waynesintro

Kiwi Wayne’s Awesome Softail

Well you got to say our mates from New Zealand love and have some top custom bikes like us here in Australia. I meet Wayne on my travels in the land of the long white cloud early this year in Christchurch. Wayne does not just ride a Harley; he is one of the top bike salesmen in New Zealand.

He knows an awful lot about Harleys and how they go, and guess you got to say, he is also one hell of a top rider. Wayne had this bike made to suit his taste. Well crikey it is one hell of a top show bike. Wayne and I decided to take a few shots one day, but the rain there made it pretty impossible to get some good pics, as I was on a dead line I told Wayne I would be back in a week to get some more pics. After changing most of the show room around and finding the sissy bar Wayne had not seen for a long time as we moved his desk, and other furniture to do a shoot, not happy I came back and Wayne took me to a different location, to suit his bike. We ended up in an area where there is a small bar where the black power live and the bike got a lot of attention at this photo shoot.

Words by Wayne:

My bike is a 2006 Harley Davidson FXSTI, it turned up at the shop in October 2005 it was one of the first Softails to arrive and it had my name on it. It came straight out of the box and it was bound for our workshop to be pulled down. Isaac Fisher is our apprentice motorcycle mechanic at Eric Wood Motorcycles, and I had asked him if he wanted to help me put this all together, and any ideas he had would be appreciated. I wanted Isaac to do it all, as he has huge potential and what; I believed to be the future of our workshop at Eric Wood M/C. For a young fella, 19yrs old he took pride in his work and was very thorough.

The bike was pulled down, and the tank and guards were given to Dean Lawrence a local painter here in Christchurch. Dean paints all of our custom paint jobs other than that we had pulled the front end off and replaced it with....

5 degree triple trees

4 inch overs...didn't want to go to long in the forks, New Zealand has some of the best riding roads, lots of corners and I still wanted this bike to handle well.

80 Spoked front wheel

4 inch chubby risers with 16 inch high ape hangers were bolted on.

Head light cover (peaked)

Full chrome switch blocks

Alron grips

Arleness mirrors

Tear drop air cleaner cover

Regulator cover

Flamed derby cover

Skull foot pegs

Lower chrome belt guard

Sprocket cover and bolts

Led lights were fitted, blue down one side and red down the other. Looks very effective at night.

Isaac said, we should chrome the rocker covers, oil tank, primary cover, timer cover, etc. I agreed and he made it happen, they were sent to Gisborne in the North Island.

The Fishtail mufflers came from Oz and header pipes and heat shields were made locally. Steve Aitken has an engineers shop just down the road, I had asked him to make the pipes fit my bike so I can get a pillion on it. It was a mission, and the only way we could do it was close the fishtails up together. I also spoke to Isaac about the back rest bar, I told him I wanted it high, he laughed. We measured it up and designed it, then went to Steve. He bent it up for me, job was done, Isaac put the bike back together, and over a few months Isaac fine tuned it. Over all I am really happy with my bike, I wanted a new bike with an old school look, and that’s what I have.

I have had a few Harleys but this bike is by far the coolest bike I have ridden, most of my mates have ridden it and they think its all good. It went on the road of January 2006 and has clocked up 20,000ks.

I bought my 1st Harley in 1998, it was a 1989 FXST. When I had spotted this bike, I just had to have it, so I traded my Ute, my boat and even my girlfriend at the time. She didn't like it at all, but I was going to own this bike regardless. In Dec 2000 I went to a brand new FXDWG, and by April 2001 I had crashed that bike in New Plymouth. A tourist in a camper van had taken me out at an intersection; I was only doing 40kph at the time when he failed to give way to me. I broke all my ribs on the left side, broke a couple of fingers, but worst of all I had busted 2 discs in my back and shattered the 2nd vertebrae.

I was a truck driver for Hookers Transport at the time in New Plymouth doing line haul all over the North Island, so I spent a long time in the seat bouncing around, my doctor had said it might be a good time to change your career, as I was only 26yrs old at the time. I was in recovery for 2years 4 months, getting really bored. I tried driving again but it was uncomfortable after a hour or so.

I had made a decision to change direction; I had a think about what I would like to do. I wanted to work for a Harley Davidson dealer selling Harleys, I thought this would be easy and I shouldn't have any trouble in getting a job. I WAS WRONG; it was going to be harder getting into a dealership than expected, as there are only 6 dealers in the country. I had rung the dealers closer to me, 3 hours away and asked the question, I would like a job selling bikes. To cut a long story short, they all said No, except for the dealer in Christchurch, Eric Wood Motorcycles, so on a maybe I flew to Christchurch and this was when I first met Dianne Kennedy. Dianne is the Manager of Eric Wood Motorcycles, I wandered on into her office, sat down and told her what I wanted to do, and she had mentioned that lots of Harley riders would like a job of this nature. There was no job at the time, but in a few months there could be, that was enough for me to fly home and pack up and move to Christchurch, so in July of 2003 I was off to Christchurch to live, and I made it clear to Dianne that I would be an asset to the company. Week after week, I went into the shop asking about the job, she kept saying not yet, come back in 2 weeks, so I did. I kept hearing not yet. I was getting sick of hearing, not yet or come back in 2 weeks, but I hung in there and headed back to Eric Wood M/C every 2 weeks, I was not giving in.

In March 2004 I got a phone call from Dianne, she had said that one of her salesman was on holiday for a month and would I like to come in for that time he was away. I was there within the hour, that month I sold 12 bikes. And yep, I am still here selling bikes today and doing pretty good. Eric Wood M/C suits me down to the ground, and the team here are great to work with. We are situated at 35 Manchester Christchurch, so if you’re over here, make sure one of your stops is at Eric Wood Motorcycles.

Wayne Potter

Sales Manager

Eric Wood Motorcycles

35 Manchester Street,

Christchurch.

I would like to thank my mates at Eric Wood for their help in bringing me this story to the mag, if you are ever in Christchurch, go see all the guys and gals at the Harley Dealer, they are real good bunch, and they are so friendly and also the service is fantastic. Thanks to Wayne that just informed me he just purchased a new softail as he wanted to go to the new motor for more power, but all the parts and paint will be put on his new bike.

I had a wonderful trip of the south Island. These folks made my trip a great one, and again this year I will be going back to find a few more stories and bikes like Wayne’s. Keep the wee jandles moving and the chilly bins full. I “ll be back.