Another Sportster build

Last weekend my buddy Gerry hit me up about his neighbors ’97 Xl 883 that only has 2,500 original miles. He knew the owner had it sitting in his driveway under some plastic for years and finally decided to ask him about it for me. The neighbor was interested in selling so I cruised over and struck a deal. Needless to say I got it for a great price and immediately began stripping it down on site.

After ditching the old man crap in the trash. We tore the wheels and front end off and disassembled the tail section. Once the parts were removed we cut off the rear struts, grinded them smooth and touched them up with some Krylon Gloss (a dead match to the frame color). Next was to paint the wheels, pulley and front end. As the wheels and pulley were pitted and semi corroded I went with Satin Krylon. This soaked up the paint and gave it a cool textured look. The front end needed a little cleaning up too so I ran some Sandpaper 1000 grit wet and knocked most the pits and imperfections out.

Once everything was painted and sorted it was all about bolting everything back together along with the parts I squirreled away for a rainy day XL Cafe project. I managed to stash some really cool stuff! The Burly Brand Cafe Tail Section, 15″ Stiletto Shocks, 1″ Clubman Bars and new Cafe Cable Kit coming soon. Working at Burly has it perks, having access to these parts is definitely one of them. Thanks Burly!! I’m also running some RSD parts like the Speedo Relocate, Fork Brace and Grips and Air Cleaner. Changed out the pipes for some V&H “Long Shots” that will not stay on the bike but a better alternative to stock. Not bad for a weekend, huh? -Sean D.