When I first saw this bike, I was totally taken aback as it really has the look of one of my favorite ‘60s English roadsters, a Royal Enfield 750cc Interceptor. So many of the styling cues are the same like the chrome fenders, chrome panel on the tank and a lot of black on everything else much like the enameled black paint on an Interceptor that prowled the streets of the town I grew up in. Even the reminiscent kick-up of the super-lightweight exhaust on Barry’s bike gives me the Interceptor chills. Top Shelf’s Sportster gives me the chills too as it not only looks classically pretty (sorry, calling this bike pretty is in no way demeaning), but is a custom that is completely approachable and rideable. You don’t walk up to this bike and carefully stay back and stare at it as much as you want to immediately grab the low, comfortable bars and swing a leg over without thinking about it, hit the starter button and go. Anywhere, just go for the hell of it and enjoy every aspect from comfort, handling, and useable power. Mindless fun. 

Barry feels the same way and said, “I prefer a bike I can ride and over the last few years we’ve done so many little choppers and stuff like that and I just wanted something completely different. My original idea was to build a street tracker-type bike, but as time went on a bunch of people had already done that. Instead, I thought a traditional mid-Sixties-style that kinda looked almost like you could buy it off a showroom floor was what I wanted. The Honda 450 was what I was looking at a lot, it has British and Japanese influences of that time.”

Starting with a 2006 rubber-mount 883 frame was a no-brainer as Barry said, “I’ve always been a Sportster fan, but for an everyday ride the new-generation, rubber-mount Sportsters are the way to go. They make way less vibration.”  Barry then sourced a 1200R engine to plug the hole in the frame and then the rest of the components went on a strict diet. “Between the aluminum wheels and disc carriers, lightweight exhaust, minimal hand controls, lightweight six-piston single disc front brake. Minimal lighting and a few other tricks, we were able to get over 85 pounds off. With the reduced weight, upgraded suspension, and a few performance mods, this thing is a blast to ride.”

Anyone who’s ever picked up a stock XL mag would be shocked at the Akront/Boranni-style broad-shouldered Excel laced rims’ weight. I’m sure that Barry’s new wheel, tire, and disc setup would probably weigh less than a bare OEM mag. Lightweight wheels are not part of the Harley lexicon, but they can totally change the handling, acceleration, and braking (never mind the looks too) in one fell swoop accentuating every aspect to the plus side.

Another radical change for a Harley custom is the suspension path Barry took. Instead of lowering it, this bike actually sits taller with a set of tunable 14.5” Works Performance shocks and a 3”-longer-than-stock FXDX three-way-adjustable forks. More controlled travel leads to a better ride and better handling with more lean-angle, again into the plus column. The all-black front end has period fork gaitors and a set of sheetmetal ears to mount the headlight. “I could’ve used an inverted Ceriani fork or something, but that would’ve killed the traditional look,” said Barry. Sitting between those legs is an early Sportster fender in chrome to match the chromed stock XL rear fender which ties it into the XL Custom 4.5 gallon chromed side-panel tank nicely. The Top Shelf logo on the tank was hand-painted by the late Bob Iverson. “He passed away a couple of weeks ago and I was ready to take that tank off and hang it on the wall. He was a great letterer and an old time guy,” said Barry.

Summing it up Barry said,”I didn’t build it for a customer. I didn’t have to listen to anybody. I keep it at my house most of the time and that’s why I built it. It’s hit the button and go. I rode it Sunday about 500 miles. I wanted to be able to ride it, really ride it, and still have something different. I ride it all the time; it’s a bike I look for excuses to ride.”