Mad Scientist Youtuber Creates Pull-Start ‘Harbor-Davidson’
In a world of ‘bigger is better,’ one man bucks the trend and downsizes his bike.
Recently, we covered YouTuber Sean Kerr and his attempt to supercharge his high-mileage CVO Road King with a leafblower. Now, he’s back at it again, with another high-mileage Harley-Davidson — and another trip to the hardware store.
Kerr, along with a few friends, runs a motorcycle dealership (SRK Cycles) and a YouTube channel (Bikes and Beards). Apparently, the quarantine is really getting to Kerr and his crew, as this latest stunt is even crazier than the leafblower video. The results, admittedly, are a lot more impressive this time around, though.
Kerr bought this 1995 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic at a dealer auction for just $2,000. The bike had seen 142,000 hard miles, and the condition report listed just about everything that could be wrong with a motorcycle. Heck, it didn’t even run.
These auction listings are usually very detailed, but there was still a big surprise when the bike was delivered — a naked devil woman airbrushed on the batwing fairing. As Kerr explains, “Since we are all married Christian men, we had to make a few changes to it.” With the help of a silver Sharpie, the crew added some modesty to the once-forsaken temptress, and a speech bubble that reads “I gave my life to Jesus and changed my ways.”
One Weird Engine Swap
There was another pleasant surprise, too. This bike had been upgraded with a RevTech 110 cubic inch V-twin and a six-speed transmission. However, the engine wasn’t running, so it needed to be replaced. The solution? A $129 Harbor Freight Predator 212cc pull-start lawnmower engine.
The resident mechanic, known only as Craig, set to work making the tiny engine mate up to the Road Glide’s frame and the six-speed transmission. With plenty of hard work and fabrication, he was able to make everything work. All of the electronics and gauges work as intended. The radio even functions normally. The only thing that doesn’t work, naturally, is the starter.
Sarcastically, Kerr states that “Nobody wants big horsepower anymore. This is the future of motorcycles.” Next, it’s time for some testing. First, they compare zero to sixty times of the stock bike to the new, improved, Predator-powered model. They run into problems immediately.
As it turns out, a bike with roughly one tenth the displacement is far slower. In fact, it can’t even reach 60 miles per hour — the top speed is 53 miles per hour. Honestly, that’s still pretty impressive, all things considered. Next, it’s time for a fuel economy test.
If you think that the Predator is going to be far more efficient than a stock Harley engine due to its size, you’d be wrong. In fact, the Predator delivered 37 miles to the gallon — exactly the same as the stock V-twin!
End of the Line
Kerr rode the bike over to a local Honda dealer to gauge folks’ reactions, and even posted it on a Harley Facebook group. This is one area where the bike excelled — in fact, it garnered universal praise. After all, how could something as silly as this upset anyone?
The final test was reliability, and unfortunately, this proved to be the end of the line for the “Harbor-Davidson.” While attempting to deliver food for GrubHub, the intake manifold cracked, sidelining the bike for the foreseeable future. As Kerr says, “This is not the first bike I’ve pushed home, and God willing, it won’t be the last.”
At the end of the day, no — we don’t recommend a Predator swap on your Harley. But we’re glad someone else tried it — and we’re even more glad that they filmed the results of their experiment for our amusement.
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