2003 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail - Fueled By Passion - 249 HP

The articles you read in the pages of this and many other magazines are frequently a labor of love for the magazine editor on this end of the keyboard and printing press. We'll let you in on a dirty little secret: Of the bikes we write about that are put out by custom shops, a large percentage are accompanied by a backstory about as entertaining as "I built it 'cuz that's what people like." Seriously.

Shop owner Nick Trask provided a welcome exception to that general rule with his personal '93 Softail. He, and what used to be a Heritage Softail, started out in New Zealand riding on a daily basis. Nick became obsessed with doing high-performance mods on Harleys centered around custom turbo applications, and he began doing so out of his garage. But the market for such things and the parts available down under were too small for Nick's liking, so he and his bike made the trek to the US of A.

He started Custom Performance (CP) in Phoenix, Arizona, and finally his dream of turbocharging Harleys was realized. With a booming bike scene in the Valley of the Sun, and no shortage of folks who wanted to go fast, Nick quickly found success. His faithful companion has been the guinea pig for every Evo-based mod, and he even gets to run it down the dragstrip on occasion.

Unlike the vast majority of Heritages you'll see out there (not in this magazine, of course), this one is not yet another cowboy-themed fringe-wearing monstrosity, or a pastel-colored chrome boat; this FLST goes its own way. But it gets its unique look more from little details and a liberal application of flat black powdercoat than any earth-shaking changes. New sheetmetal on the forks gives the basically stock setup a whole new look. A number-plate-like piece replaces the stock nacelle, with PIAA beams tucked underneath. Extended "beer cans" cover for an extra 4 inches in the tubes, and were needed to make up for a neck that was cut and raked to 45 degrees, then gusseted for strength. The rear fender is stock, but has been cleaned up a bit, while the fuel tank is an aftermarket Daytec unit, modified by CP.

The rest of the machine is all business. The powerplant is a long way from the 1,340cc Evo that came in the FLST. While many motor builders will look at a big-bore racing engine and a turbo as mutually exclusive propositions, this machine has both-a 107-inch S&S-based mill (complete with Hyperformance iron barrels) and Nick's own Trask Turbo system. These two elements combine for 240-plus mind-bending horsepower and 219 lb-ft of torque running on race gas (at 25 lbs of boost). On the track, the machine similarly leaves a mark, running the quarter-mile in 10.2 seconds at 132 mph.

The bike you're looking at is a work in progress. As the personal machine of a mad horsepower scientist, the changes sometimes come fast and furious. Sometimes they're just for looks, but usually the mods are there to squeeze out another couple of horsepower in the never-ending search for more juice.