SPORTSTER BOBBER
– GOT BRASS IN POCKET, AND EVERYWHERE ELSE TOO
MY JOB’S AS A FABRICATOR/ WELDER/POLISHER AT CUSTOM METALWORX IN SOUTHAMPTON, SPECIALISING IN TIG WELDING STAINLESS STEEL, ALUMINIUM AND TITANIUM FOR THE MARINE AND PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES, AND I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO BUILD MY BIKE IN THE COMPANY’S WORKSHOP, AND WAS ABLE TO USE ALL THE FACILITIES.
Ithink I’d planned this bike for so long, and always wanted to build it, and wanted to make it myself too. I always knew exactly the look I wanted for it, and attention to detail was going to be a massive part of it due to the nature of my work
– it had to reflect the quality we produce through our company. I was influenced, and helped, by friend and well-respected custom bike builder, Carter Harris of Attitude Cycles, and his dad Simon. The plan was to make everything I could, and buy the least amount of off-the-shelf custom parts I could get away with – most importantly, it had to be unique to me.
I’d previously built a CB250 cafe racer, but failed at the wiring stage, and sold it to someone who knew how to finish it. This time, with this 883 Sportster, it was going to be different. I wanted the bike as minimal as possible, and with few electrical gadgets. As I wanted to build as much myself as possible, I made a list of the things I’d need to make: frame (hardtail, of course), exhausts, rear ’guard, oil tank, and much, much more, and I wanted lots of brass on the bike too, and spent endless hours trawling the internet for brass UNC bolts and even brass washers. It’s not a look you see done very often, but it’s really eye-catching, and as I was able to do it all I knew I could really push the boat out. The main idea for the brass’d come from the lovely K-Tech brass clutch and front brake levers, and they gave the bike its theme, so I made so many parts from it – handlebar risers; exhaust tips; wheel spacers; engine casings; headstock nut; air-filter; the fuel sight-gauge in the tank; headstock stops; etc. It would’ve been easy to go over the top with it, but I didn’t want to build an extreme custom – I wanted something elegant.
Mechanical and electrical advice, and help, I got from Carter – he went through it all with me, and taught me on the job. I’m not a mechanic, and it’s not my field of expertise, but with so much time and effort going into the bike I didn’t want to cut
any corners with the mechanical side. Fabrication’s more my thing though, and I made every non-standard part myself in mild steel or stainless steel, including the seat mounts for the Biltwell seat, the oil tank and mounts, the rear ’guard and mounts, the battery tray mounts, and everything attached to the frame I TiGwelded. The engine was stripped completely, and I decided to stove-enamel and polish it, and cut down the casings to give them a more custom look.
I did make a few errors along the way. I hid switches only to find I couldn’t reach them when the exhausts were on; made three sets of handlebars as I couldn’t decide which looked best; parts didn’t fit immediately and had to be tweaked; the chain rubbed on the frame due to the offset sprocket… oh, and I lost a whole tank of oil after not fitting the oil tank fittings correctly (I retapped them and installed new fittings, and that rectified that). Sounds like a hassle, but that’s the fun of it I guess.
I love the look of the combination of black and brass, and’d planned to go with a logo on the fuel tank and gold pin-striping. I’d had the metallic black paint done by a local paint sprayer, but it looked so good I decided to just put the gold and black logos on the oil tank instead. The tank needed something though, and having the brass sight-gauge in the side seemed a much more subtle look. For me it was about a balance – I think I spent hours staring at it trying to decide if it needed more or less brass, but there had to be a cut-off point.
Finally finished, the Sporty was a little bit of a hard ride to start with, but I played with the rear tyre pressure to get it just right, and now it’s very comfortable – it’s a great riding position, and I absolutely love riding it!
Would I change anything? Well, maybe… I’d consider a springer front end just to finish it off, and possibly get the spokes gold-plated to match the brass… yeah, I’m a little obsessed!