Details
This Custom Harley Davidson, is patterned off of the flat track Harley Davideson racers, that dominated flat track racing for decades.
Harley-Davidson’s Sportster platform has long been a popular starting point for customizers, though 2004 was very significant as it was the first year that HD rubber-mounted the engine for a dramatic increase in comfort. As Ultimate Motorcycling put it: “The Sportster retains a kind of mystique it has carried since the first one hit the highway back in 1957. Maybe it’s the wasp-like profile the longitudinally-mounted V-twin enables when paired with the tapered, smallish tank. It is narrow, and despite the ham-can air cleaner cover that came into use in 1959 that juts out from the right side of the engine, it has a lithe, athletic look and feel.”
The builder of this bike says that he specifically utilized a 2004 Sportster as “I wanted a rubber mounted engine, Buell heads, and carburetion. I spent many years as a superbike tuner, with three championships to show for it, I also built a land speed racer and hold a world record. As a rider/driver/pilot I have 54 racing seasons behind me. I built this bike for the fun of it, and show it on occasion at car shows.”
The builder, David Malmberg, has a prolific history in motorcycling, bio:
After my own long motorcycle racing career, I started tuning for other riders. I built and tuned a GPZ750 for Chris Mencher in ’84 and won the AFM F1 class championship, then inked a deal with Bob Reinen for the next season. I built and tuned a GPZ 750 for Bob, and we won the AFM superbike championship that year. In between working with Chris and Bob I was a guest of Mr. Yoshio Kawasaki at Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Nishi Akashi, Japan. During that visit I was given cylinder heads of the not-yet-released four valve engine which gave me a head start on the next season (with Bob).
The following year I built and tuned a superbike for Dennis Fryer using a CB750 twin cam. He also won his championship. Then I put Donny Greene on the bike for one day and he finished fourth in a Formula USA event. A great ride on a modified street bike against 500 GP bikes. I also helped a few other riders at times including Dave Emde, Chris Steward, Earl Rollof, and others.
After that I switched to racing cars, racing a 944 turbo in Porsche Club events and served for several years as the chief driving instructor.
More recently, my partner and I (Marc Rittner) built a supercharged/nitrous Aprilia RSV land speed bike, which we tuned on the third member of the team (Micah Shoemaker of AF1 Racing)’s Factory Pro eddy current dyno. The bike ran in “unlimited twins” class. It was a fun adventure, all three of us rode it. With me riding we set a speed record at the Texas Mile that still stands, the only twin cylinder bike worldwide in the 200mph club on standing start miles.
Team Punisher - MotorCyclist 200 MPH ClubDavid Malberg was a Development Engineer at Scripps Institution of Oceanography for 35 years, and still own's Malmburg Design, an engineering company.
“My experienced racing friends that have ridden this bike, note that it is so well sorted, that it feels like a factory built bike, not quirky and rough edged enough to be a custom.”