in 2000 i sold my rebel 250 to buy a sportster. i looked at every different type of sportster you could imagine. new ones, old ones, basketcases, expensive ones, cheap ones and everything in between. after months of looking i finally found one i liked enough to call on. a 1972 xlh grey and black in good running shape for 3,500. i was set to buy it before i even picked up the phone to call the dude. a grovely sounding old guy answered and much to my dismay, i was too late and the bike had already been sold. sensing the obvious dissapointment in my voice, dude told me "well, i've got a little 69 ch for five grand if you wanna take a look at it, it's all new, and it's really a much better bike than that old 72". i didn't know what a "ch" was and 5k was way too much for me to spend but what the fuck right? i went to check it out.
we pulled up to a nice looking house in a nice looking sub and followed dude's directions to the shed out back. when the doors opened i was in biker heaven. naked bitches on the walls, oil and grease on the floor, seger blasting from the radio and a giant of a man in the middle of it all wrenching away oblivious to the new intruders in his domain.
rachel and i introduced ouselves and he told us that he didn't own the house or the shed, but his wealthy business associate did and they had kind of a team thing going. business dude bought the bikes, my dude rebuilt them, and together they sold them and split the profit. he showed some projects he was working on, half a shovelhead, another ironhead, his own beautiful panhead in a wishbone frame with fire engine read 3.5 gallon tanks and short chrome rear fender, and then in the corner, sat the little 1969 xlch.
in my opinion, there has never been a motorcycle more brutal looking than a slightly cut down xlch sportster. this one was clean. the only chrome on it were things that needed to be chrome- fork tubes, rear shock springs, a few steel fasteners, the headlight ring, everything else was blasted aluminum. it was kick start only (as all xlchs are), magneto fired, batteryless, had a small solo saddle with low rise buckhorn bars and it was black. not flat black, not gloss black, just plain, dark, fucking, black.
it haden't been fired yet. it had a brand new rebuild on the entire motor and haden't even been timed. but i was clueless and that meant nothing to me. "i want to hear it run".
dude grumbled some shit to me about proper break in and oil and rings, and gaps and timing marks but it all went straight thrugh my thick skull. i didn't want excuses, i wanted loud noises. he could see i wasn't leaving till i heard it run so he scrounged some plugs and did his best to guesstimate the correct timing of the mag.
the first time he kicked, the kicker arm came to a dead stop halfway through it's swing, suspending all 350 lbs of this guy in mid air. he cussed. he got back on the ground and turned the mag a little more. he worked the kicker slowly through about ten cycles. then he pushed a little faster. he stopped as the engine hit it's compression stroke and launced his kicking leg into the air. the carburetor belched and filled the shed with a thick blue oily smoke. dude smiled, "there it is". in one fluid heated movement he jumped into the air and brought his full weight smashing down on that tiny little sportster.
it started.
long story short, that deal fell through. not that i didn't move on it, cuz i sure as hell did, but due to real fucked up circumstances way beyond my control i had to pull out. i told dude he could keep my deposit in exchange for me being such a bitch. ever since then i've had my heart on a pre 1971 xlch sportster and yesterday i got one.
actually i got a 1970 ch and a 1970 h in a two for one type of deal. the black is the ch, kick only, mag fired, 10.5:1 compression, no battery, and a 6v generator for the lights. the orange is the h complete with ugly fat tanks, sweet engraving on the chrome rocker covers, and some starter problems i have to fix.
so without further procrastination, here they are. oh, and nick, if you're reading this, thanks for the screaming deal man. you're fucking rad and i owe you some beers.
1970 xlch
1970 xlh
sportster orgy
pigpen circa 1971
and the man himself on a 66 xlch
