Photo: Thunderbike
We’re used to seeing in the custom motorcycle world all sorts of insane creations. Most of the time they are manifestations of what customers of specialized garages envision to be cool or suitable for whatever state of mind they are in at the time they commission them. Few such builds however are the result of near-death experiences.
What you’re looking at here was once a stock Sportster, one that now proudly wears that personal touch only a talented shop can gift it with, and that can only come from the very personal experience of the owner involved.
The shop behind the build is an older favorite of ours, the Germans from Thunderbike. They’re a crew with literally hundreds of creations put together over the past quarter of a century, and one of the main go-to Harley customizers for both private individuals and other shops in the business.
This time, the custom Sportster we have here is the result of a request from a customer. A woman who at the start of the year was battling a life-threatening illness. An illness that even if it was incredibly scary, it also inspired the creation of what is now known as the Dunner 77.
That would be a moniker inspired by the woman’s own name, slapped on the side of the bike for all to see. For Thunderbike, who takes a more direct approach to things, the custom build is described as a witches' broom - and that term applies in more ways than one, including on account of it not costing all that much to put together.
Or, at least, not as much as Thunderbike is used to charge people. About 2,700 euros is how much the custom bits and pieces fitted on the two-wheeler are worth, which is roughly $3,100 at today’s exchange rates.
This particular model was chosen because the woman riding it weighs just 56 kg (123 lbs), and that would have made the shovelhead she was actually dreaming of quite difficult to handle. On top of the stock bike, Thunderbike slapped the usual complement of in-house-made parts, completely altering the looks of the machine.
From the Thunderbike shelves, we get things like progressive shock absorbers, the front fender, fuel tank pin-up kit, and the air filter, but also the minor hardware that comes as license plate lights, footrests, or seat holder.
To complete the look, the handlebar was sourced from Harley-Davidson itself, while the indicator set was sourced from Kellerman. The paint job is, of course, the product of Thunderbike’s usual partner in this field, Ingo Kruse - the full list of extras that went into the build, as well as the owner’s thoughts into how the end product came to be, can be found at this link.
The shop behind the build is an older favorite of ours, the Germans from Thunderbike. They’re a crew with literally hundreds of creations put together over the past quarter of a century, and one of the main go-to Harley customizers for both private individuals and other shops in the business.
This time, the custom Sportster we have here is the result of a request from a customer. A woman who at the start of the year was battling a life-threatening illness. An illness that even if it was incredibly scary, it also inspired the creation of what is now known as the Dunner 77.
That would be a moniker inspired by the woman’s own name, slapped on the side of the bike for all to see. For Thunderbike, who takes a more direct approach to things, the custom build is described as a witches' broom - and that term applies in more ways than one, including on account of it not costing all that much to put together.
Or, at least, not as much as Thunderbike is used to charge people. About 2,700 euros is how much the custom bits and pieces fitted on the two-wheeler are worth, which is roughly $3,100 at today’s exchange rates.
This particular model was chosen because the woman riding it weighs just 56 kg (123 lbs), and that would have made the shovelhead she was actually dreaming of quite difficult to handle. On top of the stock bike, Thunderbike slapped the usual complement of in-house-made parts, completely altering the looks of the machine.
From the Thunderbike shelves, we get things like progressive shock absorbers, the front fender, fuel tank pin-up kit, and the air filter, but also the minor hardware that comes as license plate lights, footrests, or seat holder.
To complete the look, the handlebar was sourced from Harley-Davidson itself, while the indicator set was sourced from Kellerman. The paint job is, of course, the product of Thunderbike’s usual partner in this field, Ingo Kruse - the full list of extras that went into the build, as well as the owner’s thoughts into how the end product came to be, can be found at this link.
Google News