Tough Harley-Davidson Sportster from Mick’s Garage

I’VE been in the business of working on Harley-Davidsons for about 15 years now. I do all the work for the locals in the Liverpool area (south of Sydney), from a basic service to a full build, whatever someone needs.

This 48 model Harley-Davidson Sportster belongs to Glen. He came and saw me, pretty much wanted it a bit different from the rest of the Sportsters out there.

We lowered it a little in the rear, about an inch, by changing the shocks, to give it that tough stance he was after. 

We then changed the wheels from the original 16 inches front and rear, to 21 by 3.5 inches on the front, and 18 by 3.5 inches on the rear. It’s made a big difference; raised it a fair bit, probably about 3 inches, which gives it a lot more ground clearance for riding fast through the corners.

The Brass Collection accessories—the grips, various covers, etc—are from the Harley-Davidson Catalogue—although there were a few parts we wanted that weren’t in the Collection so we got the painter to colour-match them. They really come together with the gold spokes in the wheels.

The wheels are from Ride Wright in the States. They make wheels to order; whatever size, dimensions, you want, they’ll make them to suit the bike.

We used switch block indicators so it’s now running LEDs all the way through.

Motor-wise, it was already 1200 cc so we just did a custom tune with a Screamin’ Eagle tuner, pipes and a breather. 

It’s a great bike to ride—goes great, handles great, looks great—old school with a few modern touches to it. 

At the end of the day, the customer was happy—and that’s the main thing.

Mick’s Garage: phone 0449-116-566. instagram.