October 2007 - Combs Custom Cycle

A C E O F S PA D E S S O F TA I L
ACE OF SPADES
DISHED OUT AND HEAVILY
MODIFIED SWINGARM TO
ACCOMMODATE A FAT 250 OUT
BACK.
SOFTAIL
DEFINITELY A WINNER
WORDS: KEN CONTE
PHOTOS: DON JARDON
48 I HOT BIKE I VOLUME 39, NO. 12 2007
ome of the best motorcycles start out as one
thing and end up a totally different bike. Rick
Combs, owner of Combs Custom Cycles in
Lawrence, KS, had a stock 1988 HarleyDavidson Softail roll into his shop looking for a
new frontend, with owner Steve Robson—a friend of
Rick’s—in tow. Steve and Rick sat down and started
chatting, and the next thing Steve knew, Rick had talked
him into doing an entire facelift on the bike—nothing stock
would stay. It would be completely torn down and
reassembled to have a pro-street look, the basis was there
for a mean-looking custom. Rick always looks to his
customers for inspiration and direction when he takes on a
custom project, whether it’s a ground-up custom or a
facelift for an existing bike. In
this case it was easy to
S
VOLUME 39, NO. 12 2007 I HOT BIKE I 49
A C E O F S PA D E S S O F TA I L
come up with an overall theme. Steve was a bounty hunter, bondsman, and president of Ace
Bail Bonds in Lawrence. This gave Rick the idea to incorporate some playing card references,
specifically Spades, and really give Steve the bike he had always dreamed of owning.
There are several positive reasons to start with an existing Harley-Davidson platform as a
basis for a custom bike. The first is that it will still be titled as a Harley-Davidson, which
always makes it easier to register and insure; the second is that everything is already there
to complete the bike as far as essentials for wiring; the third and most important is that if the
general geometry of the bike is unchanged—it can still be ridden for miles and look good.
This is one of Rick’s guiding principles at his shop; he likes to give his customers bikes that
are meant to ridden but have extra flair. “My customers work hard for their money and most
have one bike, so that one bike needs to be able to handle a long haul if that’s what they
desire,” he said.
Rick started by tearing the bike completely down on his own. It seems another
guiding principle of CCC is if you want something done right the first time, do it yourself.
SPEC SHEET
“
IT’S HARD TO TELL THAT
THERE IS A STOCK SOFTAIL
UNDER ALL THAT, BUT ONE
THING IS FOR SURE: THE
BIKE BEGS TO BE
RIDDEN...HARD.
GENERAL
OWNER
Steve Robson
SHOP
Combs Custom Cycles
PHONE
785-749-1562
WEBSITE
www.combscustoms.com
YEAR/MAKE/MODEL
1988 H-D FX Softail
FABRICATION
Rick Combs/Steve Robson
ASSEMBLY
Rick Combs/Steve Robson
BUILD TIME
3 months
”
ENGINE
YEAR/ TYPE/SIZE
BUILDER
CASES
FLYWHEELS
RODS
PISTONS
CYLINDERS
HEADS
VALVES
ROCKERS
ROCKER BOXES
PUSHRODS
PUSHROD TUBES
CAM
LIFTERS
CARBURETOR
AIR CLEANER
IGNITION
EXHAUST
’88 /H-D/80ci
Combs Custom Cycles
Polished H-D
H-D
H-D
S&S
H-D
H-D
H-D
H-D
H-D
Crane
H-D
S&S
H-D
S&S
MC Advantages
Crane
Hooker Trouble Makers
TRANSMISSION
YEAR/TYPE
CASE Polished
GEARS
CLUTCH
PRIMARY DRIVE
’88/H-D Five-speed
H-D
H-D
Barnett
H-D
FRAME
YEAR/TYPE
PLAYING HIS HAND OF SPADES BY INCORPORATING ALL THOSE SMALL
DETAILS RICK IS KNOWN FOR.
50 I HOT BIKE I VOLUME 39, NO. 12 2007
The shop is a one-man operation, and Rick
keeps his quality control up because of it.
The first order of business was to take care
of the frame and make it a little sleeker. He
raked the neck out to 39 degrees and
added the first Spade on the gusset of the
two down tubes. Those are the kinds of
details that Rick has become known for
over the last 20 years of doing custom
motorcycle fabrication and painting. He
looks at all the details and makes sure that
they are right. With Steve’s Softail, the
bonus for Rick was having complete
liberty to do as he wished within reason.
Because he is a fabricator at heart, he set
to work on some of the more difficult tasks,
like dishing out the swingarm and modifying it heavily to accommodate a 250 tire.
The swingarm was fitted with an
Accessories Unlimited air ride system so
that it could get slammed to the ground.
With a fat rear tire comes a Combs
Customs fat fender. Rick also used his
fabrication skills to french in a custom
spade taillight, and in addition saw the
need for an entirely new seat pan to be
fabricated. The oil bag, gas tank, and
fender were all custom built around the
seat pan and carried the flowing lines all
the way to the back of the bike. Since the
front fender had to fit the low profile of the
bike, Rick chose a Kustomwerks fender
that fit the bill.
Meanwhile, the motor was getting torn
into and completely polished. The stock displacement was kept to maintain reliability,
but the motor was freshened up for the
inevitable miles that would be racked up
when the bike was completed. There were
a few minor details that really added the
finishing touches; the spade mirrors and air
cleaner cover added to the theme, as did the
handcuff shifter linkage with a replica of
Steve’s bounty hunter badge airbrushed in
by Greg Mauer of Mauer Designs.
The paint was going to have to be of the
same caliber as the bike; this was definitely
not going to be an inconspicuous bike. Rick
wanted the paint to really stand, out so he
decided—because of all the molding—to
paint the frame as well as the bike so that it
all flowed. The base was a PPG candy
apple red, and then several layers of flames
were added to give it a truly deep looking
flame job.
It seems that Rick’s attention to detail and
his ability to take on a project completely
paid off one more time with this Ace of
Spades Bounty Hunter. It’s hard to tell that
there is a stock Softail under all that, but one
thing is for sure, the bike begs to be
ridden…hard. HB
RAKE
STRETCH
’88 H-D Modified by
Combs Custom Cycles
39 degrees
None
SUSPENSION
FRONT
LENGTH
TRIPLE TREES
REAR
SWINGARM
SHOCKS
Stock
DNA 3 degree
Combs Custom Cycles
Accessories Unlimited
WHEELS, TIRES, AND BRAKES
FRONT
TIRE/SIZE
CALIPER
ROTOR
REAR
BUILDER/SIZE
TIRE/SIZE
CALIPER
ROTOR
DNA 2.15 x21 Tenzo
90/90/21
H-D
DNA Tenzo
DNA 8.5x18 Tenzo
250/18
Modified H-D
DNA Tenzo
FINISH/PAINT
COLOR
PAINTER
GRAPHICS
MOLDING
PLATING/POLISHING
POWDER COATING
ACCESSORIES
FRONT FENDER
REAR FENDER
FENDER STRUTS
GAS TANK(S)&CAP(S)
OIL TANK
DASH
GAUGES
HANDLEBARS
RISERS
MIRRORS
HAND CONTROLS
FOOT CONTROLS
FOOTPEGS
HEADLIGHT
TAILLIGHT
TURN SIGNALS
LICENSE MOUNT
SEAT
PPG Candy Apple Red
Rick Combs
Rick Combs/Greg Mauer
Rick Combs
Combs Custom Cycles
None
Kustomwerks
Combs Custom Cycles
Combs Custom Cycles
Combs Custom Cycles
Combs Custom Cycles
None
Accessories Unlimited
Wild 1
None
Mammoth Choppers
Mid-USA
V-Twin
V-Twin
Accessories Unlimited
Bragg Engineering
Bragg Engineering
V-Twin
NAC’s Upholstery
VOLUME 39, NO. 12 2007 I HOT BIKE I 51