‘05 Harley Davidson Sportster – Hageman Motocycles

Written by Martin Hodgson.

Never fear, Hageman is here! Needing no introduction, Greg Hageman AKA “Doc’s Chops” of Hageman Motorcycles is one particular of the major hands and pioneers of the custom motorcycle renaissance. He’s also 1 of these guys who is a builders builder, I know I’m not the only one particular who ahead of attempting a new develop sees what Greg has accomplished with that make and model, each for inspiration and to see how it is accomplished proper. It’s no surprise genuinely, motorcycles are in his veins obtaining grown up on a farm in Rural Iowa in a loved ones exactly where trips to the dealerships had him dreaming of these sweet rides prior to he was old enough to reach the handlebars. But it’s a fortunate rider who gets to throw their leg over his latest build, a 2005 Harley Davidson XL883 Custom that brings far more than a little racer to its new cafe appear.

Greg may possibly be much better recognized for his Yamaha and Honda builds but as a Master Level five Technician with more than a decades knowledge at a Harley Davidson dealership he more than knows his way around Milwaukee muscle. Obtaining always wanted to build a Cafe Sportster Greg also had a distinct vision “My purpose was to give it an AMF era look… The paint scheme and decals are standard circa 1967 factory” That paint, beaming in gloss black and silver with period correct decals was brilliantly laid down by Morrell Roberts. Although the tank sits 2inchs lower on the frame thanks to Joe Mcdede who reworked the stock tunnel. Hageman made the set/subframe mixture himself that offers a accurate cafe racer feel with no losing any of the Sportster charm. With the final piece of body function the reproduction front fairing that provides a racing look with out the bulk that comes with numerous related units.

At the heart of the Cafe Racer culture has constantly been discovering approaches to make more power and shed weight and Greg has a lot more than addressed these two troubles. The engine started life as a common XL883 and the lengthy stroke motor provides a smooth torquey ride, but with the engine torn down Greg produced the selection to add some more cubes. The 45° V-Twin was bored out to bring capacity up to 1200cc and there is an immediate achieve in each energy and torque. Extracting some added ponies is the beautiful 2 into 1 high exhaust program with stepped out headers and finished with a monstrous megaphone muffler. The air cleaner is a brilliant throw back to the era Greg is honouring, although cam and rocker covers from EMD and the cast silver with black barrels further add to the period correct imagery.

From the factory the modern Sportster handles greater than many give it credit for, up to a certain point that is and Greg is not the type of builder who leaves items half accomplished. To remedy the front end he lowered the forks and re-valved, re-sprung and installed preload adjusters to the forks. Feel and stiffness is improved with the addition of a fork brace and along with the gators are the only visuals on the fenderless front finish. To give the bike the proper stance the rear finish has been raised with the addition of high quality Hagon nitro piggyback shocks that also add a level of adjustability to the rears handling. Additional in his quest for weight reduction Greg took some Buchanan Sun alloy rims and laced them to the hubs with stainless spokes.

The alloy rims have been wrapped in modern Bridgestone Battlax tyres and according to Greg “All these improvements helped handling substantially, less rake, sport radial tyres, properly tuned suspension and lots of ground clearance to lean into any corner.” Steering the Sportster into a turn are the fittingly cafe racer Tarozzi clip-ons with ’60s style black grips. Adjustable levers mean you can hang on tight while nonetheless operating the brake or clutch and a braided brake line adds some further bite to the front end. “Shane Sorenson from Chainsikle produced the “Low” rear sets. They move your feet back and under you, but give you adequate space for comfort if you are not built like a horse jockey.”

The look of the construct is largely old college cool but the electrics are 21st century premium technology. The switch blocks are gone and in their location Motogadget’s high-finish polished push button controls. The bar ends may possibly look like they’re simply polished at initial but they are one more Motogadget item, bar end turn signal m-Blaze Discs. The stock instrument cluster does the job just fine hiding behind the retro fairing and a little tail light and quantity plate holder finish out the package. This is part of the Hageman genius, a bike that wouldn’t look out-of-location on the racetrack at a classic meet and but nonetheless retains street legality and the capability to execute practically any duty your average daily rider may enjoy just pray for no stone chips!

But there is one far more region where Hageman excels and it goes back to the very beginning, his potential to inspire other builders, develop the components several cannot to facilitate their tips and his bikes serve as a conduit of inspiration for so many attempting to make that same make and model one thing really of their personal. That’s what a accurate show bike is all about, good quality workmanship, innovation and inspiration to those who see it. So it tends to make perfect sense that he has submitted the Sportster for consideration for the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show in Austin Texas this April, it’s hard to imagine it not getting chosen!