Daily Slideshow: 1970s Ironhead Sportster XLCH is Ready for Summer

The Race of Gentlemen

Every summer out on the Jersey shore one of the best motorcycle events in the country goes down, The Race of Gentlemen. The event harkens back to the great beach sprints that would go down in the late 1940s and 1950s with entrants modifying their cars and bikes to look period correct and perform like it too. The participants even have to be pre-approved by a TROG committee who inspect the vehicles to make sure they are properly modified. 

British bike shed builder Shaun Fenton took this 1970s Ironhead Sportster XLCH and created a standout for the TROG festivities.  

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If you want it, build it

“For years I’ve drooled over the styling of Harleys and Indians from the 1940s,” Shaun tells BIKEEXIF. “I was also inspired by images from TROG, but an original Harley or Indian from that era is beyond my means. So I decided to build a replica.” 

Shaun happened to come across the classic Ironhead Sportster and went to try his luck at purchasing the bike. “The bike had been imported into the UK as a restoration project, but aside from occasional tinkering, it had languished in a garage for over ten years.” 

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You want to do what?!

After purchasing the bike, Shaun stripped it down to the engine and frame before giving a call to girder fork specialist Jake Robbins Engineering to fit a hand fabricated front end and a rigid rear. While Shaun had previously thought that this would be Jake's only contribution to the build the engineer had other things in mind. “After a short one-way discussion, I was bamboozled by his vision. Jake persuaded me to let him loose on the rear suspension, and install a friction-damped, twin spring, live cantilever spring frame.” This modification was Jake's tribute to the Bently & Draper spring fame, as fitted to inter-War Brough Superiors. 

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Welp, that happened

“Like a man possessed, the angle grinder came out, the welder spluttered and snorted, and he smashed out the conversion,” says Shaun. Despite the jarring impact that the bike took, the rear wheel and brake survived but at the front Shaun fitted a 16" rim and drum brake from an Enfield Bullet. Things get retro even with the tires as they feature vintage patterns from Dunlop and Coker. 

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Create what you can't find

With the chassis out of the way, it was time to do something about the bike being styled into a real deal beach racer.  “Jake donated some old bars that had been collecting dust in his workshop, and we set about fabricating the seat and tank. The seat was relatively quick to build, once we had decided on the shape and dimensions. But I deliberated over the fuel tank design. I didn’t want to build a classic Harley tank, I wanted something unusual.”

Shaun cut and bent sections of the tank, mounted the lugs and fittings before welding it all together. 

>>Join the conversation about this custom very old school Sportster XLCH right here in HDForums.com.

A proper retro creation

After getting the stance and design just the way he wanted, Shaun got started on how to mount the oil tank and battery box. That endeavor took a turn when the decision was made to fabricate an oil tank from scratch, rubber mounted in the small space between the engine and frame. The battery box was another piece that was handcrafted and was then mounted on the swingarm. 

Another fabricated piece is the air intake housing in which he used leftover metal from the tank build to make an eye-catching design. The rest of the bike came together with the rear fender and lights being auto jumble finds and using some DIY to handle the control cables and electrical wiring. 

Finally, the bike was sprayed and painted by hand with a sign writer brushing in the numbers and tank design. “It’s a rustic, aged look,” says Shaun, “and will improve with fuel and oil leaks, and wear and tear. I just hope the previous owner doesn’t see what I’ve done!”

>>Join the conversation about this custom very old school Sportster XLCH right here in HDForums.com.

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