Gorgeous 1963 XLH Sportster Has Just 7,000 Miles On It

While the previous owner used this bike as living room art, we’d ride the wheels off of it.

We love the opportunity for a Harley-Davidson history lesson — especially when it comes in the form of a cool bike that’s for sale. We love browsing Bring A Trailer, as they always have a ton of great photos and detailed information about the vehicle for sale.

That’s where we found this gorgeous, bright red 1963 Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster. We love Sportsters here on H-D Forums — who doesn’t? Old or new, we’re big fans of Harley-Davidson’s small, sporty cruiser.

The Sportster hasn’t always been a cruiser. In fact, when it was originally released back in 1957, the Sportster was aimed squarely at fast, light British bikes. That’s right — at one point, this was considered a sport bike.

A lot has changed in the decades since. Today’s sport bikes come with seriously impressive suspension and brakes, their high-tech frames and engines covered in plastic fairings. That only adds to the allure and charm of classics like this.

The “H” in “XLH” stands for “high compression.” While this model wasn’t quite as potent as the XLCH “Competition Hot” model, it offered superior performance to the standard XL Sportster.

For riders who planned on riding their Harleys on the street, but wanted more power, this was a great choice. Think of it as something like an early Screamin’ Eagle factory upgrade.

The XLH made 40 horsepower from its Ironhead V-twin. The four-speed transmission was shifted on the right side, like British bikes of the day. This bike is kick-start only, as electric start wasn’t added to the XLH until 1967.

This particular motorcycle shows just under 7,000 miles on its odometer. The previous owner reportedly displayed it inside of his home throughout the course of his ownership.

That means that this particular bike will likely require some work to get back on the road again. The listing points to dry-rotted tires; we’re sure that fresh rubber and a tuneup would be a good place to start.

Still, as simple as these bikes are, we’re sure getting it running again wouldn’t be much of a problem. With a bike as gorgeous as this, it’s definitely worth the effort.

Photos: Bring A Trailer

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Cameron Vanderhorst

Cam VanDerHorst has been a contributor to Internet Brands' Auto Group sites for over three years, with his byline appearing on Ford Truck Enthusiasts, Corvette Forum, JK Forum, and Harley-Davidson Forums, among others. In that time, he's also contributed to Autoweek, The Drive, and Scale Auto Magazine.

He bought his first car at age 14 -- a 1978 Ford Mustang II -- and since then he’s amassed an impressive and diverse collection of cars, trucks, and motorcycles, including a 1996 Ford Mustang SVT Mystic Cobra (#683) and a classic air-cooled Porsche 911.

In addition to writing about cars and wrenching on them in his spare time, he enjoys playing music (drums and ukulele), building model cars, and tending to his chickens.

You can follow Cam, his cars, his bikes, and his chickens at @camvanderhorst on Instagram.

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