Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 I knew that I had these pictures somewhere!

This is the photo that was in the CrailsList ad.

They were hidden away in a dusty digital shoebox for far too long. It seems that I put them somewhere for safe keeping then I forgot where I put them!

However, I have never forgotten this bike and the modifications that I made to it. On numerous occasions I've mentioned this bike, and stated that I'd post pictures of it, If I could only find them.

Well, here they are!

But first...

I bought this bike in 2006. I had been without a bike for seven or eight years, Though I was still a die hard Harley guy, I'd been wondering what those big Japanese V Twin cruisers were really like.

Initially, the Japanese manufacturers built their idea of cruisers around the familiar to them transverse four or smaller parallel twin architecture. 

This Suzuki was typical of the breed.

These were initially quite popular, but they became somewhat old hat after a few years. The Big Three Japanese makes; Honda, Kawasaki, and Yamaha decided that they needed a design that was more similar to an actual Harley Davidson, so they brought out their own V Twin engine designs. 

Consider the first model of the Honda 750 shadow.

I guess you could accept this as a copy
 of a mildly chopped Sportster.

I will admit that I like the routing
of the left side exhaust pipe.

Style preferences are personal, but I never bought that these were really Harley clones, however they proved to be popular, and they were engineered in typical Japanese fashion. A lot of the problems that had been inherent in Harley Davidson's machines were eliminated. The Honda was a narrow V Twin design that was WATER COOLED and had shaft drive. If you know Hondas, you know that reliability and low maintenance are always prime objective of all their designs. 

In my mind, these old Shadows looked more like a bad caricature of a stereotypical Chopper dreamed up and sanitized by an Eastern Brain Trust. 

Phase two was going back to the drawing board and designing a bike that looked more like a stock, unmodified Harley Davidson.

It was the next step in the continuing evolution of the Japanese V Twin.

It really does look like a Wide Glide.

It was in 1999 that Honda introduced the 1100cc Shadow Spirit, which was plainly modeled on the HD Wide Glide. 

This is when I really started paying attention.

The other Shadow was modeled after the FLH, the Shadow Aero of '99-'2000.

'99-'2000 Shadow Aero 1100.

This was a design that had really long legs, as it is still being built twenty five years later.  It also influenced the other Japanese manufacturers. The Big Four, can't forget Suzuki, now all had very realistic clones of Harley's Big Twins.

'04-'05 Shadow 600. It made a nice OEM Bobber.

The smaller 600 Shadow looked a lot like a rigid Bobber, so it proved to be ahead of it's time. Though none of the bikes ever looked like an actual Sportster.

Even though I'm a Harley Loyalist, I know, and admit, that they have never held the monopoly on V Twin powered motorcycles. In the Early days of the 20th. Century there were many V Twin competitors to HD. 

Indian, Excelsior, Pope, Ace, Flying Merkel and many others fought it on the race tracks prior to WWI.

The Shadow has been in production for a very long time and they have proven to be very good motorcycles. The 1100cc models appealed to me the most, but the 750s offer a lot of Cruiser style at a very attractive price point that delivers Honda reliability. I have no problem accepting them and their riders on face value as real motorcyclists.

I found my 1100 Shadow offered on CL, it was located in Stockton. I went to check it out by myself, driving my 280Z. I liked it, so I bought it and rode it home. Being a used Honda, I could easily afford it.

I got my Son to drive back with me to pick up my Z a couple of days later.

I was impressed by the Shadow and its styling. I was quite aware that it was stylistically a rip off of an HD Wide Glide, but it was a good one!  It was physically larger than my '77 Sportster, with a longer wheelbase, and it had comfortable forward controls. Those were much better than the ones on my old FLHS.  It seemed to have comparable power, but was water cooled and shaft driven. And I'll admit it, I liked the shotgun pipes!

When I bought the bike it had tall custom handlebar risers with drag bars. 

I decided to try to put a little outlaw spirit into it. I had been curious about ape hangers, and thought this bike could pull off the look.

It was a lot of bike for the money.

Finally, Flames!

Those are pretty tall bars! Luckily the cables could be re routed so that they fit, but it was tight. The bike had the stock passenger pad and sissy bar on it when I bought it. I removed both of those items. I really liked the solo look, and with bags I didn't need to tie stuff to the sissy bar.

I found these leather bags at a motorcycle swap meet in Stockton. I cut off the throw over connection and made some special brackets to attach them directly to the fender support. I used an aluminum panel attached to the back to retain the shape when they were empty.

This is a very neat tail section.

The large Honda turn signal lamps were replaced by these nifty smaller units. I did the same with the front signals. That is a good looking rear fender and tail lamp.

Love the pipes! Hard to believe that Honda 
built them like this from the factory.

I have always wanted a bike with flames on the tank, but didn't want to pay for a custom paint job. I found some flame decals for sale at an auto parts store. These were a more subtle Ghost Flame.  I used the smaller portion of the decal and it fit quite well, and it looked pretty good in my eyes.

The author looking like a character from a Dave Mann
poster.

I was pretty pleased by my efforts. I felt like I was successful in conveying the outlaw Fat Bob image. 

The bike was pretty comfortable, but I never liked riding with the tall bars. They introduce too much steering input from the rider's movements, and the rider has to fight a LOT of wind at speed.

My buddy Rick and I reprised our favorite ride up the Coast Highway to Mendocino. The bike ran great, cruising and handling the twisty road easily. I couldn't say that it was lacking in any area.

2025 Haonda 750 Shadow Phantom. Priced at 8.700.00 it is similar in style to the HD Street Bob. The HD costs over 10,000 dollars more, but has an engine that is more than twice as big. The Honda is perfectly adequate for all types of riding. 

My customized Shadow was a great example of a Japanese cruiser for someone that likes this style, but doesn't feel the need to have an actual Harley Davidson. Historically, HD and Indian own this style, as it originated as an aspect of their post war history. But as I mentioned, Shadows and other Japanese V Twin cruisers, some with very large engines, have been around for over forty years! For many riders, especially younger people, these are viewed as a legitimate style of motorcycle, not a clone or fake. Since 1977, with their introduction of the Low Rider, Harley has made their money from sales of their factory built "customs." Not really different from what Honda and the other manufacturers are doing. 

Unfortunately, after completing the bike I was in the middle of closing down my shop, and I was losing interest in riding, so I sold the Shadow. However I really have a warm spot in my memory of my Outlaw Shadow. 

I'm glad that I found these photos and was finally able to share them on my blog.