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Hand-Made Killer Harley Sportster by Matt Waln

I am not the only guy who believes that Harley-Davidson machinery is sometimes too much about bling, eye-candy very expensive paint jobs, tons of chrome add-ons and more. Matt Waln was kind of fed up with all the shiny bling almost all H-Ds are recognized for, so when a friend of his announced him he was about to sell his Sportster 883, he knew the right time had come.
Harley-Davidson Sportster by Matt Waln 31 photos
Photo: Jonathan DeHate
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First off, Matt tore down the Sportster and examining the frame, he decided to go for the old-school hardtail looks. A new rear section was ordered at Bare Knuckle Choppers, but it’s 6”(15cm) stretch was way of line, so he chopped it to half the distance. With the new lower stance in the rear, the bike looked weird, so shortening the forks was next.

The forks became 4.5” (11cm) shorter, and Matt accommodated a liter-class Gixxer brake master on the tree-mounted custom bars. Low, narrow and aggressive, the new handlebars stressed out the mean looks of the bike even more. He used Yamaha R1 rearsets for the forward foot controls, by crafting custom brackets to help them fit on the frame.

Waln also relocated the tank toward the middle of the frame and built a custom base pan for the leather seat his grandfather crafted, while at the same time building the rear fender, plate holder, battery box and pretty much all the things in the rear section of the bike according to his own design.

To finish his hand-made Harley, Matt chose a sober, matte paint, underlining the fact that MoCos can look stunning without bling, too. Oh, and the young lady in shiny leggings is his girlfriend Michelle, and she rode on the bare metal fender!

Via canibeat. Photos by Jonathan DeHate, Josh Taylor and Sean Tierney.
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