Harley-Davidson Old Copper Boy Has the Rear of a Youngster and the Face of an Oldtimer

It’s on the said marketplace where you can find motorcycles the likes of which Harley is no longer officially making. Like say the Slim S, one of the many Softail bikes that came and went apparently way too fast for everyone to enjoy.

There are plenty Slims to choose from there, depending on what region you’re in, but because of the nature of the Harley marketplace, many of them come in stock form. If you’re looking for custom versions of the bikes, you should look elsewhere – and we recommend the many custom garages over in Europe.

One of them, called Bundnerbike and based in Switzerland, has been making a living out of converting Softails for years now, and the Slim S is often on the menu. For today, we chose something called the Old Copper Boy as an alternative to the stock, marketplace models.

The general design ideas are all in the name, really. The Slim was modified to become a bobber, that type of custom build that’s been around for almost 100 years now. Like all others of its kind, it lacks any unnecessary adornments that could weigh it down, all of them sacrificed on the altar of a lighter body.

There’s not a lot that we know about the Old Copper Boy as far as modifications made, because Bundnerbike is not willing to share. We do have eyes, though, and we can clearly tell where changes are most prominent.

We’ll start at the front, where the rather bulky face of the bike has been replaced by a much more toned-down variant. The fender is completely gone, leaving the fat rubber fully exposed to the elements. Just like in the back, the rubber wraps around a spoked wheel draped in copper, and it is supported by a springer fork that holds a tiny headlight covered by a copper casing.

The frame has been stretched a bit to accommodate a completely different-from-stock rear end, holding a wheel so slim it has you wondering if there isn’t something wrong with this build. A very thin seat is featured up on the frame, to hold the bottom of the ride, while their feet rest on curved running boards.

As far as we can tell, the Slim S’ engine is still the stock one, only it now breathes through a Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust system with dual pipes, both of them angling upward in an unnatural fashion.

The cost of the Harley-Davidson Old Copper Boy is not known, but you can bet it’s a lot more than the $15,000 - $20,000 sellers are usually charging on Harley’s official marketplace.