1963 Harley-Davidson Ironhead Sportster - Atomic Fireball

Butch and David from High Rollers Custom Seats in North Carolina stitched up the vintage Bates seat pan and tooled the XsSpeed logo onto the leather. Josh Walther fabricated the tank. As Sean tells us, "I was going to go with a moon tank but I measured the space under the seat and I wanted it 1-inch wider. Josh did a sweet job machining a knurled aluminum cap and running the return line to the top of the tanks inside for cooling."

Not wanting to settle for mail-order pipes, Sean welded up the set you see here himself. He cut up five pipes he had laying around to achieve the bends and look he was after. He used an old pair of cocktail shakers on the ends. A trip to the ceramic coater and some asbestos wrap finished them up.

Sean made the battery box from expanded metal and rebar. "I like using metal that most other builders consider to be junk. It has a rough mechanical beauty that people don't normally consider," he says.

Seeking a psychedelic-yet-dark '70s motif, Sean had Chopper Mike from Iron Works in Gaithersburg, Maryland, lay the House of Kolor Rainbow flake and Red over a Black base on the tank, fender, and frame. He told Chopper Mike that he also wanted the Atomic Fireball candy mushroom cloud logo on both sides of the tank.

You can see for yourself that Sean has created a cool retro-looking bike that does the old Sporty motor proud. To see more of XsSpeed's work, check out his site at www.xsspeedchoppers.com and tell him TBear sent ya.