FEATURE – 2001 Harley-Davidson Softail custom
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos Clave Rodriguez
One Way Machine’s Julian von Oheimb is a custom bike builder that’s never rested on his laurels. A winner in the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building (in the Modified Harley-Davidson class) in 2014 and runner up on two other occasions, the German engineer and craftsman is always seeking more success.
Julian’s past AMD entries have been created specifically for that competition, and built using a no-expenses-spared and no-holds-barred approach.
In 2018, Julian entered the AMD World Championship with the bike you see here. He describes it as his ultimate creation. And it delivered the ultimate prize...
One Way, One Make, One Man
We’ve featured One Way Machine builds in JUST BIKES in the past, and if you’re seen those earlier features, you’ll know that Julian has a distinct style.
Past creations, including ‘La Salle,’ ‘Singapore Sun,’ ‘Iron Riot’ and ‘Brougham’ have all been retro-look builds, with elements of vintage flat tracker, hill climber or old-school bobber in their appearance. This is contrasted by an exceptionally high level of finish that gives each build something of a modern look, too.
Scan through past builds and you’ll also notice One Way Machine’s preference of a monochrome palette – virtually every build is finished in silver or black, with selective use of contrasting colours, usually only white, grey or gold.
The other common thread running through One Way Machine (OWM) builds is that they’re all based on Harley-Davidsons. To date, all of Julian’s personal entries in the AMD World Championship have been based on Harleys and that exposure has led to customers requesting the OWM touch on their Harleys, too.
Julian operates OWM out of Staufenberg, near Frankfurt, and despite being based in Germany, Julian has never turned his talents to a BMW – not yet, anyway!
A qualified engineer, Julian runs OWM as a one-man operation, doing all the design and fabrication work himself. Of course, Julian brings parts in and relies on specialty services, like most custom builders, but rarely does he call on outside specialists to produce anything he can’t manufacture himself.
Such is the case with the bike featured, of which the only handmade part not to pass through Julian’s own hands is the saddle.
Storm Rising
As mentioned, this bike was built exclusively to compete in the 2018 AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building. Being Julian’s “own bike”, it was lavished with time, attention and detail.
Dubbed ‘Silver Storm,’ the build is based on a 2001 Harley-Davidson Softail Deuce. If you can remember what that model looks like, you’ll know this custom is a million miles away from its factory appearance!
In the past, hunting the “right” bike to use for his AMD entries has led Julian far and wide, but this Deuce was found within Germany and was a low-mileage unit (only 3,450km) that Julian described as being virtually untouched and in perfect condition.
That makes it sound like it was a bit of a sacrilege to cut it up, but if you can recall an ’01 Deuce, you’ll probably agree it isn’t exactly a “looker”, with a weird mix of what looked like a Sportster front end and Fat Boy rear. There are probably some out there who love it, but this writer – and Julian – aren’t among them.
At the OWM workshop, Julian stripped the Deuce down to the frame to get a closer look at what he had. The engine, transmission, suspension and cycle parts were all true to their limited-use and low-mileage description, which meant no corrective work was required.
The Deuce frame was left virtually untouched, but Julian did cut off unnecessary tabs and brackets, and also made some changes to the suspension to get the desired stance and appearance. At the front end, the Deuce forks were retained, but the yokes were replaced with units from a Sportster 48. Julian said he selected these because they’re narrower and more attractive.
At the rear, the Softail suspension remains functional, but an Arlen Ness lowering kit drops the back end by 30mm and accentuates that hardtail look.
Clear View
An OWM signature touch added to Silver Storm is the partially open primary cover. It’s a little less extreme in this application than on past builds, but there’s enough metal cut away to get a damn good look at the primary drive!
Adding to this are ‘windowed’ cam and derby covers from Roland Sands Design that allow another view into the Harley’s innards. They’re an eye-catching addition, and for a build that Julian wanted to highlight the “industrial” nature of, they were perfect.
Another OWM signature touch is the chain drive conversion. Julian produces these himself to suit the old school aesthetic that drives most of his builds. As in past creations, it’s effective on Silver Storm and obviously far more attractive than a fat belt drive.
The solid rear and spoked front wheels of the Deuce in its factory form were replaced with W&W rims in a 21-inch size up front and 18-inch at the rear. These were laced up to Harley OEM hubs with spokes from TTS. A Firestone tyre was fitted on the front end and a Shinko hoop on the rear.
Normally, custom wheels are used to gain attention, but this clean and simple spoke wheel combo has been applied with the opposite effect in mind - ensuring attention isn’t taken away from the standout elements that reside within this bike’s wheelbase.
Sports Style
Turning to the engine, Julian left the Deuce’s Twin Cam 88B unmodified internally, but there’s been a few dress-up parts added to the outside, starting with the RSD rocker covers. Enhancing the retro look is a Paughco air cleaner cover that’s smaller and a lot simpler than the OEM piece. The ignition coil cover is a personal touch in the form of an ‘OWM’ logo that Julian designed and laser-cut from stainless steel.
However, just as you can’t look at the nearside of this creation without noticing the cutaway primary cover, you can’t miss the exhaust system when you look at the offside.
The hand-made pipes seem insanely short for a big Harley v-twin, but it’s the sportsbike-style muffler that raised the ire of keyboard warriors and armchair experts when Silver Storm debuted.
Julian laughs at the reaction this one small piece caused: “A normal Harley guy would never use any sportsbike part! But I thought it fits good to the overall design, and it's something special.”
Julian adds that the exhaust system was one of the most challenging parts of this entire build, but also one of the elements he’s most proud of.
Rough and Smooth
With the engine, frame and rolling stock sorted out, Julian turned his attention to details and finishes.
The rear mudguard was replaced with an aftermarket unit that’s attached with a single sided bracket of Julian’s own design and manufacture. Subtle drilling on the trailing edge of this piece has been replicated on the modified oil tank, custom battery cover, fuel tank and bespoke saddle, but Julian certainly hasn’t gone overboard with the “lightweighting’.
Searching his abundant spare parts pile for a suitable fuel tank for this build, Julian found a 1950s-era Hercules tank that fitted the aesthetic, but this needed significant modification to the tunnel and bracketing to fit the Harley frame.
Further modification to this tank included the addition of an upright filler neck, custom fuel cap (incorporating the radiator mascot from a C1930 Chevrolet) and adding more of those laser-cut and polished OWM badges.
Despite looking like it’s been polished, that tank, along with the rear guard and oil tank, have actually been painted in a special mirror chrome paint that Julian had seen applied to other bikes and thought would be effective on this build. Applied by BK Lack, that smooth, liquid-like silver finish also led to this creation’s Silver Storm name.
Up front, an LSL handlebar has been fitted and sits on risers that have been cut away to nestle a small Motogadget analogue speedo. The levers and master cylinders are from Beringer, as is the rest of the brake system.
Japanese custom parts company Rough Crafts are sponsors of OWM and they provided the distinctive ribbed metal grips for Silver Storm, as well as the pegs and pedals. These are attached to forward controls from Italian company Rebuffini.
The headlight is an old fog light from a big Harley tourer that Julian individualised with a blue lens. This finish picks up on the only other area of colour on this bike – the saddle.
Supplied by Spirit Leather in Meerbusch (near Dusseldorf), the saddle is a one-off, built to Julian’s instructions and designed to enhance the bike.
Small details include winged hub fasteners, a custom fuel tap and selective use of chromed parts to complement the overall look.
Silver wins Gold
As a personal project for the AMD World Championship, Julian poured a lot of time and money into this build. He’s coy on the amount of Euros spent, but concedes that 700 hours went into the creation of Silver Storm.
The bike was completed in October, 2018, just ahead of the AMD World Championship finals that were held in conjunction with the Intermot show in Germany.
As with most recent AMD finals, the competition was strong, but Silver Storm ultimately scored an easy win in the Modified Harley-Davidson class, with more than double the points of the runner-up. Julian’s second outright win and fourth podium in four attempts was obviously an extremely proud moment: “It felt perfect, another great day in my career!”
So, what’s Julian been up to since then? More builds, of course, including the Softail-based ‘Gringo’ and the ‘Vanguard’, a build that ups the retro ante with a genuine Knucklehead engine, rigid frame and vintage springer front end.
Julian’s also breaking with the tradition of holding on to his personal creations by offering Silver Storm for sale (see breakout).
An AMD World Championship winner is something few of us ever get to own or enjoy, but having something like Silver Storm in your man cave might just be the ideal way to bring some light into these dark times.
FOR SALE
Late last year, Julian decided to put this one-off creation on the market.
The bike is as you see it in the photos, with no changes or additions since it was completed. While customised, the bike remains fully functional and rideable, although things like indicators and a tail light would be needed for road compliance in most countries.
Initially advertised for offers around the €85,000 - €90,000 mark (AU$137,000 – AU$145,000), hard times under COVID-19 have led Julian to slash the price to €50,000 (AU$80,850 approx.).
To find out more, get in touch with Julian via the One Way Machine website – https://www.onewaymachine.com/
