STURGIS, S.D., MARCH 30—The custom 2014 Harley-Davidson Street Glide built by participants of the Buffalo Chip’s Student Build Challenge received first place in the High School Build Open Class at the 27th annual Donnie Smith Bike Show where it was unveiled to the public for the first time. The Sturgis Brown High School students participating in the build had been working steadily since January 6 under the instruction of the industry’s top professionals in order to complete customizations in time for this past weekend’s unveiling. The finished bike features a fully overhauled and customized motor for increased performance, a lowered, stretched body and an eye-catching graffiti-themed paint job. It is also one of the first custom 2014 Street Glides in existence. The bike will be auctioned off at this year’s Sturgis Rally following the annual Legends Ride in Deadwood.
“The motorcycle these students created has absolutely blown away my expectations for this year’s bike build project,” says Rod Woodruff, president of the Sturgis Buffalo Chip. “Moreover, these young students created a machine that wowed the industry’s top builders at the Donnie Smith Show. That’s something the students, the school, the community and all those involved in the Student Build Challenge should be very, very proud of.”
2014 marked the first year the Student Build worked on a new-year motorcycle donated by Black Hills Harley-Davidson, and the students found customizing a brand-new Street Glide to be one of their largest hurdles. The Motor Company had made drastic changes between the 2013 and 2014 models, which meant most of the custom parts for the bike had yet to be created.
This was also the first year the bike build program placed the same focus on the motorcycle’s performance as it did its appearance. The bike features a Trask turbo system with a 10:1 compression ratio, Dave Mackie Engineering hemi Harley heads, CP Carrillo dome pistons and performance parts from Feuling Parts. The class anticipates that together these parts will work to produce 175 horsepower once the motorcycle has enough miles on it to safely run a dyno test.
“If somebody’s a motorhead, they’re going to get really excited about the performance of this motorcycle,” says Student Build Challenge mentor, Keith Terry of Terry Components. “Those who care more about how the bike looks will love it too. We’ve got both elements going for our bike this year.”
**Keep an eye out for the June issues of Thunder Press for a full coverage of the 27th annual Donnie Smith Bike & Car Show, including a story on the Sturgis Brown Legends Ride auction bike and all of the other student bike builds featured at the show.
