The Cadillac of Kustoms
One Way Machine (OWM) is a custom bike shop out of Germany for customers looking for classic-vintage built Harley-Davidsons built to the highest level. Julian von Oheimb is the founder and owner and in the past few years has won numerous bike shows throughout Europe. His philosophy is that the time of over-the-top and hard-to-ride trailer queens has come to an end.
This bike named Brougham and is the latest build from OWM. Brougham refers to a 1958 Cadillac Eldorado, previously owned by Clark Gable, that Julian saw in 1993 during a trip to the US. He fell in love with this custom four-door coupe that had suicide doors and air ride.
The bike started with a 2001 Softail Deuce with only 900 kilometers on the speedometer that was purchased from Harley-Davidson Saarbrücken. The manager of H-D Saarbrücken complimented Julian on the purchase of the bike, since it was in such a pristine condition. Little did he know what he had in store for the bike.
First Julian took apart the bike and cleaned the frame and the swingarm for his plans for the modified engine, transmission, and oil tank. While rummaging through his storage he found an old DKW tank from the ’30s, which fit to fulfill his vision for the bike. Next, the tank was completely modified to match the Softail frame. He bent the tunnel, inched a refueling connector, assembled an old hood ornament, and crafted a tank holder and welded it to the base of the tank. The seat was ordered from the US to fit his handcrafted pan. The rear fender is aftermarket that was modified with handcrafted brackets. The rims are from the H-D Smooth-Series and fitted with 21 and 19 inches wrapped in Firestone vintage tires. The front forks were borrowed from a Dyna and modified heavily to fit the frame. The nacelle and headlight grill were CNC’d after Julian’s design. The handlebars were taken from a new line OWM is producing and available in black or chrome. Front brakes came from Beringer with the rear rotor-brake from SSC. Mooneyes supplied the air filter and ignition cover. Finally, the exhaust was hand crafted by Julian himself.
Just one week after being completed this bike won the highest award for a Harley-Davidson Custom bike at the AMD-World Championship Organization. Three weeks later he also won at Big Twin Expo in the Netherlands. From Detroit to Germany, this custom Softail has all the makings of a world-wide classic.