1977 Harley-Davidson Sportster Russell Lobley's Project

Russell originally acquired the Sportster from a neighbour, who had managed to seize it on his first ride after leaving the oil pressure sender loose. When purchased, the Harley was virtually complete, but pretty tired, with a lot of polishing and rechroming required to bring all the 'bling' on the bike back to presentable condition. The Sportster's standout feature back then was its custom purple paint on the frame, tank, guards and swingarm. The tank and guards also featured airbrushed murals that were done in the early 1980s by "Little Mick", the well-known airbrusher and tattoo artist from Koolsville Studios in Brendale, Queensland. Russell liked the "old school" look of the airbrushing, but wasn't 100 percent committed to retaining them in the early stages of the project.

Fast forward a few years to 2006, and Russell started the process of collecting parts. Two years later, he was ready to take up the spanners and start stripping his purple Sportster for rebuilding. Early in 2008, work commenced in earnest, with the first job being the pull down of the seized engine. With a view to performance as well as appearance, the 1,000cc engine was bored 50 thou over and treated to some trick new components, like Keith Black 9.5:1 pistons, Andrews PB+ cams, and HPC-coated barrels, heads and valves. Some minor port work was also done, and the valves were seated, while the heads were modified for dual plugs, and a Dyna 2000i ignition was added. The gearbox was stripped, too, with the rebuild delayed by the discovery of a broken second gear cog, one of a number of little snags encountered throughout the project.

Being an ex-mechanic, stripping and replacing all the engine internals was the "easy" part of the project for Russell, but still time consuming. Getting the crank assembled and trued took hours in itself, but having his own lathe to do this and other machine work certainly helped. Little things like grinding out clearance for fitting the cam bearings and improving on factory-spec things like the clutch release plate added to the time involved.

What wasn't easy on this project was the outsourcing of work. Russell experienced the usual frustrations with waiting for specialty work to be done. By this stage, in late 2009, the project had evolved from a simple strip and rebuild into a comprehensive restoration and customisation. That meant virtually everything on the Sportster was being restored, replaced or scratch built. Russell had committed to doing as much as possible himself, but still had to send out some parts for HPC coating, rechroming and the like. Incredibly, the chrome bits (generator, starter assembly, oil tank, and a bunch of other small parts) took over a year to come back from the platers, so just as well Russell wasn't working to a deadline at this stage!

After getting the motor and transmission rebuilt, it was time to turn attention to the exhaust system. The mufflers were lifted from a 2009 model FXDB Street Bob, but the rest was 2-1-2 custom setup made by Russell, using a combination of mandrel-bent and straight pipes, which were tig welded and linished, then HPC coated and fitted with some neat heatshields as well. The swingarm was another example of Russell's handiwork. Again, this was scratch-built, and only after it was completed and fitted to the bike did he find out that a '79 - '81 H-D swingarm would have bolted straight on. Bugger!!

The frame, like most of the rest of the bike, was solid but in need of some TLC. Originally painted purple to match the tinware, Russell decided to strip it back to bare metal and get it powdercoated black, to better show off the chrome and polished bits. Before powdercoating, some modifications had to be done, like fabricating a new upper engine mount, and adding the Fat Bob dash mount. While the frame and most of the engine is original 1977 Sportster, there are a bunch of more modern components in the build, like a 2001-spec Fatboy disc rear wheel and 1998 Sportster rear disc brake. The custom-built swingarm allowed the space to fit a 150 rear tyre without any problems. At the front end, a 1999 FX Sportster 39mm setup is used, lowered 2 inches. To accommodate his 6 foot frame, Russell fitted handlebars with a 6 inch rise and 4 inch pullback. With the same thinking in mind, forward controls were added to avoid what Russell describes as the "praying mantis" riding position!

Russell proved he's got more than just mechanical skills when he decided to completely rewire the Sportster from scratch. The handlebars are fitted with 96-07 model switches and controls, all internally wired, as part of a completely new wiring loom. The billet alloy clamps on the cables, brake lines and wiring loom were all Russell's own work, too. There is a fair bit of bling on the front end, but the chromed instrument surround, risers, bars and mirrors do balance the bold Street Bob silencers and custom-made rear struts at the back. The dual bar oil cooler is a nice touch, too, and certainly looks better than the item the bike was originally fitted with.

Like other elements of the project, the tinware was a combination of items. As purchased by Russell, the front guard was standard 1977 Sportster, while an early FXEF Fat Bob provided the split tanks and rear guard. That guard had been widened one inch, so the choice of the chunky Fat Boy wheel for the rear was a good one on Russell's part. After some initial uncertainty about whether to keep or ditch the original Little Mick airbrushing on the tinware, Russell decided it'd be a crime to get rid of these. The fact they were pretty much in perfect, unmarked condition helped the decision. The rear struts to hold the back guard in place were custom built by Russell, using a flame-inspired design that follows the lines of the Fat Bob guard. After another long delay for chrome plating (six months this time, but at a different plater), these units came back and really looked the goods on the finished bike.

By the middle of 2010, the Sportster was complete enough to fire up for the first time. All was good on that front, but Russell hit another snag soon after with the brakes. The front brake wouldn't bleed or feed fluid properly, so pulling it apart revealed a tiny piece of swarf blocking the line, which also nicked the seal. Cue lots of swearing and the forced purchase of a brake repair kit! The seat base, one of the final parts of the project, was another scratch built item, which was then padded and trimmed in a tribal pattern by a local upholsterer - where there was another 3 month delay! Russell's plan had been to get the Sportster finished ahead of last year's Greazefest event in Brisbane. However, a number of delays (mostly around outside suppliers) meant he just missed the 2011 running of the Brisbane rockabilly and kustom culture event, but he's determined to get the Sportster to the 2012 Greazefest this August!

While it tested his patience at times - several times, actually! - Russell told us he enjoyed much of the process, and especially the finished result. Documenting each stage of the build on the US-based XL Sportster forum - http://xlforum.net - proved to be a godsend, as it allowed Russell to call on the experience and opinions of other forum members when he hit a snag or was looking for advice. Russell told us he learnt a lot - mostly through trial and error - over the more than two years of this build, and developed a bunch of ideas and techniques that he's going to apply to his next project. This means that the Sportster will be offered for sale - but not yet. Russell told us he's committed to winning a trophy with this machine before he puts it on the market!