There?s usually a little trepidation when we hear from a custom builder that we don?t know. Is their work any good, or are they a prime example of the Dunning-Kruger effect" But we weren’t quite prepared for how hard our jaws would hit the floor, when this Harley-Davidson WLC flathead bobber landed in our inbox.
It comes from Slobodan Cirkovic?a Croatian ex-pat living in the UK. And although this is the first time we?re seeing his work, he?s been slogging away in his workshop in Corby, just north-east of Northampton, for a long time already.

The story behind this bobber is a quite a saga, since it was the catalyst that helped Slobodan step up from tinkerer to serious custom builder. It started fourteen years ago, with a 1943 Canadian army-issue Harley WLC engine found on eBay. ?I wanted to start working on the bike, but I knew I would need adequate space, good tools and a lot of spare parts,? he tells us. ?I decided to make some changes to my garage and use it as a workshop. That garage is still in use as my main workshop, and it has produced some amazing bikes over the years.?

Slobodan first built a steel table and a jig, then bought a lathe, pipe bender and other essentials. Using a pile of steel tubing, and steel plates salvaged from a scrapyard, he started piecing the bike together.
?I welded everything together, which was more challenging more than I thought it would be,? he says. ?It was the first Harley I was working on, so it was a steep learning cu...