Do motorcycles count as artwork?

Ok, I’ll admit this one might be a little bit of a stretch. But this has been my “rolling artwork” project throughout the pandemic so I thought I’d share it anyway. I’ve never done anything like this before and I learned a lot in the process. Thanks for reading and please don’t judge the horribly messy garage (that’s going to be my spring project).

This is what it looked like when I picked it up in Feb of last year. It’s a 1995 Harley Sportster and it was not running at the time. The previous owner had stretched the frame, put on a springer front end, and started a 1200 conversion but didn't finish it. Overall the bike still needed a lot of work. And I had to have my neighbor help me get it off the trailer because our driveway is sloped and it had no front brakes lol.

First step - complete the 1200 upgrade. I had to remove the old 883 heads and find a used set of matching 1200 heads that fit. I also added a vintage-style 2-up seat. And the speedometer was mounted on a pair of bolts that were welded to the risers. Some true redneck engineering there. So I ripped all that apart and installed the right adapters for a handlebar mount. I also replaced the backing plate on the speedo because it was a little rusty.

Next I cleaned and installed the rocker boxes with all new gaskets. This was all new to me so I took my time to make sure everything fit perfectly and was installed correctly. The pipes were in pretty rough shape but I didn’t want to spend money on new ones before I even got the bike running. So I decided to just wrap them with white heat wrap and high-temp silicone coating. I like how they match the white wall tires. But I had to fabricate a bracket to mount the front pipe to the bottom of the frame.

Next up, time to mount the intake manifold, the carb, and a new vintage-style air cleaner with a breather kit.

Here’s a view of the air cleaner. I like the minimal look. Although shortly after this I was trying to reroute the choke cable and I pushed too hard on the fuel intake nozzle on the carb and it snapped. Apparently that’s a common problem on older bikes. I didn’t have the tools to drill out the old brass fitting so I ended up installing a new carb.

Ok. Here’s what happens when you start a bike with too much oil in it. I fired it up for the first time to see if it would run. Good news - it did! Bad news - it shot the oil cap off like a bottle rocket and sprayed oil all over the driveway, my wife’s car, and the kids bikes. In my defense the previous owner told me he drained all the oil. So I added the recommended amount when I installed the new oil filter. That was a mistake.

Next steps - gotta make it street legal. I bought a bike lift so I could drop the rear tire and remove the rear fender. I mounted and wired rear turn signals and a brake light. And since I had everything apart anyway I added saddlebag supports and a backrest mount. I also installed a key and coil relocation kit (with some orange spark plug wires) for a clean look and I relocated the choke to the right side. Finally got a battery cover too.

Here’s another shot of the rear signals and brake light. I went with a vintage-looking beehive light. The only problem is that I had to angle it slightly downward for the bracket to match the curve of the fender. But I’m planning to put an ultra-bright LED bulb in there so hopefully it will still be visible enough.

The weld joints on the stretched frame were starting to develop some surface rust so I cleaned them up with this awesome stuff called Metal Rescue. It’s a gel that you put on with a paint brush, wrap it with plastic wrap, and leave it overnight. It literally took all the rust off but it doesn’t harm the paint. It was amazing.

Then I turned my garage into a paint booth and sprayed the frame with high-temp black engine enamel, plus high-temp clear enamel to protect it. Looks like new!

This is kinda hard to see but this is a shot under the gas tank. When the previous owner had the frame stretched it moved the location of the top engine mount, so the mounting bracket didn’t line up anymore. There’s too much vibration to run without that engine mount, so i fabricated a bracket to make the connection between the cylinder bracket and the frame. I also coated it with black engine enamel so it wouldn’t stand out.

Once the engine mount was secure I installed a front brake designed for a springer. That was a little tricky. I had to unbolt the wheel from the front forks because the brake mounts directly to the axle. And when I opened up the master cylinder for the front brake it was all gunked up inside. I tried to clean it but eventually I gave up and just ordered new matching front brake / clutch assemblies. Got everything buttoned up and learned how to bleed brakes! At this point I also installed and wired new front turn signals, and I found a matching pillow-top backrest. It’s not shown in the pics but I also installed a horn.

Here she is after a bath! You can still see the oil spot on the driveway from the aforementioned incident, lol. Overall I think it turned out nice. I want to get a set of vintage-looking distressed leather saddlebags. I also recently found a set of tank badges that I’m going to mount once the weather gets warmer. I’m going to have to bend them to fit the curve of the gas tank and I don’t want to do that in the freezing cold.

Well, that's all. Thanks for reading! And forgive me if this doesn't count as art, I just wanted an excuse to share it haha. I started this at the very beginning of the pandemic and it was a nice distraction from the chaos. I call it my Coronacycle.