I know I posted this on classic but its becoming more custom than classic...

Keep this in mind as you read this and see the pics.. Once thing I know is I will not and have not CUT, CHOPPED or WELDED FRAME or anything that is original and have kept all original parts just in case I need them... this is really just changing out bolt on stuff..

So here is the story behind the build. I was given this great bike a 1973 Ironhead Sportster 1000 XLH for xmass from my Father-in-law. He said we are going to build this bike. He also gave me a leather and had Mr. Horsepower Clay Smith Woody Woodpecker airbrushed on the back.. Says he wants to put that on the bike.. He also had woodpecker tattooed on his back. Also had stickers of the woodpecker on his '94 sporty and his work van...

So back to the '73, we started looking at other bikes and things for inspiration and his big thing was black with the woodpecker on it.. that is easy.. we send the bike off to get it running (it sat for 3 years got crapped on by cats and who knows what else).. The pic below is when he got here from Chicago to deliver the bike he washed it and took this pic.. in the pic its missing oil tank & battery. The master controls on the handle bars where shot and corroded and needed to be replaced.




So I got the bike fixed after 2 months of sitting at a local shop collecting dust (I will not say the name of the shop due to my bike got put on hold when certain people would bring in their bikes in) so moved bike to another shop and had every thing fixed with some issues on defective parts but not shops fault... and yay bike ran great for about a year




then it started breaking down a lot and started repairing a lot.. so any thoughts of rebuilding like Dad wanted was put on the back burner.

While repairing Dad and I still looked at options and Ideas

We went to some car shows and searched google images alot.. saw some great things and found some inspirations and met some great people.. We met this guy and his car and Dad said that is cool and this has started some of the inspiration to the bike.






This was a great looking car the flat black with red white and gloss black accent and details really popped and the classic look was great. We also saw on line a pic of bike with the woodpecker on it and dad said how can we combine the 2.



We had the idea in place.. Then dad got sick terminally ill. We moved him into our house to take care of him and help him and get him better. At this point the bike sat for 5 months with no repairs and then sat for 3 more months while dad was ill Dad Passed away last November and a few more months after that the bike sat. My wife and I decided to do what it takes to build the bike how he wanted and the project started..

 

So the project starts and I put together a budget and start ordering parts.
Here is the parts list at the beginning



so there are pics instead of words
















on this one got rid of the bindex carb and broken air cleaner and got a S&S super E and hypercharger air cleaner

 

The work starts as parts come in. Got to the tins and put a base primer on them for protection till ready to paint to keep from moisture rust build up.

Primer the tank and front fender and put in new manafold and S&S and Hyper Cleaner


Also put on new handle bars a put on from blinkers and spray primer to the headlight lid. And added Mirrors





Next is off to shop to get some things done I can not do...

 

Looks good so far, keep up the pics and story.

 

So then it goes to the shop and I have to give props to them for all their hard work and help with my bike and budget.. Stick Engineering in Apache Junction AZ...

While there they get my lowered shocks and put on the new front fender and ran throttle cable, clutch cable and tune carb.. and also new drilled break rotor.







Also had them get my spark plug wires in red and order my new hand grips

 

So got bike lowered and there is a small snag we did not anticipate.. The fender struts at stock height sit above the tire... Lowered they now touch the rear tire.. Tire can not roll with struts touching and can not add back fender.. ok so we need a wider set up for that... which also changed the seat mount for the springer seat.

Stood and stared at it for about an hour at the bike shop (they like me there to let me sit at the lift and stare at my bike lol) then it hits me move the struts to outside of the frame mounts making it wider.. Cut the bracket that holds to seat to move those outside to to make room for fender... now to find a fender...



and the fender the shop owner had a Dyna Glide fender laying around that fit perfect. just had to get placement and height for wheel travel for suspension.





fender has holes and tail light i do not want to Stick has their fab person weld in some plates in the holes areas and we start working on placement on the height of the fender... I helped pick spot and it was good till I sat on the bike...

 

So I stare at the bike again and figure out how to make it fender higher up and hold it there while we test the height and got it set to height and fender mounted all tail light and reflectors removed and holes filled.







and also bike is running better then ever now with new carb, starter solenoid and starter and some circuit breakers (or load balancers) since there are no fuses on this bike really... and now time to tow the bike home...

now got the bike home

 

Ok so this is where the last month comes in I take off the tins and start working on the electrical and wiring the new side side mount tail lignt and plate holder. also wiring the blinkers and everything to the front controls... this has taken some time cause I can not get the LED blinkers to flash with flashers attached to wiring I have to push the switch and hold release.. but at least they work.. so I pull front and back blinkers and paint them flat black and mounted.

 

Warning Will Robinson warning Will Robinson warning the following is a spoiler of what the bike will look like this is just a photoshop the bike is not done yet warning warning warning!!!!

ok so while having some down time I took this photo and photoshoped all the color on the bike to see if I want to continue this project this way.. Being a graphic designer and been building cars ( sorry not bikes but have painted many bikes in my time) I did this cause I like to know the final before I start the hard work.


what it looks like now


each one has different things colored so I can see with and without.

the original look idea


wanted to see with red rockers saw different color on another and I liked it


then some one suggested wrapping the pipes in black



now in the mean time of working on the photoshops and wiring the whitewalls really come in...



also found about $900 in repairs to dad's '94 that we kept after he passed and did not see the repairs coming but it did have to come out of the build money.. but its ok the '94 is cherry and I will post that pic in a bit.. so I have finally got back to working on bike after the last moth and now finishing up the wiring. Also because of the repairs to the '94 I can not afford to powder coat the wheels and rockers so I photoshoped that too

and cleaned up the white wall size on the photo shop since I have the tires to reference too.





Oh here is the '94 that is going to stay all original cause this was dad bike... which is why he gave me the Ironhead cause he had been given the '94. My wife got her Cycle License so she can ride her dads bike once mine is done.. Since he never had a son and had 5 girls... she took the bull by the horns and learned how to ride.. very proud of her..

 

so that is where I am now in the next couple of weeks I will have all wires finished up and will post the painting and airbrushing process. till bike is done.. thanks for your feedback and support...

I know there are ones out there that would say I ruined it or should have left it alone.. but this is a tribute to a great man. When he gave me the bike he gave me a card and signed it "Live Long and Ride Hard" then his signature.. this will go on the tail of the bike in his exact writing..

To everyone who reads this post thank you again and always ride safe...