Article And Photos By: Grizzly
Originally Published In The August 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
Andreas lives on the German side of Belgium, close to the town of Aachen. He is a furniture maker by trade and has a special talent for colors and rare material combinations. This winter he used those skills to customize his Dyna as well as his wife’s, Sabine. As fanatic readers must know by now, I am a chopper guy! Normally, I don’t have too much affection for customizing stock bikes. However, in this particular case, I must confess that I am impressed. Andreas has managed to turn two stock bikes into real pieces of art. He started by buying a 2009 Dyna and has changed its appearance several times. Last year he turned it into a bike that had a lot of trendy black parts. This year he wanted to change the black into bronze to give it a more vintage look. Besides the bronze, he also wanted to have the right kind of paintjob and decided to use materials like leather and wool. “It is not that I didn’t like it with all the black parts, but today there are just too many all black bikes around. I wanted mine to be different and stick out in the crowd,” said the Belgian furniture maker. “With the black bike I was also in too much of a hurry. I wanted it to be finished for the big Faaker See event in Switzerland, and did not spend enough time making everything look perfect. This time I started earlier in the year so I could do a serious job.”
Andreas began working on the Dyna as soon as the summer ended, pulling it completely apart. He decided to buy a lot of Roland Sands’ parts, like the custom gas tank; a gas tank that was adapted to hold the injection of the Dyna and it also gives the Dyna a totally different look. Besides the tank, he ordered a shitload of other RSD parts. The valve covers and cam cover are also RSD. What else did he get from Roland? The handlebars, master cylinder top cover, gas cap and even the pegs all came from the California based company. Most of these parts were black when Andreas got them so he bead blasted everything and had it all bronze covered with a patina layer. Andreas explained, “When I got the parts back, they looked a grayish black. Sanding them with Scotch-Brite revealed the bronze, and the more sanding, the more bronze started to show.” Besides a lot of bronze and RSD parts, Andreas also wanted different wheels. To not override his budget, he decided to go with a set of Rev Tech wheels. In the front he opted for a bigger 21” wheel while choosing a wide 18 incher for the rear. The swingarm was not wide enough so Andreas had it modified by the very f a m o u s German bikebuilder, Fred Kodlin. The presence of all the bronze does give the bike a different one-off look, but the use of leather and wool makes it even more special.
Andreas said, “I found all these neat little items like the belts and bags in Mannheim at the biggest swap meet in Europe. It is all vintage army stuff.” Besides the leather, we were also talking earlier about the use of wool. Say what? Wool? Yes, wool. He told me, “I had these blankets laying around in my car which a friend had given to me: Swiss Army blankets. The Dyna was just painted, bronzed and changed to my wishes and I thought the grey wool of the blanket would make a great seat. I tried doing a seat with just the grey, but it looked like shit. Then I decided to use the parts of the blanket that had colors in it. Combined with the leather and rough stitching, I think it now looks awesome. We made a saddlebag using the same materials as well.” When Andreas’ bike was finished, Sabine told him how much she loved it and that she wanted one too. A n d r e a s says, “It came as no surprise. I knew she wanted to sell her Sporty and buy a Dyna. We already had discussed the fact that if she liked how mine turned out, she would have hers done the same. We bought a salvaged scarlet red Dyna from 2006 and took it apart. The first necessary thing to do was to not only change the looks of the bike according to Sabine’s preferences, but we also wanted her to feel safe on it. She needed to be able to have both feet on the ground and wanted a seat that would not make her slide backwards when opening the throttle. We used my Dyna as the prototype and made changes from there on hers. Sabine also did not like the bigger wheels I chose for mine so I used smaller wheels from a Sporty XR instead. We went on modifying until the bike felt right for her. “I love it now,” Sabine tells us. “It sits much better than Andreas’ bike. I also had a Sportster 883 before. When riding with a group I always had problems keeping up and the Sporty did not feel comfortable at all. This Dyna sits well, steers and brakes perfectly, and it has much more power! No more stress for me when I ride. Perfect!”
After having made the bike different for riding purposes, it was now time for the cosmetic changes. Sabine wanted hers to be the same, but different. She told Andreas what she did not like on his bike and what she would love to have instead. For Andreas, customizing bikes is like the ultimate way of relaxation during wintertime. He had plenty of time to finish both of the builds before the so much beloved Faaker See event started, and they both look da bomb!
Double Dynas Tech Sheet
Owner: Andreas – Sabine
City: Belgium
Fabrication By: Kodlin and Andreas
Year: 2009 – 2006
Model: Dyna
ENGINE
Year: 2009 – 2006
Model: Twin Cam
Builder: Andreas
Ignition: Stock
Displacement: 1450cc
Pistons: Stock
Heads: Stock
Cam(s): Stock
Carb: Injection
Air Cleaner: RSD – Kodlin
Exhaust: Vnace and Hines
Primary: Stock
TRANSMISSION
Year: 2009 – 2006
Make: H-D
Shifting: Foot
FRAME
Year: 2009 – 2006
Make: H-D
Rake: Stock
Stretch: Stock
FRONT END
Type: Dyna 48mm
Builder: Harley
Extension: Shortened
Triple Trees: H-D
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Revtech – Sportster XR
Size: 21” – 18”
Tire: Metzeler Marathon
Brakes: Revtech – 2 PM Calipers
Rear Wheel: Revtech – Sportster XR
Size: 18” – 17”
Tire: Metzeler
Brakes: PM – Revtech
PAINT
Painter: Andreas
Color:
Pinstriping: Sinnwell Design
Molding:
Chroming:
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Biltwell
hand controls: RSD – One-Offs
Gas Tank(s): RSD – Stock
Front Fender: Speedholes RSD – Speedholes One-Off
Rear Fender: Kodlin
Seat: Andreas
Foot Controls: RSD & HD
Oil Tank: HD
Headlight: HD -Pimped by Andreas
Taillight: Hells’ Kitchen Choppers
Photographer: Grizzly