When it doesn't have a frame with a cantilever swinging-arm that extends instead of compresses underslung twin shock absorbers just like a Harley-Davidson? When not one solitary component part of the motorcycle has been manufactured by, (or on behalf of), Harley-Davidson?

So, companies and individuals making ersatz 'Harleys' have been around for quite a few years in the USA, some of whom have grown from a tiny cottage industry to a massive manufacturing company, but unless the famous double-barrelled name of William Harley and the Davidson brothers is actually emblazoned across any of these machine's trademark 'Harley' split petrol tanks there seems to be very little that the Harley-Davidson Motor Company can do about it. Which is strange when they have a team of corporate shysters who try to slap massive law suits on anybody who even so much as shows-off in public the Harley Bar & Shield tattoo that they have on their arse, and in one laughable episode a couple of years ago tried to copyright the word 'Apehanger' and the 'potato-potato-potato' sound that they claimed their V-twin engine makes, (although where the fuck they came up with 'potato-potato-potato' from is as much a mystery), when you can go out a buy a motorcycle like a CMC that is in fact a 'Harley-Davidson' in everything but the hyphenated name.

But large and small manufacturing outlets aside since the end of the Sixties there has been a multitude of shiny catalogues filled with a multitude of shiny aftermarket and pattern parts to fit Harley-Davidsons piled high on the counter of motorcycle dealers of every description - except genuine dealers of Harley-Davidsons. Although Harley-Davidson, in an attempt to beat the pirates at their own game, did come forth with their own big shiny catalogues of aftermarket and parts and accessories, some of which looked remarkably similar to the doppelganger doodads … allegedly. This trade in look-a-like and custom parts for Milwaukee's finest motorcycle is now a massive industry and has gone from stuff like a few cheap an' nasty iron cross mirrors and dodgey gasket sets to complete ready-to-run engines and high tech space age CNC machinery spitting out anything and everything from huge chunks of billet aluminium. And while this easy access to everything that your heart desires to either build or modify a 'Harley-Davidson' is out there and up for grabs not everybody has a deep enough pocket or the mechanical wherewithal needed to satisfy such a desire.

Now I don't think that Lee Bradbury will take exception when I say that he has a deep pocket, and although he has a mechanical understanding of what he wants when the object of his desire was a custom-built motorcycle with the look, the sound and the kudos of a 'Harley-Davidson' he wanted it put together by someone with an embarrassment of the aforementioned mechanical wherewithal. But, as you would expect, the tale didn't begin so easily. Rewind to a couple of years ago and Lee is the happy owner of a Harley Road King that he'd smoked around on for almost five years before being bitten by the custom bug. Now rather than take a cutting torch to the big old Road King, (or god forbid lather it in aftermarket parts), or put it up for sale to finance something more custom-friendly Lee traded the 'King at the ten-named "Harley Trading Post" (who have since felt the corporate lawyers at their collars, and are now just "Trading Post"), for an S&S 96 cube motor, a five speed Zodiac gearbox and one of Mr Arlen Ness's finest frame kits. Lee's vision of an ideal custom bike fell somewhere between a Harley Softail and a full-blown ornamental billet barge; a sort of leaner lighter FXSTC with more power, better brakes and handling and the kind of individual styling that can only come from a bespoke motorcycle. But that's when the excrement began to make contact with the rotary ventilation device as he just couldn't make his mind up about the rest of the necessary components. In the space of a year Lee'd tried lots of different custom petrol tanks, two seats, four pairs of handlebars, three sets of fork legs, two pairs of fork yokes, three sets of engine covers and as many headlights, exhaust systems and other fiddley bits that you could shake a billet aluminium stick at. Some of the parts didn't pass the Lee quality test while other's 'just didn't look right', deep pockets or not the project was getting financially out of hand and Lee's search for the perfect parts were as frustrating as they were time consuming. Professional help was decided upon and the project in its entirety was taken to the boyz at Big Twin Services in a metaphorical wheelbarrow to be sorted.

After making an inventory of the parts that arrived and discussing with Lee as to how he expected the finished product to look, the big Zodiac book of shiny parts was consulted and the stock at BTS was raided to come up with a basic plan of attack. Having top quality stuff on your shelves such as the German-made billet aluminium RTS footrest assemblies, switch gear and master cylinders and their own in-house machinist and fabricator to make all of those special one-off parts that make a one-off motorcycle special - besides all the usual high quality Zodiac range of pattern and custom parts made the job easier and as soon as Lee had made a few crucial decisions he left BTS to get on with the job.

Specially-made parts like the one-off aluminium petrol tank commissioned from The Tank Shop in Dumfries, the superb wide-glide yokes designed and fabricated by Andy the BTS machinist to conceal the wiring for the front indicators by running each wire inside the bottom yoke and up through the steering stem into the handlebars and the BTS-designed stainless steel electrics compartment make the detail work on this bike stand out as much as the subtly of its overall choice of components and understated flawless paintwork. Although, and there's always an, 'although', Lee's choice of a hammerhead shark motif on the rear mudguard turned out a little less intimidating than he'd hoped for, but nothing that a respray at a later date won't fix.

When is a Harley-Davidson not a Harley-Davidson? Ask the audience? Phone a friend? Okay, so rather than answer the question of when is a Harley-Davidson not a Harley-Davidson, I'll put it this way and ask you when does a bike that is not a Harley-Davidson, (for all of the aforementioned reasons), become a Harley-Davidson? The answer is - When the owner of such a bike is a member of the Harley-Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain and nobody objects to the fact that the motorcycle in question is definitely not a Harley-Davidson. But, if this bike isn't a Harley and its owner is a member of the Harley Riders Club … will he be thrown out for not riding a Harley?

Specifications

Owner:	Lee Bradbury, England
Engine:	S&S 96ci engine stripped and blueprinted by BTS. S&S Super E carburettor with S&S air filter. Dyna S ignition and coil. M&W billet aluminium coil bracket. Delkron inner primary case, H-D outer primary case with Zodiac covers. Zodiac 5-speed Softail-type gearbox with H-D Softail-type clutch and primary chain. Stainless steel clutch cable.
Exhaust:	Bub/Ness twin pipe exhaust system.
Frame:	Arlen Ness Daytec frame kit. RST billet aluminium forward footrest kits. Zodiac billet aluminium clutch cable and oil line brackets. Arlen Ness Daytec swinging-arm, rear mudguard struts and oil tank. Progressive rear shock absorbers.
Forks:	Zodiac Ceriani forks. BTS billet aluminium yokes with concealed front indicator wiring. BTS wheel spacers and spindle. RTS billet aluminium grips, clutch lever and throttle assembly.
Front Wheel:	PM Aero wheel with Avon AM20 100/90Vx19in tyre.
Front Brake:	Two Tokino 4-piston brake calipers modified to fit forks by BTS, EBC Prolite brake discs, RTS billet aluminium master cylinder with Goodridge clear plastic-coated stainless steel brake lines and fittings.
Rear Wheel:	PM Aero 18.5.5in wheel with Avon AM23 180/55x18in tyre. Wheel spacers by BTS. Last Rebel stainless steel chainguard. B&C chain and final drive sprocket.
Rear Brake:	RST 4-piston brake caliper, billet aluminium mount and master cylinder with Goodridge clear plastic-coated stainless steel brake line and fittings. EBC Prolite disc machined to fit PM wheel by BTS.
Seat:	Made and covered by BTS.
Petrol Tank:	Aluminium fuel tank custom made by The Tank Shop, Dumfries, with stainless steel aircraft filler by BTS and Pingel Hi-Flo tap
Oil Tank:	Arlen Ness Daytec
Paint:	Frame and bodywork powder coated in mica blue by Triple S, Bingley. Petrol tank, oil tank and mudguards painted and lacquered by Motorcycle Bodyworks, Northwich.
Polishing & Chrome:	BTS
Handlebars:	Arlen Ness 1¼in V-Bars. M&W billet aluminium speedo and tacho bracket. Stainless steel speedo cable.
Wiring:	Wiring harness and stainless steel electrics box by BTS. Dyna S ignition and coil with Zodiac braided steel covered HT leads. Pro 1 billet aluminium voltage regulator. Accel alternator rotor and stator. Compufire Hi-torque starter motor. Arlen Ness speedo and tacho. RTS billet aluminium switch gear.
Lights:	Arlen Ness headlamp on BTS billet aluminium bracket, Arlen Ness turn signals with concealed wiring. CCI aftermarket rear light on BTS bracket.
Stuff:	Zodiac wide-glide front mudguard. Zodiac fat-bob rear mudguard widened and modified by BTS.
Other details:	Bike built and all engineering and fabrication unless otherwise stared by Big Twin Services, 6a Kew Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 4HH, Lancs. Phone & Fax: 01704 551599 Email: bigtwin@supanet.com Website: bigtwinservices.com