike will run well into the future.