Cl

e's 36 years old, works as a welder at Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery outside Norrkoping, and spends his free time with friends at the local bike club. His first motorcycle was a Kawasaki VN800 that he bought as a basket case, and assembled in the living room of his apartment. "It was pretty nice sitting on my couch, watching movies, and lacing wheels and stuff like that," he says.

In 2017 he decided he wanted a Harley and found a nice, lightly stripped, '53 Hydra-Glide. It was a classic old bike when he bought it, but it wasn't what he wanted. "I saw it as good bobber material. .. I guess when this article comes out people'll hate me for destroying a perfectly fine Hydra-Glide, but I still have the stock parts, and can restore the original version any time I want."

He started changing stuff for the 2018 riding season, working his way from the front backwards - a 21-inch front wheel, new handlebars, a new headlight, etc. The project didn't really pick up momentum though, until he got a space in the workshop at the clubhouse, and also a new friend with a Softail project. The two buddies pushed each other on with the bikes, and triggered each other to keep the steam up. "One Friday or Saturday every week we'd meet at the clubhouse in the afternoon, and work on our bikes until well past midnight. If it hadn't been for my friend, I wouldn't have had the same determination."

Even though he's Swedish, he definitely didn't want any Swedish-style bike, rather a Finnish, or Japanese, look with narrowed forks/gas tank, etc. Just saying, or writing, that the springers've been narrowed two inches is easy - actually doing it is another matter. "When I had cut them apart, it looked like a puzzle, and I wasn't sure I could put them together again nice and straight, but a work buddy gave me some advice, and we finally pulled it off."

Sectioning the Wassell tank for a slimmer look was easier, and looking at the bike you might think the rear frame's also been narrowed, but it hasn't. "I've slimmed the oil tank down a bit, which tricks the eye, and makes the whole frame look slimmer."

The Morris magneto means the bike doesn't need a battery. The handlebars, sissy-bar, and many other things are stainless, and the seat, as I said, was sewn by Christoffer himself on his granny's old sewing machine. All of these were relatively straightforward, but when he painted the frame, with two-component paint from a car supply store, he faced an annoying problem. "After two weeks the paint was still wet, and touching the frame left fingerprints in it! It was almost time for the Norrtalje Show so I was getting a bit desperate, and I ended up heating the frame with a hot-air gun for five hours until the paint finally hardened." The green metallic is BMW Boston Green, and the tank emblem's a replica of Harley's ancient VL flathead from the 1930s, but still matches the bike perfectly. So is that it? Or are there any changes planned?

"Well, it'd be interesting to try some aluminum casting - maybe a bird deflector for the carb to start with... and I'd like to start a new project, maybe a slim and narrow long-fork chopper. Of course, it's a matter of money, otherwise I'd have a garage crammed full of dozens of motorcycles!"

When the photo shoot's done, Christoffer invites me to the clubhouse for coffee. The place's beautifully located by a river in the woods, but it's approached by a little gravel road that's really steep and twisty, with a lot of loose rocks. I ride a modern sport-tourer, but still find it a real challenge making it down to the place, and over coffee (and biscuits) I find myself wondering if I'll make it back up to the asphalt without dropping my bike. Christoffer, though, happily bounces over all the twists and potholes without a care in the world, even with a jockey shift/suicide clutch, no front brake, and those narrow handlebars. Guess the guy hasn't only built a lovely bike, he sure can handle it, too!

ENGINE:

H-D Panhead 1200, FLH cam, Linkert carb, one-off exhaust, Morris magneto, 1.5 inch belt primary, 4-speed 'box, handchange/suicide clutch

FRAME:

1953 H-D Hydra-Glide, H-D forwards

STUFF:

Firestone 3.00x21" tyre, 21" rim, H-D hubs (front/ rear), H-D springers (narrowed 2 inches), one-off stainless 'bars, narrowed Wassell tank, narrowed H-D oil tank, one-off seat, Triumph rear 'guard, one-off sissy-bar, H-D mechanical drum rear brake, 18" rear rim, Firestone 4.00x18" tyre, one-off loom, antique headlight, one-off tail-light

FINISH:

BMW Boston Green Metallic paint by owner

REV'IT Poseidon 2 GTX HUGE SELLER!

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ONE

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