Combustion Industries’ Harley-Davidson XL1200R Looks Ready for Halloween

This bad boy’s story began as a regular 2007 model in Harley-Davidson’s glorious XL1200R lineup. To be quite frank, it goes without saying that H-D’s cruiser is a fascinating piece of machinery straight out of the box. In fact, let’s kick things of by having a quick look at what this mean machine was capable of achieving.

It is brought to life by a fierce four-stroke V-twin powerplant with two valves per cylinder head, nested inside a steel tubular frame. For an outstanding performance, the air-cooled mill is operated by the manufacturer’s very own Evolution valvetrain setup.

This nasty animal was blessed with a truly colossal displacement of 1199cc, as well as an electronic sequential port fuel injection that feeds it with gasoline to put things in motion. In terms of its power output figures, the ruthless behemoth will be more than happy to deliver up to 79 pound-feet (107 Nm) of crushing twisting force at 4,000 rpm.

A five-speed gearbox is tasked with channeling this sheer power to the rear wheel by means of a belt final drive. Speaking of XL1200R’s wheels, they wear dual 292 mm (11.5 inches) brake rotors and two-piston calipers at the front, accompanied by a single disc and a one-piston caliper on the opposite end.

Additionally, the wheels are hugged by 100/90-19 57H rubber up front, along with a 150/80-B16 71H tire at the rear. As to its suspension, the entire structure is supported by a pair of 39 mm (1.54 inches) forks at the front, while its rear end rests on twin coilover shock absorbers with adjustable preload.

Michael Bates is an industrial designer with over 20 years of product design and manufacturing experience in the automotive realm. This ambitious fellow founded his one-man workshop, by the name of Combustion Industries in Stillwater, Minnesota and decided to tackle a Harley Davidson XL1200R-based custom build. Although the final result might be a little unorthodox, it is genuinely spectacular nonetheless!

“I love working in the industry. You know what they say – if you find something you love, you will never work a day in your life,” he explains.

For starters, Bates fitted a couple of 16-inch (40.6 cm) RFY shocks that’ll offer more ground clearance at the rear, as well as Protaper Adventure handlebars and wider foot pegs for a revised riding stance. You will also notice an Avon Trailrider tire package enveloping a fresh set of wheels.

Combustion Industries’ one-man army disposed of XL1200R’s stock fuel tank to make room for a new custom unit. To accomplish this, the electric fuel injection pump had to be tweaked and shortened.

Next, he installed a plethora of components from as many as four other variants in Harley’s inventory; “There are Superlow wheels, XR side covers and a few things I put together using different thinking,” says CI’s sole mastermind.

Furthermore, we find a single Dillinger bar-end mirror and mesh-covered engine cases, besides an aftermarket headlight module and an auxiliary lighting package from Morimoto. The humungous V-twin powerplant was treated to a one-off exhaust system that incorporates SC-Project mufflers and a Kuryakyn Velociraptor air filter.

To top it all off, Michael Bates wrapped his two-wheeled baby up in a silver finish, joined by orange accents. Finally, he concluded the project by naming his incredible creation ‘Overlandr’.

What are your thoughts on Combustion Industries’ unconventional approach?