Harley Springer Classic Build Keeps It Classy
H-D Forums member turns an already classic bike into a real retro showstopper.
One of the most appealing aspects of Harley-Davidson is its old school feel. Even as the company attempts to build bikes for future generations, they haven’t lost sight of the past. This is evident by the many heritage and throwback models they’ve offered over the years, which combine classic looks with modern mechanicals. That includes models like the Heritage Springer and Springer Classic.
Both of which pack some attractive vintage styling and Springer forks (obviously) in lieu of the FL’s telescopic forks. And while these bikes are quite attractive out of the box, there are plenty of things you can do to add to that retro appeal. Just take HD Forum member musicnbikes and his 2007 Springer Classic build, for example.
The bike started out bone stock, but it wasn’t long before teardown began. The stock exhaust and air cleaner were the first things to go, of course.
At this point, the OP began providing some of his plans for the build.
“I’m changing the stock wheels to 2012 Slim wheels. It is not plug and play. The hub of the Slim is wider, so the rear pulley had to be ground down to fit. We’re still fitting it. The pulley has a grind spot for Softail, Dyna, and FLT. We ground it for FLT.
It only takes one look at the retro rolling stock to figure out that he made the right choice.
But with such an uncommon build, there was a steep learning curve here. Thankfully, that’s what the internet is for.
“I’m learning a lot. For example, when mating the 2007 HD to a first year 96″ 6spd trans. But I put my BDL on and the bearing is different than ’07-up. That was an ordeal. There’s a guy on eBay selling BDL kits. He puts them together by ordering all the parts separately, but he doesn’t send everything that’s supposed to be in the kit. Long story short, he didn’t send both bearings. And I had a little issue with my belt drive, but the problem has been rectified.”
With the drive situation sorted, on went a Supertrapp muffler, followed by a few other tweaks.
“I’m going to move the headlight. There are a few tweaks I’ve got to make. Still have to change the dash console and add a couple more things, i.e. Sissy bar, tool box, little stuff.”
The lowered headlight makes a pretty big difference in the look of the bike, surprisingly.
And despite his desire for a new Softail, the OP continues to make changes to his classic ride.
“Added a cat eye dash from crossbones/slim. I’m going to probably add a nostalgic speedometer and flush mounted fuel caps/gauge next. I bought a sissy bar that fits 200 rear bikes, my buddy is fabing it to fit my bike. Since I’m not going to have bags, I can hang a bag on the sissy bar.”
At this point, the sissy bar has been chopped, modified, and painted to match the Springer Classic. And we’re guessing that this won’t be the end for this project. So be sure and follow along as the beautiful project comes together here in the build thread!
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