Writers love to abuse the old clich, "sometimes it's about the journey, not the destination." If the phrase were a high school kid, it would have a permanent wedgie brought on by countless yanks from literary bullies all over the world. Why do we do this? Because it's true (and easy). And while that beat-down adage totally applies to Chris Mauro's '80 Sportster bobber shown here, we're not going to use it. We won't tell you that building the ironhead was a 10-month journey of hardships and triumphs, or how each part represents memories of the building process and those friends who made it possible with their assistance. Despite the fact that these statements are the truth, we'd be absolute hacks if we pulled the journey/destination saying out once again. After all, it's still healing from the last time we abused it.
In any case, what you should know is that this is Chris's second custom build-and he's very proud of it, which is completely understandable. He did all of the work himself in his basement over a 10-month period. When you see all of the work he put into it, you have to wonder how he did it without buying a lot of expensive tools or going to a pro builder. "I have some great friends who would lend me certain tools so I could accomplish what I needed without having to purchase my own or deal with a shop," he told us.
Starting with a stock Sporty chassis, Chris dropped and raked the neck for a lower profile. He also ditched the swingarm in favor of cutting and rewelding the frame into a hardtail and added a new curved backbone. Since he was tossing the swingarm anyway, Chris made the rigid so it would fit a larger 18x6-1/2-inch CCI wheel with an Avon 200 tire. He also added PM brake calipers and an Exile sprotor for a cleaner look in the rear wheel area.
Between the Harley frame and the new brakes and wheels, Chris was steadily piecing together his roller from a variety of sources, and he followed the same philosophy in respect to the tanks, fender, and seat. A buddy of his donated the old Sporty gas tank. It was an ugly hulk, but after he shortened it, cut out the rusty bottom, and welded it back together with cleaner mounts, Chris had the fuel sack he wanted. The oil tank is much more unique, however. It's a steel ball he bought from a fence and flagpole company, and after a little welding it was fitted into the frame as a lubricant holder. As for the rear fender-well, that was a much more extensive operation, according to Chris: "I cut and hammered and cut and ground and cut and filed my rear fender until it finally looked like it was made for my tire." Once the gas tank and rear fender were placed into the mockup, he cut a simple piece of rolled steel to fit between them, added some foam with a pleated vinyl cover, and voil!-he had the basis for the sprung butt rest that keeps him from sitting on the frame.
As you can see, he changed a lot on this bike, but the XL motor by and large stayed stock. Most of the changes were cosmetic. Chris split the rocker boxes and polished them, shaved some bulk off the cam cover, and cleaned up the engine with some paint and chrome hardware. The exhaust, on the other hand, isn't so mundane. He pieced a two-into-one header together from scrap pipes and then added a Paughco muffler for styling. His other changes to the intake/outtake equation? A carb from S&S and a new air cleaner from Pep Boys. Aside from these mods, both motor and driveline are the original articles.
So far all the sweat that went into this bike came from Chris's brow, and the final finishes were his work, too. He took the raw metal and colorized it with baby blue, white, and brown. Even the pinstriping is his. He told us the paint raises eyebrows and starts conversations. According to Chris, "That's OK, because I didn't build this bike for it to get lost in a sea of black Softails."
And in the final analysis, building a bike is a lot like a long sea voyage, akin to the journeys of Odysseus, where the trip itself was more interesting than the destination...aw, man. We did it again. Sigh.