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| 2013 Road Glide Custom, aka War Wagon |
A new 2013 Road Glide Custom, some friends, eight days to
burn, the Sturgis Rally, and a little Rocky Mountain detour, what’s not to
love? Not much, I can tell you that. For those of you that have been keeping up
on current events here at the Asylum, you know that my beloved Paint Shaker
(aka 2006 FLHRCI, Road King Classic) and sick CVO Springer (2007 FLXTSSE) are
no more, traded in to make way for a shiny, well not so much, as it’s black
denim, new 2013 Road Glide Custom. Always wanted one of the shark nosed beasts,
and given that the Motor Company had deemed it time to put the vaunted Glide on
ice for a couple of years, I figured now was as good a time to score one.
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| Blacker than a Banker's Heart |
The War Wagon is fairly trick; complete black-out treatment,
Progressive Suspension front and rear (Monotube fork springs and 944’s out
back), Klockwerks windscreen, Agitator wheels in black ice, braided brake
lines, fully floating rotors up front, HD’s “DayMaker” LED lights with Custom
Dynamics LED running/brake/turn lights, Vance and Hines True Dual headers with
four inch round mufflers out back, and Screamin’ Eagle air cleaner and tuner. Le
Pera seat is coming, and we’ll wait until the warranty is done before we start
really working over the stock 103. All in all, it’s a pretty tidy rig.
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| Lunch at Orlando's in Taos, yummy! |
Our shakedown cruise began in the steaming cauldron of the
Fort Worth Metroplex, when you think Texas in the summertime, think oven on
self-clean mode and you get the idea. The sooner we could get to the high
desert of New Mexico, the better. The three of us, Dan (my boss), Joaquin
(e-com guru) and myself droned along the interstate just as quickly as John Law
would allow. Staying overnight in Amarillo, we got a late start from work, have
to pay the bills, right? Our goal at the end of the second day was Durango
Colorado where we would meet up with renown bike builder/designer Jesse Rooke
and a couple of his buddies. From there it was on through the Rockies for some
great two lane tango.
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| The Wolfpack on the Great Divide |
I’ve gotta say the Glide is such the better bike than the
old Paint Shaker, and it really pains me to admit it, but truth is truth.
Obviously being a post ’09 FLH model, it benefits greatly from the new frame
and swing arm. For the most part the hinge in the middle of the frame is gone.
Sure at really high speeds in long sweepers, if you hit a bump you’ll
experience a little shimmy-shake, but nothing too dramatic. And if you have the
good sense to install Progressive bits on both ends, you’ll be amazed at how
well the beast will handle. The brakes are outstanding, to the degree that I
doubt I’ll throw on aftermarket calipers, they are that strong. I gotta say I
love the frame mounted fairing, not just for the sinister profile, but the wind
protection is outstanding, as is the stability. Having grown up riding
sportbikes, I prefer the frame affixed units to anything mounted on handlebars.
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| Hank and Doug on the Open Road |
From Durango to Sturgis was a blur, Jesse and Doug set a
blistering pace over one mountain pass to another, whether it a goat trail or a four lane road, we were
hauling the mail. And trust me, the weather never cooperated with our “optimistic”
route schedule. But that’s the adventure of the open road, right?
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| DI5H Crew Sonny, Z, HD, and Flash (starting third from left) |
One turn it’s
a herd of mountain goats, the next it’s
a black and white, or maybe Jesse’s Street Glide saying, I’m not gonna start at
during a thunderstorm at over 12,000 feet. Its always something, and that’s
what’s so great. Over Loveland Pass, through Trail Ridge Park and the wilds of
Wyoming our little wolfpack was never passed by a single vehicle of any type;
car, truck, motorcycle…..nothing. That includes sportbikes of every stripe. We
were making some pace, and having a blast.
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| The Biker's Choice Big Rig on Lasalle |
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| Rockstar Girls Rocking in Sturgis |
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| Jesse Rooke hams it up in Deadwood |
Once in Sturgis, it was the usual scene; Main St., Black
Hills HD, the drags, flat track, Deadwood. We took it all in, while dodging
(mostly unsuccessfully) some of the worst weather I’ve ever ridden in. As a
matter of fact, it rained some part of the day for six of the eight days we
were on the road……that’s a lot for this Cali transplant!! But as they say,
there’s no bad weather, only bad gear. I’m not sure I fully buy into that, but
my Firstgear rain gear did keep me dry, and the Road Glide was steady as a
stone as we punched through some pretty gnarly precep.
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| Rooke's Super Sick Street Glide, Fast! |
For three days we met with industry folks, looked at bikes,
ate food, lots of food, and were more or less chill. We didn’t do a lot of
local riding, but we did cut through Rushmore (how appropriate given the new
2014 HD’s huh?) and Custer Park on our way back to Tejas. Given time
constraints we pretty much took a straight shot south, two lane when we could,
interstate the rest of the way. And oh, yes, the rain continued to the last
day, with the worst of it as a matter of fact in Kansas. By that time we were
all done with the wet stuff.
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| Why We Ride |
All in all, I’ve got to say I’m loving me the War Wagon, it’s
smooth, reasonably quick (we’ll work on that later) and stops better than any
Harley I’ve ever owned. But I have to say, without a doubt, it’s the badass stance
of the machine that puts it over the top. It’s got class and style in spades……..ace
of spades, as in blacker than a bankers heart. This is the start of something
good…….
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| Vince and Paul Sturgis Bound |
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