{"id":6913,"date":"2018-05-14T16:40:07","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T16:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hotbike.local\/basic_content\/how-kens-factory-does-bagger\/"},"modified":"2022-12-08T14:32:18","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T22:32:18","slug":"how-kens-factory-does-bagger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/how-kens-factory-does-bagger\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ken’s Factory Does a Bagger"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Ken<\/p>\n

Leave it to Ken Nagai<\/strong> of Ken\u2019s Factory in Japan to create a custom bagger this cool. Even though Nagai brought a tall front wheel into the project, you\u2019d have an easier time finding integrity in a politician than locating any of these baggers roosting outside some watering hole at a rally. It\u2019s not so much a touring motorcycle as stripped-down sex machine with saddlebags and a sleek little fairing.<\/p>\n

Dubbed \u201cHard Call,\u201d this machine rocks a 106-inch Twin Cam powerplant swathed in a rubber-mount frame of Ken\u2019s making. Between the Eaton blower and the aluminum bodywork Nagai brought to the project, it has the makings of a bagger built for speed right off the bat. Although he went large(ish) with a 23-inch front wheel set in his own girder front end, Ken wasn\u2019t exactly feeling Big Wheel Mania when it came to this project. The wheel\u2019s larger than a stock Harley<\/a> rim but in the age of 32-inch wheels, it\u2019s certainly not extreme. Come to think of it, I don\u2019t remember a Ken\u2019s Factory bike where Mr. Nagai did feel the Hula-Hoop vibe.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that Ken\u2019s Factory has figured out the balance point between too much and too little on the something different scale of custom. From Dynas<\/a> and Softails<\/a> to choppers and this here bagger, Hot Bike<\/em> has featured a fair selection of Ken Nagai\u2019s work both in print and online. That\u2019s one trend I\u2019m okay with seeing.<\/p>\n

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No cupholders, no speaker lids. Just a sweet bike with a bit of fairing and a set of hard bags. That\u2019s all you need. Everything else is simply luxury. Or in this case, it would have been extra weight running counter to the purpose: to go fast.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"aluminum<\/p>\n

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Ken\u2019s Factory\u2019s aluminum tank is animal, to be sure.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"V-Rod<\/p>\n

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Nagai\u2019s shop wrapped a V-Rod headlamp in just enough aluminum to redirect wind from the pilot, then capped it with a strip of windshield up top.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"harley-davidson<\/p>\n

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Open primaries aren\u2019t a standard design cue for baggers. That\u2019s probably what drew Ken Nagai to using one here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"harley-davidson<\/p>\n

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You\u2019d think that with a profile this narrow and almost no inner fairing of which to speak, there\u2019d be no gauges but the shop made it work, in style.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Ken<\/p>\n

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The artist and his work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"harley-davidson<\/p>\n

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On the pipe side, that blower doesn\u2019t really obscure your view of the motor, letting your eye take in details like the faceted muffler.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"harley-davidson<\/p>\n

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Up close and personal with the bags. When was the last time you saw saddlebag hardware like this?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"harley-davidson<\/p>\n

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Round LED lights on the bags and back fender get you noticed when you need to hit the stopping power.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Ken<\/p>\n

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Pausing for reflection\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Michael Lichter Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leave it to Ken Nagai of Ken’s Factory in Japan to create a custom bagger this cool. Even though Nagai brought a tall front wheel into the project, you’d have an easier time finding integrity in a politician than locating any of these baggers roosting outside some watering hole at a rally. It’s not so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":98,"featured_media":99797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74,590,13,4,2288],"motorcycle_parts":[],"motorcycle_models":[],"motorcycle_builders":[],"motorcycle_gear":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/98"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6913"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108716,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions\/108716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"motorcycle_parts","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motorcycle_parts?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"motorcycle_models","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motorcycle_models?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"motorcycle_builders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motorcycle_builders?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"motorcycle_gear","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotbike.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motorcycle_gear?post=6913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}