First off, Erik’s quite an interesting guy, the German expatriate has been living and working at his shop in Miami since 2012 after 16 (or so) years customizing motorcycles in his hometown of Lubeck in northern Germany. It’s been balls to the wall since then selling new and used bikes as well as customizing bikes with a flair all his own. I say flair, but it’s not a strict design in any immediately recognizable way as they’re all so unbelievably different. But, once you realize who made them, it’s one of those “Oh yeah” moments. The only thing I can say is that they try push the limits of your boring built-in sensibilities of style and sometimes even make you laugh a little bit (in a good way).

  Whenever builders try to pick a color or metal finish and basically cover the bike in as much as they can get away with, it usually looks a bit played out. Too much of something can be just that ─ too much. Yellow immediately comes to mind. It can burn your retinas in overabundance. Actually as far as colors go, the only one that can make a monochrome bike okay is the dreaded dark-theme that could get old quickly too. I know I’m tired of seeing the newest dark series of whatever, but maybe that’s just my dark personality speaking. For Erik, picking a copper theme made sense because I doubt he ever doubted he could make it visually stunning yet interesting too. It is other than one nitpick of mine which you’ll experience later, so sorry in advance.

   Although there’s really nothing that’s startlingly innovative about this build, where ever you look there’s a quality of work that borders on trying to replicate high-end jewelry on two wheels. Everything from the rigid frame to the rethought Harley Sportster front end looks extremely well finished with just enough of the right lines to look correctly dimensioned. The Harley-Davidson Sportster Evo engine could be just an 883 (which I doubt) and it wouldn’t really matter as this really is a looker first and a regular old motorcycle second. The mixture of copper and chrome is all from the blingy family of finishes and compliment each other well. That’s a theme that goes on throughout this build and helps keep it together.

  The reshaped Sporty fuel tank sits loud and proud and adds a bit of visual length standing alone high on the top tube. I hate to say it this way, but picking a cylindrical oil tank was a not brainer for this build as they always look good in my opinion. You also gotta love the smooth and simple, but very wide rear fender sitting over that similarly pudgy rear tire. Custom fat can still look good especially when it has lost its trendy overtone. Okay, I’m gonna say it and I can’t believe I am, but the teeny little pointy front fender is adorably cute. At first I thought it silly, then after a bit, I kinda liked it and I can’t imagine it not there now that I’ve seen it in place.

  Speaking of stuff I wasn’t sure about, but am totally okay with now applies to the copper-coated five-spoke mags. That’s a lotta copper, but the chrome rear drive pulley and the high-polished/chromed discs and calipers balance off and add a bit of contrast to the large area of wheel copper. Yeah, there’s a lot of copper, but it’s deftly balanced by chrome accents from wheel to wheel and everywhere in between. This also applies to the copper paintjob with red painted panels on the tank and fenders adding a third color dimension to the mix and a bit of warmth to the design.

  As far as the other bits and pieces, I absolutely love Erik’s take on a street fighter dual headlight setup. It honestly changes the look of a Sporty in a heartbeat and whatever lights Erik picked are the absolutely perfect size for a Sporty. The riding position looks immediately comfy with a nice reach to the bars from the beautifully simple sprung leather saddle to the forward controls. It really looks ready to ride and enjoy the hell out of except one thing.

  Yes, I’ve got a beef with this build that probably shows my curmudgeon side is totally taken over. Here it goes ─ I’m just not into the exhaust as is. The front cylinder header is fine and I actually like the straight-back line and the copper heat shields with circles of chrome poking thorough. But, what the hell is up with the rear pipe? I can see what Erik might have been trying for, but the rear header just doesn’t cut it man. It doesn’t flow like it should and that’s gotta be a ground-scraper at anything above five-degrees of lean to the right. To the left, no problem, to the right, you gotta be kidding? For some reason the whole shape of the rear (or bottom?) header screams shopping cart to me.

  So, enough of my bitching about one part that everybody else will probably like. Other than that, Erik grabbed the copper monster by the balls and made a helluva good looking copper Sporty that looks like it would be a blast to ride too. Get rid of that pipe and it’ll look faster and go right faster too.

  For more info on House of Thunder USA and this actual bike which is for sale, visit

  http://www.houseofthunderusa.com/ or check ‘em out on Facebook and Instagram.