Sympathetic friends donated a generic Corbin solo seat and a few other small parts, and a little eBay surfing procured a stubby rear fender and a Factory solo seat to complete the rear of the bike. Now 15 days into the project, an abnormally rainy Saturday morning was reserved to spend some quality time in the garage. First, the Corbin seat was too big for a Sporty, the H-D seat just needed a bit of shaving to look right, and the fender was never going to look good on any motorcycle. My install day had now become a leaf through the J&P catalog day. I had intended to get hand controls from them anyway, so maybe a fender would jump off the page as well. Controls, pegs, grips, and a nice chrome brake lever all came from J&P and were reasonably priced. Their fender selection is endless, but none under the heading of Sportster seemed to strike my fancy. I noticed some knock-off vintage FL sheetmetal, hinge and all. A complete departure from my bobbed rear fender plan, the long and wide FL unit would add the visual weight to the rear that the big bars added to the front and perhaps bring balance to the bike. For $75 I couldn't go wrong, so I added it to my online order.
For us working folk, weekdays are for chasing parts and weekends are spent in the garage bolting them on. J&P made sure I had the metal by Friday, and now, 20-odd days into the bobber on a budget, I was nearing completion and had stayed very much within budget. I had measured the cables I would need (throttle, clutch, and brake line) and placed an order with Barnett Performance Products. Then I hit a speed bump. What I thought was the perfect fender didn't come close to fitting in between the frame rails. It measured 7 inches wide, just like the book had said, but as it turns out, my frame rails where a bit over 7 inches, but other parts within the rear end were not. I knew there was only one solution: Tin snips and a big hammer. The front four or so inches of the fender trimmed off nicely and the sheetmetal-which fell behind the apparently narrower shock mounts-was "adjusted" with a sand-filled hammer. The end result fit nicely. I patted myself on the back, and then I installed the pegs and wired the hand controls. Next, I needed to decide on the Budget Bobber's paint scheme.
As it turns out, paint isn't cheap. My urge to ride was beginning to exceed my urge to build. By week's end, the answer was clear. Rattle cans were well within my budget, and a flat black paint scheme would fit perfectly into the bobber styling. The old guy at the counter of the local parts house pointed me to heat paint, as it's more tolerant to abuse. Four cans of 1200 degree paint later, I was done. By Sunday morning of the 36th day, I was riding my new bobber! And, with the pride of doing it all myself for just over $5,000 for everything-bike and parts-I can only hope this will inspire others to do the same.
 7. Trimmed down and beat...  7. Trimmed down and beat with a hammer, the old school fender was at home on the Sporty. The hinged rear section posed an interesting challenge, but a cleverly placed strap hidden on the inside seemed to keep things in place. |  8. The parts store recommended...  8. The parts store recommended heat paint for the body. Tougher and more tolerant of fuel, it was the perfect solution and actually sprays on very nicely. The fuel tank received the same treatment. |  9. You gotta love the look...  9. You gotta love the look of a set of fat apes. The Burly bars are dimpled and drilled for internal wiring and topped of with a set of chrome controls and vintage style grips. |
 10. Not bad for a crude garage...  10. Not bad for a crude garage build. Given a bit more budget, I might swap out the stock discs for something prettier, and forward controls might be cool, too. With that said, the bike far exceeded expectations and came together in a little over a month and with money to spare. | | |