I remembered seeing an Internet post or two about Led Sled’s Panhead rocker box covers for Sportsters, but that was about it. I didn’t bother to investigate them any further. Now after seeing them, I actually think they’re pretty cool and really look damn good on this bike Led Sled built for Progressive Insurance to trot about the country and drum up some business. I’m sure it was like drawing flies to honey bringing bike nuts into their booths with something as gorgeous as this to grab their attention. For Led Sled, it had to be a real plus-plus getting so much attention for their work all over the country.

  To be honest, Led Sled gets lots and lots of media coverage already from print to the internet and even television. It’s rare to see a build out of the Midwest that doesn’t have Led Sled parts on it seems. Barnett’s Magazine Online has done numerous Led Sled features and it’s a no-brainer why. If you’ve seen some of the articles over the years like their early Bobbed to the Max Sportster or their One Stop Sporty Shop or the Green and White Sporty Delight. Of course there are later versions like the Sexy Six-Pot Sportster or the orange and white hot rod Sporty that show a progression of style from the early builds to now, but in all honesty, there are none I don’t like. They just get better.

  What makes a Pat Patterson/Led Sled build special is that they tend to build everything but the basic motor and tires and a few ancillaries right there in old Dayton. That way-cool frame you’re looking at is a Led Sled piece that’s not only extremely low and a bit rangy, but über special too. Check out the seat tube curving down from the fender face to the back of the engine leaving a huge area open. The Led Sled Panheaded engine almost seems to be just sitting in there, not bolted in and the oil tank looks precariously perched behind the engine, but it’s not. That’s cool stuff.

   Same goes for the I-beam twin springer fork that you’d think must have been made out of some kind of I-beam to begin with, but didn’t. That’s not the Led Sled way. It’s milled from a piece of solid stock and then drilled out before all the other in-house bits are added to make a fork that has its design roots firmly stuck in the industrial age of yesterday’s America. It’s strong and purposeful while still being mechanically attractive. It’s pretty rare actually seeing a springer out in the real world and even rarer to see something as special as this.

  What’s between those fork legs and the rear triangle is a trip unto itself again. Those are not some sort CNC billet wheels that spent a week each to machine, but individual pieces carefully welded together by Led Sled. Go ahead, check out the spoke welds in Jack Cofano’s photos and tell me they’re not cool. I don’t know whether welding on mounts on the outside of the wheel to fit a perimeter brake clamped by a six-piston caliper is Led Sled’s way of making up for the lack of a front brake, but it really looks damn cool and more mechanically interesting at the same time. Me likey.

   You might have noticed I didn’t mention the leather inserts in the spoke of the wheel. That’s because I didn’t realize immediately in lead photo that this was leather, I just figured it was Led Sled reworking metal with a 3D surface. After seeing Jack’s other photos and seeing all the leather all over the bike, I was simply amazed. Led Sled outsourced this bit to Nate’s Custom Leathers and they came through big time. Not only are those spokes sporting hand-tooled inserts, but so is the custom rear sprocket too along with the grips, foot pegs, control pegs and I better mention the nifty seat covering too. This is just one of those unusual details probably knocked ‘em dead when people got up close at the Progressive displays. I know it did me. Might not be the most practical, but life isn’t all about being practical.

   Adding a bit of nostalgia while simplifying things up, Led Sled stayed the Old School course with a carb of all damn things, isn’t everything fuel-injected now? Not when you want to get rid of all that nasty wiring and complexity that goes with it and that’s what we’ve got here. The magneto does its best to simplify things too while looking as cool as a cucumber as they always do. To me, a magneto on a Sportster is like a 6-71blower on a big block V8, there’s something about both that signal some kind of seriousness before ever hitting the starter button. When it is hit, the gloriously large velocity stack and Led Sled’s intertwined twin header-wrapped exhausts make for beautiful music out the end caps that kinda resemble a trumpet’s mouthpiece. Very nice machine work there lads.

  From the left side of the bike, it still looks like a 1996 XL motor. That is if an XL motor came with a Led Sled Gear Jammer Jockey Shift Kit instead of a foot shifter. Adding a hand shifter along with a foot-operated clutch always takes a bike to the next level of muy macho in most spectators’ minds. Oh it’s a whole different world than what the average Harley rider knows, but it wasn’t always that way. Both the hand shifter and kick starter have been doomed to oblivion, but there are some stalwarts like Led Sled who not only intend to keep it alive, but wouldn’t have it any other way.

   In a build like this there’s always a minimum amount of bodywork so what there is had better be good. Led Sled did good. The under hung fuel tank is a pip with a nice passive-aggressive appearance. The shape really accentuates the feel of forward motion even when it’s not moving. Its mounting bolts are also part of the design and add a bit of hardware spice along what would be a rather empty top tube otherwise. Cool, clean and practical. The rear fender’s not only the right shape, but the right size too, harmonizing perfectly with the tank and showcasing that stunning paint job.

  Once again, Pat teamed up with Darren Williams of Liquid Illusions in Lees Summit, Missouri, to end up with a paintjob you can’t not see except if you were Mr. Stevie Wonder himself. Darren took this one up a bit with lots of metal flake and a totally unexpected color palette. The white base of the fuel tank has black graphics that actually sweep around the front of the tank and makes you think the tank is part of the black frame. I like that subtle integration. Not so subtle, but still very nice is the heavy metal flake red and blue panel graphics that accentuate the shape of the tank while adding a classy bit of Led Sled advertising. It’s not any proverbial school or trying to be something it’s not, it’s just nice. Pat always lets Darren run with the ball and he’s never been sorry.

   Everywhere you look on this bike you see elegant solutions to details. Details like the handlebars coming straight out of the sides of the springer or the blue lens headlight mounted in front of the primary case on the left or maybe the mid-mount foot controls. Every piece of this bike stands on its own, but as a combined whole, it’s even more outstanding. Pat and the crew at Led Sled keep everything in its proper place and there’s harmony of design along with extremely good taste throughout the build. Once more I take a proper Internet bowing of the head to the whole crew at Led Sled Customs for turning out another lovely build. I can’t say I’m surprised because they always do so tonight I double bow them to show my appreciation for pleasing the Sportster freak in all of us.

  For more info on Led Sled Customs, visit  http://www.ledsledcustoms.com/ or Facebook or what have you.