Inspiration often comes from unexpected sources. Most enthusiasts will impart muse credit to another bike, a car, or even a girl. The inspiration for this bike came from handlebars. Yep, bent tubing with a slathering of chrome set off what quickly became a bobber on a budget. Why the "Bobber on a Budget" moniker? Well, it turns out I'm just an average guy, with average skills, a set of average tools, and quite likely a below average wallet. With that said-and with a fresh set of Burly ape hangers on my workbench-I set off on a quest for the other parts I would need, the first of which was a motorcycle.
I've always had a soft spot for Sportsters, especially older examples, which are very reasonably priced. With a weekend of surfing the net and calling on potential donor bikes, I bought a pristine '86 XL 883 for $2,500. This early generation Evo was in good condition and included an S&S Shorty carb and a brand new Vance & Hines Pro Pipe. It ran great and I could always bump the slugs up to 1200 at a later date.
I had the bike parked in my garage with a list of intended purchases drawn up. However, my significant other saw my list and I had to cut it short, but it did not impact the enthusiasm for the project (damn voice of reason). The Burly bars sat nicely on the bike and I could already see the transformation coming together. The next call was to Sam at Ride Wright Wheels. Sam knows his stuff, so we decided to go from the stock 19-inch to a 21-inch, and from the squatty 16-inch rear wheel to an 18-incher. Corona Harley-Davidson supplied the new rubber and balancing. Surprisingly, a lot of the crew members at Corona H-D were Sporty bobber enthusiasts (walking through their service area was sort of like a preview of coming attractions).
Ten days into the project, the bike was virtually unrecognizable. The big wheels now demanded a lowering kit. Burly makes a full line of low-buck lowering parts, so they seemed like the obvious go-to. Seems the Burly guys have been burning the midnight oil, and they had a prototype of their new Slammer Kit, which includes 10-1/2-inch shocks and a fork lowering kit that doesn't require the frontend to come off of the bike. The whole package fell under $300. The tattered fork lowers would require I pull the forks apart anyway, but the ease of the Slammer kit was much appreciated.
1. First of all, I ditched the stock Sporty bars and went with this set of Burly Apes. | 
2. Test fitting the Ride Wright Wheels only added to the excitement. These things bolted right on and looked fantastic. The same could not be said for the fork legs. | 
3. H-D forks are not terribly complicated and come apart with only a few bolts. Lowers were sent to the powdercoater and the springs were swapped for a Burly Slammer Kit. |
4. Fresh from paint and now sporting a 2+ inch drop, the frontend was ready for final assembly. Also note the short risers. No reason to have extended risers and tall bars. | 
5. Hand controls as well as other bolt-ons were sourced from J&P's extensive catalog. This complete set of chrome hand controls is a perfect example. | 
6. Even without bodywork, the red wheels, dropped suspension, and tall bars truly define the bobber look. A little elbow grease and polishing compound had the motor looking good, too. |