![Doug Evans XL883 Sportster](images/DailyArticles/January2010/DougEvansXL883Sportster/Doug-Evans-XL883-Sportster-019-Lead.jpg)
Doug Evans’ Sportster Started Out As A Kitchen Bike
Story by Wendy Manning, Photos by Doug Evans
Nobody ever tells me anything around here. When I interviewed Gary Robinson last week and found he’d built CopperHead in his living room and before that he’d built a bedroom chopper, I thought it was A: surprisingly convenient, but B: highly unusual. Then today I interviewed Doug Evans and found out he built his Sportster in his kitchen and I realized it’s not them…it’s me. Apparently modifying your bike inside your house is all the rage these days and nobody ever told me. In light of this new trend, I am currently seeking the following: a bike built entirely in a mother-in-law apartment while the mother-in-law is in residence; a linen closet; or in a dining room. A roof bike would be good too; preference will be given to New Englanders who’ve built their chopper entirely on a widow’s walk.
In the case of Doug Evan’s awesomely modified XL883, the kitchen build came about this way. “I bought the bike new in July of 2002 and it started out as just a basic XL883,” Doug said. “I rode it like that for the rest of the summer and that winter I decided it needed something; I didn’t want to ride a generic Sportster. So I brought the bike into my kitchen and tore the thing down. The handlebars, the headlight, all the wiring came off of it, the gas tank came off. I went through two or three different handlebars that winter, just trying them on there and seeing what I liked and what looked right until I settled on what you see now.”
This is the second gas tank Doug has had on the bike, the first had the dash on it. “I just wanted to go for a cleaner look, so I changed it to what you see now,” Doug said. He had Myke, from Mykals Autobody Repair & Painting in Fairfield, Illinois, do some work on it as far as fitting it to where the seat would match up, and also rounded some corners on it. It had two gas caps on it and he took one off and welded it up. Then Myke did the painting, which Doug says is his favorite part of the bike. “The paint is awesome. Awesome. Myke’s probably one of the most underrated painters around that I know of. He should be getting more attention.” Myke painted the bike with House of Kolor’s Kandy Apple Red and hand painted the tribal designs and skulls. “I gave him free reign with the paintjob,” Doug said. “I told him what I liked and had in mind, and then I said ‘Do it like it’s yours.’ And everything you see is done by hand, there were no stencils involved.”
Doug lives in rural Bone Gap, Illinois, a town with a population of about 300. He’s taken his bike around to several shows in southern Illinois and it’s garnered lots of attention. “The past two or three years I’ve been doing really well at local shows,” he said. “This past year was my best year yet as far as winning some of the shows. I’ve only done four shows this year and came home with seven trophies. The last show I went to I came home with three; I got first in class and brought home two of the choice awards. I was really proud. It’s exciting, because I’m just an everyday guy.”
Doug bike may have started out in his kitchen but it didn’t stay there long. He rides it daily. “It’s not a trailer queen,” he says proudly. “I ride it to work at the Walmart distribution center, to poker runs, leisurely Sunday rides. I’ve ridden it to Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. I rode it to Myrtle Beach Bike Week. It’s never been on a trailer, and it currently has about 30,000 miles on it.”
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