Like I said, there’s not a damn thing wrong with traditional values and Dave’s time-warp XL caught the sharp eye of Barnett’s steeped-in-tradition-himself photographer, Lord J. Cofano at the recent Smoke Out. Dave’s bike is built off a stock 1974 Sportster frame that’s been hardtailed and tweaked and stretched a bit, but still retains the easy to sell and title Harley VIN number. If a person was trying to figure out when this bike was possibly built, the latest pieces you could timeframe would be the front end off an ‘80s Harley FX model complete with a 21” laced wheel surrounded in Avon’s rubber de traditional, the classic Speedmaster MK II tire. The nice part of this change was Minor Threat now sports an additional disc up front that definitely doesn’t overwhelm the skinny Avon tire with stopping power, but gives an added edge to those old underwhelming H-D single-pot calipers that I’m sure Dave doesn’t mind while riding this bike in a world of distracted texting teens and speeding SUVs on a mission to nowhere of consequence. Out back, a 16” tire and rim is laced to the formerly 18” setup’s stock drum.

The actual 997cc XL1000 Ironhead engine was in decent shape and only required Dave to totally freshen up the top end. He fabbed up a dual exhaust featuring a set of old school megaphones that could have been straight out of the back of the classified section of a magazine from the ‘70s. Nothing fancy or way over the top, but pure ‘70s in a chromed metal bell bottom way. He did do a nice piece of “hide the oil tank” in the traditional trailer-style rear fender and I gotta admit I had to look to find it. Frankly, there’s just nothing out of place time-wise on this build and that includes the tank and seat too. The peanut tank does what it’s supposed to without some sort of trick cap and the sprung seat is just a sprung seat without an over the top leather covering of today. Matter of fact, the only tiny style concession to the 21st Century I might concede to is the DeVille Vee bars and it wouldn’t surprise me to find out they’re some old bar style I wasn’t aware of. I guess I just think of that era as a time of apes and Z-bars.

Dave got it really right when it came time to paint. What could be better than House of Kolor’s Kandy Apple Red over a silver metal flake basecoat and then toped off with lace pattern graphics? Damned if I know, but I think that encapsulates the dream look for most builders from that era. That only adds to the “is this a found–fresh ‘70s/’80s build or is it a recent cosmetic restoration of a build from that era?” Well at least it would appear to be that way and not the actual current build that it is.

DeVille Cycles and especially Dave Mizur knows exactly what they are doing when it comes to building a vintage-style chopper or bobber and it shows perfectly just in this one build. From the parts to the lines to the paint, Dave’s got it hooked up era-correct perfectly with this Ironhead. The nice part is that he can hook you up too if this bike hits your fancy. Hey, it’s for sale on his website. Don’t know what he’s asking, but I’ve got a feeling it’d not only be cool, but affordable too.