Sportster Bolt-Ons | Tech
In this installment of the Lil Devil, we have been gathering parts to hang on our 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster and boy do we have a gang of them to bolt on.
This bike is being built in a “Sportster Variant” style that mashes up a stock Sporty with a dash of super motard, a pinch of street tracker, and a teaspoon of straight motocross.
Earlier, we rebuilt the motor and installed a 1200ci kit from S&S, then dressed up the motor a bit by adding some shiny stuff and an intake as well as breathers from Boyle Custom Moto. Now we are ready to upgrade the suspension, lighting, handlebars, hand controls, tank, fender, and seat with a mix of moto and metal.
Here’s the ’99 Sporty lying in wait for the plethora of parts we are about to pile on it.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
The first thing we did was install a set of Progressive Suspension 970 shocks out back. These piggyback-style adjustable shocks will work well on the rough roads we will be encountering down Mexico way.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
To keep the frontend laterally stiff, we added an H-D Screamin’ Eagle fork brace.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Here’s the parts pile of handheld goodness. We started off with a set of Renthal’s fatbars and risers. We then added a set of adjustable 7/8-inch hand controls scored off of eBay Motors, and a throttle and grips from Motion Pro. We also wanted some hand protection, so we scored a set of Enduro Engineering hand guards and shields.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
After half a bottle of Permatex threadlocker and about 20 minutes, all the aforementioned parts were in their final resting places.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
It sure is going to be fun having proper hand protection for whatever we encounter in Mexico… or just on our local freeways.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
To add major amounts of lighting (3,600 lumens to be exact) on those lonely two-lane highways and dirt roads, we went with Baja Designs’ Squadron LED headlamp setup. We expect pretty much electric daylight shooting out of these four CREE LED lamps.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Since we are not racing, we ditched the bright0white number plate decal from the Baja Designs light and in turn gave the LED apparatus a sinister mini fairing look to it
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Our buddies at Spitfire Motorcycles custom-made us an all-metal tail section by hand that we mated to a Harley-Davidson Superglide tank. Casey
Johnson at Headcase Custom Art did a killer job of spaying the sheetmetal to look like a vintage H-D factory race bike.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
The best part about this paint scheme is from the side it looks like we have an orange bike as well as a black one!
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Spitfire Motorcycles also stitched up a custom seat for the seat pan using vintage vinyl and pleated it for that old-school race look.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Chassis Design Co. made this bitchin’ vented moto-looking billet aluminum gas cap that fits Harley-Davidson tanks.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Furthering the motocross feel of the bike, we scored a set of these pegs from Burly Brand — the welded steel foot hangers that even had a bottle opener cut into them.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
We have achieved roller status. The right side of the bike looks very dark and sedate, whereas the left side is almost too bright.
Photos: Jeff G. Holt
Sources:
Baja Designs
Burly Brand
Renthal
Permatex
Ebay Motors
El Diablo Run
Motion Pro
Screamin’ Eagle
Spitfire Motorcycles
Enduro Engineering
Harley-Davidson
Headcase Custom Art
Progressive Suspension
Chassis Design Co
Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the June 2013 issue. Somewhere between then and now the files went into some sort of cybernetic land of the lost, only to be dug up now.
