As I have noted in other posts I am a retired soldier. I served 25 years and when I retired in 2008 that was more than half my life, longer than I have been married and longer then I lived with my parents…..wow that makes me fill old.

So, as a graduation from the Army gift to ourselves Debbi and I bought a brand new Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic. I chose this bike because I knew what I wanted to do with it and its 1940/50’s look was a great starting point!

What I wanted was a bike I could customize to be a tribute for the work that I had accomplished as well as a homage for all those soldiers that had come before me. I wanted a bike that I could stylize as a WWII Harley.

The bike is no trailer queen or show only bike. We have put over 28,000 miles on the Heritage and it would have been closer to 35K had we not bought a Ultra Classic Limited early this year (we put nearly 6K on that bike in 2013). But it does show well, we have won two first place finishes (one of which included a Caribbean cruse) and several other awards.

The bike is not quite finished. There are a few additional pieces of chrome to put on and a couple other finishing touches before I can call it complete, but it is getting there.

The paint and some of the custom parts was done by Hardcore Choppers of Sterling Virginia. Some of the major items on the bike are:

Dual Tailgunner Exhausts

Sampson Headers

Harley chrome forks and light housing

Harley chrome hand controls

Küryakyn ISO-Grip with throttle boss

Brass Bullet Bolt Handle Bar Clamps (and other bullet items) from innovative-mc-accessories

US Army gas cap covers from American Cycle Accessories

National Cycle CruiseLiner Hard Smooth Back Saddlebags

Bullet Stash Tube

Veteran Challenge Coin timing cover