Every motorcycle custom shop out there has a sort of signature they apply to pretty much all of their projects. Said signature may come in the form of a single bike model these guys modify exclusively, or some custom part only they use, or some kind of symbol placed on the body. In the case of the French crew Melk, the signature is the color black used extensively on many of the bikes they make.
Melk was born in 2011 not necessarily as a custom garage for Harley-Davidsons, but more like a team of “artist painters” playing with the American two-wheelers. In time, they’ve grown to perform the usual alterations, going most of the time for full custom work.
As said, most of the time Melk chooses black with various decorations for the machines made in Ecquevilly, France, but that’s not what happened with the 2014 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy we’re looking at now.
Sure, black is still featured on the ride, and quite extensively. We get to see it as Vivid Black on the entire lower part of the bike, including on the wheels, fork, headlight, various covers, and the engine itself.
The hue is however offset by an unusually bright shade of milk coffee paint, hence the name we chose for the ride. It is generously sprayed over the two custom fenders, both wearing their own decoration (with the front one made in-house by another major European shop, Thunderbike). The fuel tank, taken from a Breakout and smoother than stock, wears the same covering, and is adorned with black and red letters spelling out the Harley-Davidson name.
Photo: Melk
But the paint job, which makes the bike look particularly fresh, is not the only thing that is unique about this two-wheeler. For instance, the bike sits on an adjustable lowering kit taken from the Arlen Ness shelves, while the riding position is enhanced by Breakout risers.
The front end shows a fork dressed in Rough Crafts' lower and upper covers, and it supports a LED headlight. Further back a CVO digital speedometer is embedded above the fuel tank console, and two low-position mirrors can be seen dangling from the handlebar, right under the Performance Machine grips.
Above the 200 mm Dunlop tire fitted at the back there’s a custom mudguard fender with integrated LED lights, holding over it a saddle made in-house by Melk itself.
The engine of the Milk Coffee Fat Boy is the stock one, but it has been enhanced in the usual fashion with the fitting of new breathing apparatus, in the form of a Rough Crafts air filter at one and an exhaust that combines Arlen Ness elements with Magnaflow ones at the other.
The Harley-Davisdson “Milk Coffee” is bike number 17 in Melk’s 32-bike-strong lineup of customs. Like all the others we’ve discussed so far, this one too does not come with pricing info attached.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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