reg Blackwell is just a regular Drag Specialties customer. Okay, not exactly a regular customer. Greg is the VP of Sales for Lemans Corp., Drag’s parent company, but to clean up and personalize his latest bike, an ‘06 Street Glide, he took the same approach any one of us could duplicate. Easily and inexpensively. He looked at his new bike, looked at the FatBook, then brought the two together to build a Harley on a budget, making his bike way better than stock any way you measure it.
     Greg had been riding around on an FXR Low Rider for the last few years and was ready for a change. He wanted saddlebags and a little wind protection for long distance riding. Playing around with the idea of working over a Road Glide, Greg took one look at that sweet ‘06 Street Glide package and realized that 50% of the work he’d planned was already done. He tracked one down, bought it, and a good friend, Tim Pfisterer, volunteered to go up to Minneapolis and pick the bike up.
     “The idea,” Greg says, “was to build a bike that could be ridden a lot. I wanted ground clearance, I wanted to be able to put on lots of trouble-free miles, I wanted it to run great and I wanted it to look great. Above all, though, I wanted function.” Tim Pfisterer, the guy who picked up the bike in the first place, headed up the mostly bolt-on conversion to accomplish all that. Naturally all the parts came straight from Drag Specialties. There were some new items in the FatBook that Greg knew he wanted to use, too, like the Russ Wernimont stretched gas tank, but first things first. Greg and Tim turned their attention to the engine. To up the fun factor they installed a 95-inch big bore kit, a set of S&S gear-drive cams and a Mikuni HSR 42mm carburetor. Tim took the opportunity to clean up the ports while he had things apart. “I was after a motor with grunt,” says Greg, “but it had to be an engine that would run all day long.” This one does. In less than a year’s time Greg has put 9,000 miles on, including more than a few 900 mile days.


Harley saddlebags cleaned up nicely with Drag Specialties latch inserts. Greg neatened up the inside of the fairing with matching blue paint.

The windscreen is Memphis Shades’ 9-in. model. A direct replacement, the gradient-tint blue accents and complements the OE fairing.

A slightly modified Drag Specialties Low Profile seat blends into the extended Wernimont tank. It’s already proven itself comfortable on 900-mile days. Completing the custom tank, Greg went with a Drag Specialties Pop Up Gas Cap. Those are Kuryakyn Pilot Grips on the controls.

     To brighten things up cosmetically Greg went through the FatBook checking off all the things he liked, beginning with Performance Machine wheels. For the brakes he reached back into his racing past and went with Brembo. And the Vance & Hines exhaust was a pretty easy decision, too. “The idea to put a 21-inch tire up front came the very first time I saw that new Metzeler,” says Greg. “I thought it was beautiful even before I saw it mounted on a wheel.” Putting it on this Street Glide, of course, meant changing the front fender, and once again Greg turned to the Russ Wernimont pages. The modified Rambler fender nicely shows off the wheel and still looks bagger correct.      Tim fit it on perfectly. And speaking of fit, the Drag Specialties low-profile seat, it’s nose subtly modified and re-contoured to match the tail of the new Wernimont stretched tank, makes for another clean combo. That new front fender and gas tank went out to Gunslinger Custom Paint in Golden, Colorado, where the base color was matched to the bike’s OE Harley Cobalt Blue then accented with Marble Silver and Black graphics. Greg painted the fork legs and the inside of the fairing, too, and those painted forks really set off the wheel. And that’s it. Basically, that’s all the big changes made…so far. Combine that with the handful of other bolt-ons Greg chose and the sum would have you thinking otherwise, though. This is one beautiful custom with minimal effort and minimal expense.
     And it’s all something the average guy can do. We’re talking simple wrench work here, changing the gas tank and the front fender, the wheels and tires, bolting on a handful of accessories and then sending only a few parts out for custom paint. Greg and Tim started work on this Street Glide in December and had it finished by March, a quick and easy winter project. “And I’m not done yet,” says Greg. “I still want to do something with the rear suspension, and I definitely want to change the taillight and the directionals.” No question where those parts will come from, either. The FatBook has it all.


Vance & Hines Dresser Duals with Oval Mufflers and an Arlen Ness Big Sucker Kit with an 8-in. Grooved Cover dominate the look on this side.

That’s a 120/70-21 Metzeler ME88 leading the way, a big change for the Street Glide. A matching 160/60-18 went on the rear.

Greg’s not done with this custom build just yet. A new taillight and maybe rear fender are slated to join the Pro One license mount.

New wheels came from Performance Machine–Villain models with matching rotors. Painted fork legs add a custom touch with minimal effort and expense.	A pair of Cobra Swept Driver Floorboards look a lot cleaner than OE. They’re mounted with Drag Specialties hardware. The Cobra Floorboard on the left side is just as neat. Greg kept the stock shifter–for now. This custom is still in the works.
A Mikuni HSR42 mounts behind that Ness cover, fueling a 95-inch motor. The throttle response, Greg says, is “unbelievable.”	The Wernimont Rambler fender went on quick with Chopper Guys Front Fender Adapters, all from the FatBook.
A pair of Brembo calipers put the squeeze on PM rotors. The calipers are the 4-piston models.	It doesn’t come much better than this. Vance & Hines Dresser Duals hug the engine case and saddlebag, fitting to a “T.”