On a sunny morning, Kathy Stafford sips a cup of coffee and takes in one of her most deeply felt pleasures: the jewel-toned hummingbirds gathering at her feeders. Kathy has a thing about hummingbirds. She also has a thing about this kind of morning, and as she heads down to the garage, she relishes the anticipation of getting out on the road, riding on two wheels driven by a powerful, roaring engine.
Waiting for her is her baby: vivid purple, her favorite color, and lavished in chrome — lots and lots of chrome — all adorned with hummingbirds. Yes, hummingbirds.
Created with the help and support of her husband Rusty, Kathy’s baby is a one-of-a-kind machine — a fully customized 2006 Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Fat Boy — embodying Kathy’s sense of adventure and the things she treasures most. "I feel that it is a part of me," she says. "My very own fingerprint and no one else’s."
The bike is also a reflection of Kathy’s deep affection for riding. "I love the freedom and being outside with the wind in my face and not being in a car. I rode on the back of Rusty’s bikes ever since we got married, but I always wanted to ride by myself. Finally I just got my courage up and took lessons eight years ago," she says.
The Fat Boy is the latest, and favorite, in a series of customized Harleys Kathy has enjoyed. "I’ve owned about six including a Low Rider, V-Rod and Sportster. All were customized, decorated and painted with hummingbird accents." She chose the Fat Boy "because it’s larger and has a big front tire. I had tested out another person’s and just liked it, liked the feel of it…it felt more stable than the bike I had."
Kathy’s motorcycle is no ordinary Fat Boy, but a limited edition featuring a load of factory options, including a larger, more powerful air-cooled Stroker twin cam 103-cubic-inch engine, hydraulic clutch, custom wheels and extra chrome accents. "It’s a bike developed by Harley’s Custom Vehicle Operations. Screamin’ Eagles account for only three percent or so of Harley’s total output for a given model year," notes Rusty.
While many other riders would be satisfied with a stock version, or one with modest modifications, the Staffords have taken Kathy’s to a completely different level. "Everything on that bike is custom," says Rusty. "All the powder coating and special paint, all the stainless-steel bolts, the diamond cut heads and cylinders, the custom wheels. There are a lot of things that have been made especially for this bike that you can’t buy anywhere."
In fact, the first thing Rusty did when they got the bike home was strip it down to the frame, removing the many parts to be customized, while Kathy began the design process. She created detailed sketches of the flowers and hummingbirds she wanted painted or engraved on the various components, including the gas tank, fenders, chromed covers — even a custom leather seat and matching helmet cover.
All the mechanical aspects were left to Rusty: lowering the bike so Kathy can handle it more easily, motor modifications and purchasing and installing the many additional chrome parts, including the specially tuned exhaust.
The Staffords were very selective in who they chose to do the customizing. And they didn’t always agree. "I made all the decisions, except for the painter," says Rusty. Adds Kathy, "Rusty didn’t make the final decision because I didn’t especially like the work of the one he wanted. I wanted somebody who won’t make the bike look like a cartoon hummingbird. We finally agreed on Brian’s Kustom Paint in Easley, SC."
The end result is remarkable. Yet as beautiful as the bike is, it’s still a motorcycle at heart and begs to be ridden. Sandy and Rusty, who live in Asheville, ride year round, weather permitting. And while they also own a home in Myrtle Beach and ride there, their favorite routes are here in the mountains of Western North Carolina. "We ride the Parkway, the curvy mountain roads. We get great pleasure in just getting on our bikes with friends and exploring places we’ve never been before," Kathy says.
Needless to say, the bike draws a crowd — human and otherwise — wherever Kathy goes. There’s no question whose bike it is, even among the most hard-core Harley-Davidson aficionados. With its brilliant color, flora and fauna, people continually tell her that it’s the prettiest bike they’ve ever seen. Then there are the others. "Bees will come and sit on the flowers," says Kathy. Adds Rusty, "We stopped at a red light in Myrtle Beach, and I looked over and saw yellow butterflies land on the flowers."
With Rusty’s history of customizing motorcycles — he’s bought and sold close to 40 in the last three years — it’s possible that Kathy will eventually move on to another bike. But when and if she does, she’ll remove everything unique and bring her Fat Boy back to stock, just the way she bought it. "It’s not about the money," she says. "It’s about hummingbirds and how much I love them."
