Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

Dream Builds:  The Ironhead Sportster. 

We didn't refer to them as Ironheads back in the Old Days.

This is an older post that I wrote well before I bought my current motorcycle. I had been giving the subject of buying and modifying a Sportster quite a bit thought. I decided to run this while I'm in the process of cleaning out my files.

There is a bike that meets my criterion and it's now fairly inexpensive.

The "Iron Head" Harley Sportster built between 1957 and 1978. These bikes feature the older, narrow, forward mount, forward leaning shock absorber frame.

What could I do with one of these?

The earliest Sportsters looked kinda nifty.

 This is a stock 1957 XL.

This is an attractive machine that ties in to FLH styling cues. Note the large tank, sprung seat, bulbous head lamp and full coverage fenders. These early bikes are rarely seen and hard to find in stock condition.


I actually built my '77 XLCR to mimic this style. I added a four gallon Drag Specialties "Quick Bob" FX tank, a long rear fender with a beehive tail lamp, an early 60's XLH chrome headlight nacelle and shrouded front fender. I mimicked the two tone paint job with two tone red and white tank and fenders.

Then I added a set of vintage crash bars. I found these vintage parts at Laidlaw's Harley Davidson back in the early 1980's.

I adapted the headlight nacelle. handlebar mounts and cover
as well as the fender and fitted rubber fork gaiters to my bike's later forks.

Unfortunately I just can't find a photo of my bike in that configuration. It lasted for a couple of years then I did another restyle. My bike remained in this final configuration for many years until it was sold.

I stayed with the big tank for my next restyling.

The more desirable models had always been the sportier XLCH. It had the small tank and slimmer fenders. During the late 1960's Sportsters were very popular and it seems that most were built into custom Choppers. The staggered dual exhaust became the standard choice Most builders discarded the big saddles and adopted the popular "Cobra" design. The factory decided that there was no need to have two differently styled models and the kick and electric start became the major difference. There wasn't a touring model available any more.

This model set the template for the next
fifty years.

By 1971 the Sportster had evolved into these sleek, narrow 1000 cc. beauties. There was no longer any styling difference between the kick start XLCH and the electric start XLH. The "turtle tank" was now thankfully, ancient history. 

Typical traditional flat tracker. No rear suspension or front brakes.

HD had always been successfully involved in flat track racing with the XR machines. Rigid frame racing bikes were used up into the early 1960's. These flat trackers have always held a lot fascination for a certain segment of enthusiasts. Though the racing machines were not Sportsters, the engines were quite different, they sure looked a lot like Sportsters.

The hardtale rigid frame was adopted by some Sportster builders, but Sportys have usually retained the rear suspension even when transformed into choppers. The popular Bay Area or Frisco look retained the rear shocks. The front forks tubes were exchanged for long units, and sometimes the entire front fork was replaced by a custom Springer. Typically, the fork neck was not raked out, the bikes had a more compact close coupled look than traditional choppers. This was often referred to as the "digger" look.

The typical Frisco Look.

A lot of bikes have been modified over the years, and finding a completely original bike can be quite difficult. The routine has usually been to buy a stock bike and start replacing items with custom parts. The stock parts were often just thrown in the trash. After twenty or thirty years, the supply of old stock parts is pretty thin.

Depending on your plans, you can find many surviving chopped examples. Sometimes there current configuration fits your plan. However old aftermarket equipment varies in quality and you have to be sure that the modified items are still safe to use.

Seen on CL.

This bike combines an extended Springer front end and Frisco mount Mustang style tank with... foot boards? An unusual pairing.

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This red bike is a mildly modified example that could be returned to stock. The changes aren't irreversible.

A very simple and impressive machine.

   

On the other hand, this rigid custom would be a headstart if you wanted a rigid frame and alloy wheels. However, if you prefer laced wheels there would be that added expense of finding and adapting a set wire a spoke wheels. 

I liked the look, at first...

My first Sportster was a previously chopped bike. I thought that I'd be ahead of the game by buying it. However I soon found that it didn't fit my needs, and it wasn't realistic to return it to a more standard configuration. I made a big change to an extended OEM fork with a disc brake, which was an improvement, but I would have been better off with a stock bike.

Maybe not ideal, but that didn't stop me from riding it.

I went ahead and made some changes to better fit my preferences. The above photo is from a trip to British Columbia in 1976.

It seems that I've drifted off the subject a bit. I was discussing styling influences on Sportster customizing. A later post will discuss another strong influence on Sportster styling; the drag bike.