Gregory "Mac" McCormack is an oldschool kind of guy. A traditional-style barber by trade who has had his share of a few nice Kustoms and back in the day could be seen around Socal on some tricked-out Vespas and Lambrettas, but deep down inside his tattooed soul, he always wanted a Harley. He thought the goal of owning a V-twin was out of sight until, on a drive home from work, Mac spotted an ugly maroon-colored Sportster at, of all places, a Honda dealer. A call was made to one of his pals and after taking a look-see at it, a super cheap deal was made for a 2001 883 Low with 4000 miles on the clock. Mac rode the bike for only a few days until some parts-swapping took place. First, the OE speedo gauge and wiring were both axed when a set of 24-inch ape hangers were installed. Next, a set of Landmark 18- and 21-inch 60-spoke wheels in chrome were installed. The front fender was pitched into the scrap pile and the fork legs sent out to chrome.
Mac detested the original maroon gloom paint, so a color change was imminent. Mac wanted a wild early '70s paintjob and wanted someone who was actually painting bikes back then. So Mac called the legendary Butch Lynch aka "Uncle Bitchen," and shipped off the sheetmetal was to his Temecula California location shortly after hanging up the phone. Once Butch received the parts, the tank and fender a needed bit of reworking. Once the parts were plum, Butch painted a base of Lime-gold Old School Flake brand Shifty Flake, which has a psychedelic prism effect when viewed from different angles in the sunlight. Butch then painted candy green panel-fades on the sides of the tank. He then let loose Dennis Ricklefts to hand-stripe the panels in red and pull some freestyle lines on the top of the tank and fender in orange.
With the bike freshly painted and sitting at it's original height, it looked as if the Sporty was a mile high, so Mac threw on a set of 2 1/4-inch lower shocks with a 2-inch fork lowering kit up front from Progressive Suspension to bring it back down to earth.
Mac then started gathering chrome parts to add a bit of shininess to complement the sparkly paint. After a search for tall ape hanger handlebars with the right bend turned up fruitless, a set of 24-inch bars were bent up by a close friend. Mac also wanted some dirty sounding dual fishtails, so none other than Paughco would fit the bill.
Though Mac thought the bike was done and in-the-can, one look at the bike after the apes and pipes were installed and it was evident that a sissybar had to be bent up, chromed, and slapped on to finish the look of the bike.
Mac set out to have a bike that looked straight out of the '70s, with all the technical advancements of a late-model bike. Just one peek at his scoot is all it takes to see that he hit the nail on the head. SC