Article by Chris Callen
Photos by Heather Callen
From Issue 319 Of Cycle Source Magazine. See The Entire Digital Issue HERE Or Subscribe HERE Today And Get A Real Magazine In Your Grubby Little Hands Each Month!
Some motorcycles stick around because they’re reliable. Others stick around because they mean something. Brian Korelec’s 1992 Harley-Davidson FXLR has survived more than thirty years for the second reason.
Brian bought the bike brand new in November of 1991 at South East Harley in Cleveland, Ohio. What started as a stock FXR didn’t stay that way long. By the winter of 1993 he had already turned it into a pro-street-style custom—long, low, and drag-inspired. It was the kind of build that reflected where Brian came from: a childhood surrounded by drag racing and a mindset that machines were meant to be pushed.
Unlike many customs from that era, the FXR never became a garage ornament. For years it was Brian’s only motorcycle, which meant it got ridden hard and fixed often.
Summers were spent beating on it, and winters were spent repairing whatever had broken. The cycle repeated itself for decades.
The bike stayed with him through plenty of life along the way, including two divorces and more than a few rough patches. At one point it even ended up parked for nearly ten years while everything else took priority. But it never left his garage.
“Whatever I give to this thing,” Brian says, “it gives right back.”
The core of the motorcycle is still the same one he bought new. The original transmission and swingarm remain, although the swingarm was stretched to achieve the aggressive stance he wanted. Much of the bodywork was swapped out during the original build for Arlen Ness pieces, while the tank was stretched to fit the pro-street look he was chasing.
The FXR looks like it rolled straight out of the early ’90s custom scene because that’s exactly what happened. This isn’t a modern throwback build trying to recreate that era—it’s a survivor from it.
The idea for the bike came from a mix of drag racing influence and the custom motorcycles Brian obsessed over in the early ’90s. At the time he kept a deck of playing cards that featured custom bikes, spreading out the ones he liked best while he worked in the garage. Those bikes became the visual guide for the FXR he was building.
Underneath the styling, the bike has always stayed true to its original character. The motor started life as an 80-inch setup and it’s still an 80-inch motor today. In the late ’90s the engine was built by legendary builder Kendall Johnson, and Brian rode it like it owed him money.
That kind of riding comes with consequences. The transmission broke at one point. Exhaust mounts snapped repeatedly until Brian fabricated his own stronger setup. Eventually the engine cases themselves took a beating. After cracking the original cases more than once, Brian ultimately installed S&S cases to keep the bike alive while holding onto the original numbers-matching set.
When the time came to revive the bike after its long nap, Kendall had already retired. Brian turned to Kevin Baxter, who transferred the internals into the S&S cases and helped bring the FXR back to life.
The bike had been sitting for close to a decade by that point. Around 2014 life had shifted, a divorce happened, and the FXR ended up parked while other bikes handled everyday riding. Still, Brian always knew he’d bring it back.
The push finally came from two directions. The Hamsters USA® had been encouraging members to show up on their real customs instead of daily riders, and at home his girlfriend gave him a little extra motivation to get the bike running again.
So, he did. In 2024 Brian rode the resurrected FXR out to Sturgis. Some of the guys in the club had never seen the bike before and assumed it was a brand-new build. Brian had to explain that the bike they were looking at was actually built in the winter of 1993.
From Sturgis the bike went straight to the SmokeOut, where the thirty-year-old custom surprised everyone, including Brian, by taking home Best of Show.
For him, the win wasn’t about trophies. It was proof that the bike still carried the same presence it always had.
Brian’s connection to machines goes back to drag racing with his father. The relationship could be rough at times, but racing kept them tied together. Brian was driving a nine-second car at just fifteen years old. At one point he owned a beautiful 1966 Nova and planned to turn it into a pro-street build, but his father refused to let him cut up such a clean car.
The argument ended with Brian selling the Nova to his dad and buying the FXR instead.
Motorcycles gave him the freedom to build something exactly the way he wanted.
Years later another moment would bring the story full circle. During Sturgis Brian met Scooter Salzbrunn, the owner of one of the FXRs that had inspired his own build years earlier through those playing cards. The two became friends, and today Scooter’s bike has even spent time in Brian’s shop for restoration work.
That means the bike that inspired Brian’s FXR and the one he built himself have ended up in the same garage more than once.
Brian Korelec’s 1992 FXLR proves something that riders understand better than anyone else. A motorcycle doesn’t earn its story by sitting under a cover. It earns it through miles, mistakes, repairs, and the years that stack up around it.
After thirty-three years, a ten-year nap, and a fresh set of engine cases, the same pro-street FXR Brian built in the winter of 1993 is still doing exactly what it was meant to do—turning heads and reminding people that the best bikes are the ones that never leave.
Motorcycle Specifications
Owner: Brian Korelec
City/State: Ashtabula, OH
Builder: Brian Korelec
Year: 1992
Model: FXR
Value: Only To Me
Time: Never Ends
Engine
Year: 1992
Model: Evo
Builder: Kendall Johnson/Kevin Baxter
Ignition: Crane HI4
Displacement: 80″
Pistons: Axtell
Heads: Stock, Highly Modified
Carb: S&S Super E
Cam: S And S
Air Cleaner: Wimmer Machine
Exhaust: 2 Inch Drags
Primary: Stock w/Solid Sprocket, Barnett Clutches
Transmission
Year: 1992
Make: Harley-Davidson
Shifting: Foot
Frame
Year: 1992
Model: FXLR-Modified
Rake: Stock
Stretch: In the Swingarm
Forks
Builder: Brian Korelec
Type: 39mm
Triple Trees: 39mm Polished
Extension: -2
Wheels
Front Wheel: Sturgis Wheel Co
Size: 21″
Tire: Metzeler
Front Brake: Factory-Polished
Rear Wheel: Sturgis Wheel Co
Size: 16″
Tire: Metzeler
Rear Brake: Stock Polished
Paint
Painter: Nick Pastura
Color: Black
Graphics: Nick Pastura
Chroming: Brown’s Plating
Accessories
Bars: FXLR
Risers: None
Hand Controls: Arlen Ness
Foot Controls: Raw Iron Choppers
Gas Tank(s): Stock/Stretched By Brian
Oil Tank: Stock
Front Fender: Arlen Ness
Rear Fender: Arlen Ness
Seat: Owner
Headlight: Stock
Taillight: Scooter Lab
Speedo: Stock
Photographer: Heather Callen
