Our thanks to Don Emde's team at Drag Magazine and to Edge Advertising for these words and pictures.
The 2025 Drag Specialties FatBook cover bike is a beautiful blend of two eras of performance – it taps into the current popular "bagger racing" trend but has design cues and custom touches that are drawn from a type of custom motorcycle design that was popular a few decades earlier.
"The performance bagger style is really hot right now," Cheeseman said. "But I am really a fan of the 90s Pro Street look and style – a little more sheet metal, the overall look of the bike dropped a little lower. I wanted that Pro Street look, but to improve on the performance aspect of it with parts we didn't have back then but are available now."
The build started with a stock 2023 Low Rider ST. Then Cheeseman and his crew took a look through the FatBook for parts that would result in a cool blend of those two styles. "There are so many good parts to choose from," he said. "What it really came down to when making the choices was, does it real ly work for this build or not?"
The first change was a Paul Yaffe "The Fix" rear fender kit. "That Yaffe fender is phenomenal," Cheeseman said. "It just works so well at cleaning up the rear end of the bike. And the little details like the license plate frame already being Frenched into the fender, the no taillight look," he said.
To further clean up the rear lines of the bike, Cheeseman fabricated a new set of saddlebag mounts. "It drops the bags maybe an inch or so," he said. "It brings the line down a little bit, tucks them in more, makes it look smoother and sleeker. And the mounts are fully adjustable."
The front end uses a modified Klock Werks front fender. Cheeseman also fabricated custom fender brackets to get the ideal fit and flow of the fender line to match the Pro Street shape he wanted.
The front suspension was upgraded using a Legend Suspensions 43 mm AXEO kit, and the rear suspension is now handled by a Legend Suspensions Air-A Mono kit. Braking power was upgraded with SlyFox 2-piece rotors at the front and rear. The front end also saw a set of Speed Merchant radial brake rotor caliper mounts paired with Performance Machine 4-piston brake calipers for an impressive boost in braking power.
The engine features an S&S Superstreet 2-into-1 exhaust system with a stainless steel finish and a Kodlin USA Oval air cleaner kit with a black finish.
Cheeseman and his team also added in some custom fabrication work to areas of the bike. The front spoiler is another custom piece, hand-fabricated from aluminum by Cheeseman. "It is a pretty cool piece. I am proud of that," he said. "I am also a big fan of symmetry on a motorcycle," he said. "The stock fuel filler, I welded and filled the original location, moved the fuel bung to the center of the tank and integrated the dash for a cleaner look. We also fixed the front fairing angle by a few degrees, tipping it back a bit to flow with the lines better, using a hidden fairing bracket we fabricated."
The stock ignition coil is now inside the front fairing (with custom venting to allow for cooling airflow) and rerouting the ignition wiring as needed to further clean up the look. "We also made a custom top motor mount," Cheeseman said.
Lighting is upgraded all around. The front end now features a Shark Demon 2 head light. LED fairing vent lights, windshield trim, saddlebag lights, turn signals and a series of red LED Boltz frenched into the rear saddle bag filler panels to make the bike shine – and light up when the rider hits the brakes! "The more visible, the better," Cheeseman said.
The paint is a mix of H-D Crimson Red candy over a base of Orion Silver Max combined with Kosmic Sparks Ocean Blue. "I am a bass boat/metalflake paint kind of guy," Cheeseman said with a laugh. "But that kind of finish might have been a little too far out there. The combination is a play on the classic Drag Specialties/Parts Unlimited colors, but it still is pretty wild. I hope everyone who sees this bike finds it inspiring."
Build sheet
- Alloy Art: Heavy Duty Handlebar Riser Bushings
- Arlen Ness: Beveled Chrome Reusable Oil Filter
- Bel Ray: 85W-140 Mineral Transmission Oil
- Covingtons Customs: Smooth Black Billet Auminum Valve Covers
- Custom Dynamics: Amber/ White Fairing Vent Lights, Black Mesh Fairing Vent Insert, Gloss Black LED Windshield Trim, Gloss Black Performance LED Front Turn Signals, Red Polished LED Boltz, Shark Demon 2 Performance LED Headlight, Smart Triple Play Extension Wiring Harness and Signal Conversion Module, Smoked Lens Saddlebag LED Lights
- Dan Chesseman: Chin Spoiler
- Drag Specialties: DS3 Synthetic Engine Oil, Predator 3 Seat (Black with Black Diamond Stitch), Premium Performance Battery
- EK 530: ZVX3 Gold Drive Chain
- Feuling: Polished Vented Oil Dipstick
- Figurati Designs: Black w/ Contrast Cut Skull Seat Mounting Knob
- Joker Machine: Black Adjustable Serrated Shift Peg, Smooth Gas Cap
- Kodlin USA: Black Oval Air Cleaner Kit
- LA Choppers: 1" Stainless Steel Valley Handlebars, Raw Derby Cover
- Legend Suspensions: 43mm AXEO43 Front Suspension Kit, Air-A Mono Rear Suspension Kit
- Metzeler Cruisetec: Front Tire 110/90-19", Rear Tire 180/ 55ZR18"
- Moose Racing: Driver Footpegs
- Paul Yaffe Bagger Nation: "The Fix" Rear Fender Kit
- Performance Machine: Black Ops Radial Brake Master Cyl. Assembly, Black Ops Radial Clutch Lever Assembly, Cable Clutch Safety Actuator, CAN Bus Brake Light Switch Actuator, Chain Drive Conversion for M-8 Softail, Contrast Cut LH and RH Radial 4-Piston Brake Calipers, Contrast Cut Vision Transmission Side Cover
- RC Components: 3/8-16 and 5/16-18 Torx Front Brake Rotor Bolts
- Rough Crafts: Black Knurled Hand Grips
- S&S: Mid-Mount Brake Pedal, Superstreet 2-1 Stainless Exhaust System (50 State), Synthetic Primary Oil
- Saddlemen: Sliver Seat Mounting Washer
- Slyfox: 11.8" Raw 2-Piece Rear Brake Rotor, 13" Raw 2-Piece Front Brake Rotor, Track Pro Design 18" x 5.5" Rear Wheel, Track Pro Design 19" x 3" Front Wheel
- SP Connect: 3D Black Handlebar Phone Mount, Black Anti-Vibration Module, Universal Phone Clamp
- Speed Merchant: Polished Front Radial Caliper Mounts f/13" Rotors
- Thrashin Supply: Black Pullback 6.5" Risers with Gauge Cutout,
- Black Shift Lever
- Todd's Cycle: Black LH Bar End Shooter Mirror
- Trask: Black Check M-8 Vented Transmission Top Cover, Trask Raw Machined Assault Series Cam Cover
