Insane Heritage Softail Isn’t Just for Show
We chat with James Lentz about his unique Harley. And despite what you may think, he rides this thing. A lot.
It isn’t anything unusual to see wild custom Harleys out there in the world. Heck, the world of custom bikes arguably surpasses everything else when it comes to truly one-of-a-kind creations. But most of those rolling pieces of art are just that: art. They aren’t designed to be ridden much, if at all. So, when we come across a killer ride like James Lentz‘s insane Heritage Softail, we’re usually a little skeptical. But in this case, there’s simply no reason to be.
Lentz rides his ’87 Softail, and he rides it a lot. This, despite the fact that it sports insanely-tall 49-inch ape hangers. Now, that might be hard enough for most folks to reach, let alone operate. Or ride comfortably. But Lentz sure doesn’t seem to mind, as he and his Softail are a common sight around his hometown of St. Charles, Missouri.
But he — and his bike — recently skyrocketed to fame thanks to a short video of Lentz just cruising around a neighborhood. Since the clip was posted to the Harley-Davidson People Facebook page just a few weeks ago, it’s already garnered over 3 million views. We recently had the chance to chat with Lentz about his newfound fame, as well as his incredible Softail.
Harley-Davidson Forums: First, can you tell us a little about your bike and the modifications you’ve made to it?
James Lentz: It’s a 1987 Heritage Softail with 49-inch ape hangers and 11-and-a-half-inch risers. It has jockey shift, a suicide clutch, and my own exhaust. I’m on my third motor and second transmission. The current motor is a 113-inch S&S.
Your video on Facebook garnered over 3 million views in only three weeks. What’s it feel like to get such a huge response?
The 3 million views is kind of a trip. It’s actually the second video of me that has gotten so many views. The first one was when my bike was blue at the Bean Blossom Boogie years ago.
How do people react to the bike? Are they mostly positive, or are there some detractors in there, too?
People either love my bike or they hate it. I don’t understand some people who get on these websites and talk a lot of crap about my bike, like how ignorant it is or how much they don’t like it. I’ve never looked at a bike on any website and thought about bashing it the way they do mine. But then there’s other people that have my back and actually like the originality of it.
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