The street address of Rick's motorcycles in Baden-Baden is Flugstrasse 1 and this name has a story. It was on this site that Zeppelin landed his air-ships when touring the southern part of Germany. Originally, Baden-Baden's flight terminal was really a stop on the very first flight route Friedrichshafen/Baden-Baden/Mannheim. And Anthony Fokker evaluated his prototypes right here, before they took over the skies on the Western Front in The First World War.

In 2010, the airport, only a shadow of its original size and significance, commemorated 100 years, and besides the winged old-timers and sailplanes, it's the low flying motorcycles at nearby House of Custom that draw in considerable particular attention.

There's always several top, custom built motor bikes in the big display room at Rick's and sometimes only a review with the original product uncovers how innovative Rick's motorbikes are. When Harley launched the latest VRSCA V-Rod, the team quickly spearheaded the effort to transform and enhance the new model.

In the first years, all VRSCAs lacked tank total capacity and it was Rick's that created alternatives. His 280 V-Rod conversions are probably the most popular in the marketplace and are generally very popular from authorized Harley-Davidson dealers. But a totally built-by-Rick's motorbike is something different, as this Low Flying Rod shows. It is quite easy to say Rick's paints the engine and framework, only if you took your motorbike totally apart to carry out this kind of project could you visualize that outstanding work load makes the difference between stock and rock! This motorbike has been taken apart nearly to last component, painted, powder-coated, after which built into a low-rider muscle motorbike. A lot of the complete line of Rick's V-Rod components has been used: front fender, short-cut tail end, saddle, and the tank cover up that incorporates the Speedo removed from its stock handlebar cover up location.

All drivetrain parts as well as rims are with the 10-1/2"-wide rear end wheel hosting a 280 Metzeler tire. To install such a big rubber on the stock V-Rod frame, they work with a specially developed offset pulley featuring an additional support bearing that takes the additional forces and more. Loaded with Legend air shocks, the bike could easily be lifted from low profile to a high set up.

The stock V-Rod offers an astonishing 121 horses, which the 280 can steadily give on the road. This motorbike doesn't pretend to be a muscle motorbike, it's a muscle motorbike! It's hard and ready for the road, yet it's still a stock Harley that can be serviced by any Harley-Davidson dealership throughout the world.