Road worn and Weary....



Before

During

During

After

Clean and Simple. The essence of a softail Custom!

 

good to see the fxstc still getting mentioned with the current blacked out trend

 

I agree. You can never go wrong with a black and chrome bike but the black on black on black look has been done to death. Kinda weird seeing people get so exited about HD's standard equipment cheap paint. The new baggers look cheap blacked out too...especially the blacked out alleged CVO customs. It'd be a cold day in hell before I paid extra for the cheap paint.

 

I agree with the two previous posters. Chrome adds too much to Harley-Davidson's bottom line, so they are putting out black bikes. Some where over 10 years ago, I read that chrome factories in the US were going to be held under the scrutiny of the clean air act because they use so many caustic substances. Disposal of these chemicals was going to be mandated and regulated. The article predicted that prices would definitely go up, and US Chroming operations would be tempted to go to third world countries to avoid overzealous EPA regulations. Now we are living in the fall out of such times. Chrome is definitely not cheap, and chrome shops are no longer abundant. At least those who will engage in motorcycle parts and set up an exchange parts program.

 

Many years a friend and fellow rider, Roy, had a small chroming operation in upstate NY. I'm very familiar with the process, the chemicals used, and the abundance of mom/pop chrome operations that once dotted the NE. While for the most part I shun government regulations it was sorely needed in this arena. The mom/pops were careless, reckless, and negligent in their use and disposal of those toxic chemicals. In many cases the mom/pops simply didn't know better. Wells were contaminated, people became ill, people died, fumes were also a danger to employees and those living nearby. The same thing has happened to the leather taming operations that also once dotted the NE and for the same reason. That's why only a small % of the leather we use today is tanned in the US. Many US hides are shipped overseas to be tanned then shipped back to the US for tailoring or upholstering.

Paul

 

The EPA is/was a wort while entity for us here
While they are/were a bit to stringent, they did what needed to be done to keep us safe from toxic waste and dumping

 

Very Nice!!

 

Very nice!!!

 

07 Softtail Custom. Pretty much stock and don't plan on doing much to it. I like it just the way it is. Clean and mean.

 

I used to say that....