I'm almost ready to go with an HQ 95 or 98 (I think that's the largest I can go with a carb'd 03 Fatboy, right?). I've been reading through their forum and looking over their build kits.

The best I can tell, I would need to buy one of their kits like the 98" ST. The comments on their forum seem to lean towards a Supertrapp but it appears the carb can stay. Is there anything else I would need to take care of up front? I'd hate to get it all together and find out I missed something simple.

The next question is, how do I find a good shop in my area that can put it all together correctly? I've been to 5 shops in the area (two HD dealers). I'd trust them with a 10K service but I don't have full confidence in any of them yet to build the engine. I'd like to find a shop that could answer these questions for me and maybe even take the time to guide me through the process. Heck, I'd pay for an hour of their time to get a good consult.

Assuming nobody has a shop recommendation in Northern Virginia, what are some good questions I can ask to get a good feel for a shop's competence in a build like this? The most promising shop so far the guy at the desk said he never heard of HQ.

I have been putting some bucks aside to make this work out. I think I can afford a real nice build - but I doubt I can afford to fix any major mistakes.

 

Well, I would start by calling the guys at HQ, I hear they are really good to talk to. They may be able to reccomend a shop in your area.

Also, if they haven't heard of HQ, I wouldn't trust them to build with HQ components. I think you can go however big you want, but you may have to purchase new cylinders instead of boring your stockers. Good luck, I know you have been refurbishing your daily driver, so I wish you the best.