Uncharted Territory; The Very First Milwaukee Eight FXR

Words and Photos: Jeff G. Holt

Doing something that has never been done before in the custom motorcycle realm always sounds ultimately exciting. But it usually entails much more work than anyone could ever imagine. And this was the care when we decided to do this project. It all started in 2018 when Danny Wilson aka the Motor Witch and I had an Idea to shoehorn a then brand new Milwaukee Eight Powerplant into a 1990’s FXRP.

After I did some cycle searching, I found a blown up and long retired 1993 FXRP Fairfax Virginia police bike from Oliver Jones of The Cut Rate. Knowing that FXRP’s were even in short supply when new, Danny and I wanted to do this bike build some justice (pun totally intended) and take the extra steps to make this cop bike look like it came from the Harley-Davidson factory with an M8 engine and transmission intact.

The long journey started when the bike was stripped down to just the frame. Justin Coleman and Big Chris of FXR Division were asked to re-engineer the whole FXR frame to fit the M8 motor and transmission, which they did an impeccable job of. Once the frame was ready to easily accept the Milwaukee Eight powertrain, we got busy getting this bike to roller status. The bike started its build up with Race Tech G6 and G3-S suspension, Speed Merchant triple trees, Beringer radial brakes, and a custom set of Jade Affiliated 13-spoke wheels wrapped in Continental Tire’s Conti Tour rubber.

The zero-mile factory-fresh engine was built by Danny Wilson and featured a Leading Edge 151ci big-bore kit. This kit increases the M8 engine's horsepower by over 60-percent. And it uses no forced induction like a turbo or supercharger to get that power. It gets that power from good old American made and dependable displacement. 

The bodywork was sent to none other than Taylor Schultz of Schultz Designz in Northern California where it was treated to a massively stylized version of the standard black and white cop bike paint scheme. Taylor also added both red and blue pinstripes as well as some ghosted and pearlized designs that he is famous for, which is hidden in the paint.

Once the engine was back from receiving 165hp and 183tq it was installed into the bike, Jay from Fab 28 Industries hand built a beautiful stainless steel multi-stepped one-off exhaust just for this bike. The bodywork was then fitted and all of the special lighting and parts from our pals at Hardcase Performance, Saddlemen, Rogue Rider Industries, Motodemic, Russ Wernimont Designs, Rekluse, and Kuryakyn were bolted up. FXR Division donated a set of its Police bags to finish off the look of the cop bike. Then Danny Wilson then had the intense job of wiring and firing the bike.

This bike was being built at the same time I parted ways with Hot Bike Magazine and started an entity known V-Twin Visionary. Subsequently this momental first of a generation of bike builds didn’t at all get the fanfare and attention it honestly deserved. All of the hard work and hours of trial and error should have gotten it on magazine covers all over the world. I feel that another reason for people not connecting with this machine was that this build was indeed ahead of its time. So many people in 2018 were stuck on the H-D Dyna and Twin Cam engines that they didn’t even know what to think about doing a Milwaukee Eight engine swap into any type of chassis. Much less an FXR. Now many of these types of “M8FXR” bikes have been built using this very motorcycle as the blueprint and cheat sheet.

So many talented people were involved in getting this machine completed and in a way I have felt responsible for not being able to get more eyes on this bike when it was built. And that is a feeling that has never sat well with me. But the past is the past, and what I can do now in 2024 so many years later is write nostalgically about it in Riser Magazine, which is ironically now one the the world’s best performance motorcycle magazines. And I am glad to show to another generation of bike builders and enthusiasts truly the first M8 FXR and to finally set the record straight. 

Owner- Jeff G. Holt

Shop- Motorwitch/Buddy Stubbs H-D/Leading Edge V-Twin

Website- vtwinvisionary.com

Year/Make/Model- 1993/H-D/FXRP

Fabrication- Motorwitch/Justin Coleman

Build Time- Ten months

Year/Type/Size- 2018/H-D/151ci

Builder- Danny Wilson x Leading Edge

Exhaust- Fab 28 Industries

Air Cleaner- Leading Edge

Year/Type- 2018

Gears- H-D x A-1 Cycles

Clutch- Rekluse/Leading Edge

Year/Type- 1993/FXRP

Rake/Stretch- None

Colors- Black & White

Paint/Graphics- Schultz Designz

Front Fender- H-D

Rear Fender- H-D

Gas Tank- H-D  

Fairing- OG H-D FXRP

Windshield- Russ Wernimont

Bags- FXR Division

Handlebars- Custom Bend

Risers- Hardcase Performance

Hand Controls- H-D Bagger

Floor Boards- FXR Division 1-Off

Headlight- Motodemic

Headlight Shield- Russ Wernimont

Taillight- Kuryakyn

License Plate Mount- Kuryakyn

Pod Lights- Rouge Rider Industries 

Turn Signals- Rouge Rider Industries

Seat- Saddlemen