But, things still aren’t what you’d expect even after you got rid of the style points Harley worked so hard to do on the Seventy-Two. Oh, you know things like the ‘70s attitude enhancing apes or the extensive chrome and especially the vintage thin stripe whitewalls made just for this model. Then, you mix up a new retro custom concoction chucking the complete OEM front end and replacing it with an always retro-cool springer riding dirty without a front fender. Reaching about as far over to the other side of the vintage-hip pinstripe whitewalls are some of the most Old School tires you’d find if you opened up an Easyriders mag from the ‘70s and checked out what the latest choppers were wearing. No, it’s not American tires, but Avon’s classic 21-inch Speedmaster MKII ribbed front tire with another Avon out back, this one a 5.00×16 Safety-Mileage MKII with a tread about as classically blocky as you can get.
Then it’s time to finish off the front end by replacing the apes with a natty cross-braced bar that looks more motocross than anything but it does look cool, purposeful and custom comfortable. The Sporty’s fuel and oil tank are left alone because the classic Sporty peanut tank always looks good and the OEM oil tank is just fine as is. The stock bobbed rear fender gets swapped out for an even duckier, but short ducktail rear fender that lays on some serious attitude you can’t miss. The stock saddle has been reupholstered with a whole new pattern and fancy lad material and custom compliments the rear fender with a non-stock look. No sweat touching the ground as the shortest shocks possible are retro-fitted that must provide a good half-inch of travel with a human aboard, but hey, it’s a custom bike so all bets are off. When building for show, low is the only way to go.
With everything that was shiny now blacked out and the sun-catching metal flake replaced by matte silver with orange and black matte graphics along with various almost garish, but not, orange highlights scattered about the bike, it’s no Seventy-Two anymore. You take it out and people appreciate it, but it’s not the absolute showstopper you were really hoping for. So what’s a now even-poorer lad to do? Then it hits you and you wonder why you didn’t think of it in the first place. Hang a sidecar off it mixed up in a style that fits your not-quite wild enough custom Sporty. Yeah, that’s the ticket ─ a sidecar.
The only problem you’ll find and it’s a pretty big one is getting a side car that fits your bike. Obviously, you’ve got to adapt something to your bike and to your style and slapping on a stock Harley sidecar would have your sidecar passenger possibly riding higher than you. Time to get out the tubing and fire up the welder as a custom chassis is the way to go. With the body now dropped well below the top of the wheel instead of above it, you’ve brought on the cool that a classic tread Avon Sidecar Triple Duty tire does especially when the skinny fender top is now even with the top of the sidecar passenger’s head.
After matching up the retro paintjob of the bike, the low-mounted sidecar almost looks like it’s now racing your custom Sportster. Maybe it’s the sleek little windshield or the very nice, but in your face Harley-Davidson graphics that give the feeling of movement even at rest, but it’s there all the same. Stepping back and checking out the rig, you can’t help but think, “Now that’s cool.” And, you would be right.
This clever and appealing Sportster sidecar rig would make every head turn every time you put it in a show or just putted around the streets of your town. It’s now one of the rare standouts in custom Harleyville. Just remember you wanted all the attention you could get and now you’ve definitely got it. Nobody, I repeat, nobody even sidecar haters, can’t help but check out any motorcycle with a sidecar hanging off it. Chuck in the very nicely customized Sporty and a similar finished demeanor on the sidecar and you’ve got what Gas Monkey Garage’s Richard Rawlings would refer to as a “Winner-winner, chicken dinner!” And, he would be right. It’s now a standout Sportster.
For more info on this Sporty/sidecar combo or one like it, check out the builder at http://www.hdofgreensboro.com/.