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A Cool Fast One – FXR Built Before There Was SOA

Published In The March 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source

Article & Photos By: Grizzly

Feature 1a Kerri

I was asked to look out for a sweet FXR in my neck of the woods for this FXR special of Cycle Source; I didn’t have to look far. My buddy Pult just happens to own a cool, fast one. He has done a lot of work on it without changing that typical FXR silhouette.

Pult started his biking career on Jap rice rockets. He loved to go fast, liked the looks and adored the handling of those machines. One day he decided that he wanted a Harley. Why, you ask? Maybe because of the lifestyle that would come with it. He indeed became a lifestyle biker, owned several Harleys, customizing every single one of them. His last projects have involved only FXRs.

There are a lot of FXRs here in Holland, especially in the M.C. world. They’re for guys who want to go fast and ride hard. Yours truly prefers choppers. I always try to talk FXR loving friends like Pult into stretching the damn things, lowering the seat, and mounting a Frisco tank with a square tunnel, just like I have seen my American friends of the Brother Speed M.C. do. Oh man, how eager I am to start working on one and turn it into some modern version of a Frisco chop. But not them, they won’t have any of that. Most FXR owners want their bike to be just that: an FXR. Okay,changing brakes, wheels, suspension or paint, is no problem, but changing that specific FXR look? No way. In their minds it would only interfere with the handling and other characteristics they like so much, so I just gave up. In the beginning, when the FXR was introduced, I recall nobody liked them. People said it looked too damn Japanese. Even former editor, David Snow, of the American magazine Iron Horse, called the FXR frame a plumber’s nightmare! When people started riding them, that’s when many opinions began to change. My first ride on an FXR was in Portland, Oregon. We visited the Outsiders M.C., a club who still believes in traditional biker values and still encourages members to build their own choppers. Two members of that club owned an FXR on the side just for going fast in town or doing long distances quickly. My brother Gerry and I were able to borrow them for two weeks! When we left the clubhouse and raced each other at the first traffic light, I still remember the rush that it gave. Is this a Harley? We had a blast riding these bikes. As a true chopper guy, it did not convince me to buy one, but I definitely can relate. But we are doing a story on Pult’s bike, right?

Feature 1bKerri

So what did he change on it and why? Well first of all, Pult wanted a better frontend and different wheels. He found a frontend from a KTM Duke 900. He changed the springs inside, extended the forks about 1.5 inches and asked a shop to make him a set of one-off triple trees which he had anodized black. He also found a used pair of wheels from a Sportster 1200R. Pult made the rear fit by mounting a wider aluminium swingarm and by widening the frame and fender. These mods did not only improve handling, they also made it look better. It gave the FXR the race-like look it deserved. He then wanted more gas for long distance trips, so he cut the stock gas tank to pieces, stretched it and even raised it, making sure the tank still looked like it belonged on his bike. The man improved his brakes, using the ones from the KTM in the front and a PM caliper in the rear. For a better caliper, master cylinderpiston combination, he mounted ISR handles and the discs are also ISR. Pult added a fairing, long before S.O.A. was on the tube, an aluminium street fighter bar and he also made a stainless 2-into-1 exhaust system for more ground clearance and performance.

Last but not least, he had to make the bike faster. With the help of very good friends in the States, Pult ordered an S&S Superstock motor. The heads were flowed here in Holland and the gas runs through a Mikuni HSR 45 with a Forcewinder air filter. The Dutch guy bought a gearbox case from STD and installed  JIMS close ratio gears, while the shifting mechanism is from Baker. The bike was painted by Pult’s club brother Brembo in Harley Davidson racing colors, and then it was time to open up that quick throttle. Within one test ride, Pult found out the stock clutch could not handle all the new power. A high pressure clutch with counterweights, also made in Holland, solved that problem real quick.

Pult says that the FXR now handles perfectly. He has ridden numerous kilometers in his own country and all over Europe. His FXR is ultrafast and will leave many a Jap bike behind a t a traffic light. At the moment, our Dutch dude is building himself a second bike. This time it will be a chopper, but with a lot of race influences, of course!

Feature 1cKerri

Pult’s Cool Fast One Tech Sheet
Owner: Pult
City: Opmeer, Holland
Fabrication By: Pult and Friends
Year: 2010
Model: FXR
Time: Ongoing Project
ENGINE
Year: 2009
Model: S&S Evo Superstock
Builder: S&S/Pult
Ignition: Altmann
Displacement: 1596cc
Pistons: S&S
Heads: Flowed
Cam(s): S&S
Carb: Mikuni HSR 45
Air Cleaner: Forcewinder, K&N
Exhaust: Supertrapp Muffler – Pipes / Pult & Ecke
Primary: High Pressure Clutch
TRANSMISSION
Year: 2009
Make: STD, JIMS, Baker
Shifting: Close Ratio 5
FRAME
Year: ?
make: H-D /Pult
Rake: Stock
Stretch: Stock
FRONT END
Type: Upside Down KTM 900
Duke
Builder: White Power
Extension: 1.5 Inch
Triple Trees: One-Off Anodized
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Sportster 1200R
Size: 17”
Tire: Dunlop Elite
Brakes: Brembo Calipers / ISR Discs
Rear Wheel: Sportster 1200R
Size: 17”
Tire: Dunlop GT502
Brakes: PM Caliper / ISR Discs
PAINT
Painter: Brembo
Color: H-D Black and Orange
Type: Liquid
Molding: Brembo
Chroming: None – Anodized
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Streetfighter Aluminum
Risers: KTM
Hand Controls: ISR Handles/Quick Throttle
Gas Tank(s): Pult and Ecke
Front Fender: Race Bike
Rear Fender: Widened by Pult
Seat: Customs
Foot Controls: Buell Pegs
Oil Tank: Stock
Taillight: Plastic
Headlight: In Fairing
Photographer: Grizzly

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