UNIQUE RETRO BRIT INSPIRED HARLEY

This bike concept was simple, strip away the excess of an American Harley and introduce British styling cues to produce a more restrained bike in homage to the 1950s Triumph Speed Twin. On the face of it, the project didn’t look too demanding, but all that remains of the original Harley is the frame, engine/gearbox and rear brake assembly. Everything else has been modified or custom made. At the front, 39mm Harley Sportster forks replace the wider originals and are fitted with a Burly lowering kit with machined yokes and reworked Lowbrow fork shrouds. The forks suspend a 19inch Morad aluminium front wheel/Avon Speedmaster. The project called for a clean uncluttered look, so the big Harley fuel tanks with inset gauges were replaced with a simpler 4.5-gallon Sportster tank equipped with hand fabricated stainless steel spears. A discreet Motogadget digital display is set into the Sportster handlebars and matched to Motone switches and Motogadget bar end indicators. Keyless starting is incorporated via a Motogadget M-Unit which lives under the seat alongside a lightweight lithium battery. Triumph T100 mudguards were used front/rear, but cut and shaped to fit around the Harley front forks and rear swingarm. A new number plate/light housing, using a Norton number plate surround and Frances Barnett light unit was grafted in. Progressive shocks lower the swingarm a full two inches in line with the front. The rear mudguard frame horns were cut and reprofiled and the rear footpegs removed. An 18inch Morad aluminium wheel is substituted for the original 16inch rear. The style of bike called for something more old-school in the exhaust department and uses a two-into-one system with Paugho downpipes mating to a custom peashooter silencer. The stock Harley seat has gone, initially in favour of a lower frame-hugging single seat, but now replaced with a springer seat for a period look and more comfortable ride. The bike is painted solid black with pinstriped mudguards/tank in gold and red. A finishing touch is the laser-cut stainless steel disc in the headstock with V-Moto logo, in recognition of fabricator Viv Cowley’s outstanding workmanship. The bike turned out pretty much as intended, it sounds great, pulls well with the stock Harley motor and rides well. Sadly it doesn’t get used very much, so if you’d like to own a one-off Harley with more than a nod to a 50s Triumph, then please get in touch. The bike will be sold with a new MoT and has covered just over 9000 miles.