Black Brassy Sportster Nightster
…I wanted a black gloss mixed in with a flat black and gold/brass look, something to work in with the brass headlight…
MY BIKE IS a Harley-Davidson Sportster Nightster which already had a few custom bits and pieces added to it when I first bought it. Since I had my full bike licence I was looking for a bigger bike and something heavier and more reliable then my custom Yammie XS 650 bobber. The bike came with the DNA springer front-end and custom pipes.
As soon as I bought the bike I sent it to Livin Loco Garage to get a Cole Foster gas tank fitted which I ordered from the USA. Luke modified the tank to give the tank walls a recessed look.
Nath went to work and diamond-cut the air-filter plus the engine fins.
For the paint I wanted a black gloss mixed in with a flat black and gold/brass look, something to work in with the brass headlight I fitted to the bike. Nathan painted the bike and added pinstriping using gold and silver leaf.
Next was the front wheel and tyres. I wanted the old school tyres but to complete the look I needed to find a 16-inch rim for the front which is the same size as the rear wheel. I had the rims powder-coated gloss black.
I must admit at this stage I sourced my inspiration for the look of this bike from Rough Crafts which are a bike building company in Taiwan. I ordered the seat and the air-filter from them and couldn’t be happier with both.
The huge bubble-look rear lights just had to go at this stage. I spent some time online searching for something that was small but still could be seen. There’s plenty out there that are small but with that comes a dull light and not all the lights are combined in the one unit. I ended up finding these small LED lights from X-Arc that have the rear lights, brake lights and indicators all in one.
The speedo was side-mounted and the rear shocks were replaced with super low shockies.
I wanted a side cover for the oil tank that had some lines to it and found this ribbed cover.
I came across the brass-ended grips from Lowbrow Customs. They just worked in perfectly with the scheme of the bike.
It’s a pleasure to ride the Nightster after coming from a rigid tail bike that wasn’t that reliable. I ride this bike to work every day and get heaps of comments and looks from people of all ages. The most asked comment is… what make of bike is it?
Photos by Rod Cole; story by Dan
