Harley-Davidson Speed Glider Blends Stock Cruiser Looks with Custom Bagger Vibes

The Milwaukee-based bike maker has been responsible over the decades for a number of bright and exciting ideas that have defined the industry. Today we're interested in the one the world got to know as the Softail.

Now applied to a full family of motorcycles made by Harley, the Softail term describes a two-wheeler that is intentionally made to look like vintage bikes that ride on a single rigid frame and a suspension system for the front wheel alone, but instead uses suspension systems for both, with the one at the rear contained in a small frame.

Harley let this design loose into the wild in the early 1980s, when the FXST Softail was introduced, and since then it has taken the design and term to entirely new heights, with countless motorcycles being introduced in the family.

One of these models is the Softail Slim, a bike that was on the market for less than a decade, starting in the early 2010s. Like most other bikes made by Harley, examples of the discontinued breed are still around in large numbers, both in stock and modified forms.

Today we're going to focus on a Softail Slim S from an unspecified model year that was so heavily modified that it's hardly recognizable.

As it came out the factory doors, the Softail Slim played the game in the cruiser segment, being offered with a single seat and front floorboards. The custom world, however, transformed it over the years into entirely different kinds of monsters.

In the case of the one we have here the transformation means turning the cruiser into a sort of crossover with bagger cues. Granted, there are no bags at the rear on this build, but there is a big batwing fairing at the front meant to be reminiscent of the tourers of the 1960s.

I said earlier the bike is a sort of crossover between a cruiser and a bagger, and that is in no small measure owed to the fact the fairing can be easily removed, switching the looks of the motorcycle between the two styles.

The front end was also the recipient of a positively huge 21-inch wheel that's also supposed to be reminiscent of a bagger. The fender, however, is much smaller than what one usually gets from such rides, and it was fitted above a piece of rubber that's just 130 mm wide.

Above the wheel the guys responsible for this project, the Germans from Thunderbike, installed an extra-wide handlebar that holds special mirrors and satin grips.

The bike's fuel tank has been modified in a Chicano style and features pop-up filler caps, and behind that there is a custom saddle installed over a steel seat pan.

The modifications made at the rear of the motorcycle included the replacement of the stock wheel with a new, 18-inch one shod in a 260 mm wide tire. The part is shielded by a steel fender and held in place by a custom swingarm, and it uses a Thunderbike disk brake for stopping power. The license plate holder has been moved to one side to give a more unobstructed view of the rear end.

The Softail Slim was propped on an air ride system that allows it to be lowered and raised depending on needs, with a pressure gauge installed behind the fuel tank allowing the rider to make an informed decision on how much to go either way.

As far as the engine is concerned, the original 110ci Screamin' Eagle is still in place, but it is now shielded by a transparent cover supplied by Roland Sands Design, the same source for the cam cover. For breathing purposes a set of Dr. Jekill & Mr. Hyde exhaust pipes were installed.

For visual kicks Thunderbike went for a gray paint job with red accents on the pushrod covers, but also on the underside of the Harley-Davidson logos installed on the fuel tank.

In this modified form the Softail Slim is called Speed Glider. Thunderbike did not say exactly how much the ride cost to put together, but we can get an idea about that by looking at how much the 27 or so parts that went into the build are worth.

That would be 14,000 euros, which is a little over $15,000 at today's exchange rate. That does not include the donor bike, the man-hours spent on the transformation, and the paint job that was applied when all was said and done.

When you take all that into account, we’re probably talking about a ride that's worth well worth $30,000, the price most full-blown factory tourers go for these days.