Svein Børge Heggen, or simply called "Heggen", as he is called, is 46 years old and lives in Tysvær near Haugesund. Heggen has been a car mechanic since 1994, but has "worked with 2 and 4 wheels since I was 11-12 years old", as he says it himself. He has also been a race mechanic in car racing and has therefore naturally taken some inspiration from there for his build, "Rage". Anger in Norwegian. The bike is a '99 model Harley Softail Night Train, which was sold new in Haugesund in 1999. "When I bought it, it was a pile of rust that had been left to decay for 14 years. I wanted to build something that was my own in my own style, so all the work on this one was done by me, even the paintwork".
Text: Atle / Svein Børge Heggen
Photo. Svein Børge Heggen
Something cool, and not primarily with a focus on driving characteristics
"I wanted something special and something that suited my 196 cm. The idea was that it should be something cool, and not primarily focused on driving characteristics. The vision of the result is clear as soon as you have a starting point and a mental image of the bike. And so it was. As I said, there was no focus on handling or comfort, but the bike is surprisingly "easy" to ride, I am constantly grinning inside my helmet as soon as I sit in the saddle to go for a ride. I didn't set a budget or a fixed time, the hope was May last year, so the timetable was a bit broken - it was finished in February this year".
Complete overhaul!
Since the bike had been sitting and decaying for so long, Heggen had to start from scratch, with sandblasting of the frame and repairs before painting. In the engine, the pistons were rusted firmly in the cylinders and bearings were then, ditto dried out and rusted bearings in the gearbox, so the bike had to have a full overhaul. "On this project, the motto has been that I haven't done it before, I'm sure I'll get it done. I had to learn how to tin when I was working on the tank, learn how to paint when the bike had to be colored, as well as learn how to work with shrink paint on the components I wanted that effect on."
New projects underway
Heggen has worked on the bike "on and off" as the economy allowed, and as motivation allowed. "The building has given me so much extra taste that I have created a small custom workshop where I am now working on a new V-rod project, at the same time as my own next big project. This is in the same style as Rage, and is "finished in my head", so now the economy is being worked on once again". Scanbike is looking forward to the completion of the next project too!
Technical information:
Owner: Svein Børge Heggen
Bike: '99 softail
Engine: 1340 EVO
Gear: 5-speed with extended shafts
Primary: 3.35 tom ultima with dry clutch
Front tires: 120/70-16
Rear tire: 300/35-18
Exhaust system: 2.5 inch pipes homemade
Tank: Wide and stretched, approx. 30 liter capacity
Suspension: Air suspension front and rear with tank and compressor, the bike can be raised approx. 5 cm both front and back so that it becomes drivable
Headlight: V-rod
Handlebar: Dragbar home made
Front forks: Heavily modified, shortened original forks
Backswing: Zodiac
Front and rear screen: Homemade
Intake: Intake with 2 air filters, 2.5 inch homemade
Painting: Svein Børge Heggen
Construction time: On and off for about 2.5 years.
