Photo: Kodlin
I have to admit, going through scores of customized Harley-Davidson motorcycles is a delight. Not only am I treated to incredible base machines, but I get to see them in the most diverse and imaginative forms, dreamed up in garages across the world. Yet nothing compares with a custom Harley built from the ground up.
If you were looking for such a thing to delight your senses this Sunday, look no further than this Kodlin FXR-K build, a complete engineering product that overall has little to do with a bike some people consider to be one of the best Harleys ever made.
The FXR was born in the Milwaukee stables in the early 1980s as the Super Glide II and the FXRS. The moniker quickly expanded to encompass a number of other models, before giving way to the Dyna about a decade later. During their time, FXRs became famous thanks to a blend between a Sportster front end and a chassis of a big twin.
The one you're looking at now is called FXR-K, and it is a project built "from the ground up" by German shop's Kodlin Motorcycles American branch. It came about back in 2019 as a "monster with high-performance components."
At the core of the bike sits not a Harley engine, but an S&S one. It's 124ci in displacement, thus huge by any standards. We're not given the engine's specs in this application, but as it leaves the S&S assembly lines it is a perfect fit for carbureted Harley big twins made between 1984 and 1999.
The engine breathes through a custom 2-in-1 exhaust, sits in a usual FXR frame, and is controlled by means of a Baker 6-speed transmission. The powerplant spins Performance Machine wheels painted black. The one at the rear is supported by a Kodlin-made swingarm, with Ohlins shocks providing extra movement up and down.
Up on the frame sits a custom-made fuel tank that really ties the design together in a flowing way. The rear fender, pointy and high, sticks out as perhaps the most dramatic element of the build. At the opposite end, Avon grips are accompanied by Beringer controls and motogadget instrumentation.
The paint job is as unique as the bike itself, a dirty kind of white (or gray, depending on how light falls on it) that shines in a powerful way thanks to blue accents carefully placed here and there.
The four years that have passed since the Kodlin FXR-K was first shown means the world has lost track of it and its current whereabouts are not known. So is the total cost of the build, but for reference I'll tell you the powerful S&S engine alone is worth almost $9,000 as it leaves the supplier's lot.
The FXR was born in the Milwaukee stables in the early 1980s as the Super Glide II and the FXRS. The moniker quickly expanded to encompass a number of other models, before giving way to the Dyna about a decade later. During their time, FXRs became famous thanks to a blend between a Sportster front end and a chassis of a big twin.
The one you're looking at now is called FXR-K, and it is a project built "from the ground up" by German shop's Kodlin Motorcycles American branch. It came about back in 2019 as a "monster with high-performance components."
At the core of the bike sits not a Harley engine, but an S&S one. It's 124ci in displacement, thus huge by any standards. We're not given the engine's specs in this application, but as it leaves the S&S assembly lines it is a perfect fit for carbureted Harley big twins made between 1984 and 1999.
The engine breathes through a custom 2-in-1 exhaust, sits in a usual FXR frame, and is controlled by means of a Baker 6-speed transmission. The powerplant spins Performance Machine wheels painted black. The one at the rear is supported by a Kodlin-made swingarm, with Ohlins shocks providing extra movement up and down.
Up on the frame sits a custom-made fuel tank that really ties the design together in a flowing way. The rear fender, pointy and high, sticks out as perhaps the most dramatic element of the build. At the opposite end, Avon grips are accompanied by Beringer controls and motogadget instrumentation.
The paint job is as unique as the bike itself, a dirty kind of white (or gray, depending on how light falls on it) that shines in a powerful way thanks to blue accents carefully placed here and there.
The four years that have passed since the Kodlin FXR-K was first shown means the world has lost track of it and its current whereabouts are not known. So is the total cost of the build, but for reference I'll tell you the powerful S&S engine alone is worth almost $9,000 as it leaves the supplier's lot.
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