Few quick facts:
– Year: 1980
– Motor: Ironhead
– Trans: 4 speed
– Trim/body: Sportster
– Suspension: Ledsled hardtail
The Backstory
Years and years ago, back before the RatRod, i debated if i wanted to build a 70s style chopper or a hotrod. I ended up choosing the hotrod route (the Ratrod), for a myriad of reasons, and never really looked back. Fast fwd to 2020… Covid hit hard and my wife and i had just sold our house in NH (and my shop) and moved back to PA. We were staying in a small duplex while we feverishly looked for a house (which almost 2 years later, we’re still doing).
Somewhere right around the March lockdown, i realized our house hunt wasn’t going to be a quick endeavor… and i started losing my mind, being 2hrs away from my shop. I wanted a project i could work on in an apt (lol yep) and i felt like a chopper was the perfect fit.
After a few weeks of searching i found this… a 1980 Sportster Ironhead. It was the wrong year (no kick start), wrong one (some warning signs told me it might not run well), and overall wrong model (i was really after a Shovelhead)… but after a car-guy pep talk from my close friend and hotrod mentor Alan, i went for it.
Like a lot of my projects, this one started slow. After getting the bike, i pulled the motor out, then tossed it in the corner of the shop for damn near a year. The Apt we were in wasn’t conducive to any work at all and we had some family issues pop up that had my mind elsewhere.
Whats Next?
Over hunting season, i took a day and dedicated it to getting the project started. I stripped the bike completely, measured it all up, then grabbed a sawzall and started hacking. I have a bad habit of cutting apart totally serviceable vehicles *cough* Shoebox *cough*… so why should this be any different!
It took some liquid courage, but i got it cut and the new Ledsled hardtail welded in.
Since buying this bike, my wife and i moved to a new rental.. this time a small house with a basement. I bought myself a PrimeTig tig welder, built a work table, and moved the project into our basement. Fulfilling the original plan, i’m gona work on this guy nights/weekends like i did in the NH days! This give me something to do while we wait for a house… and i get my shop back!
I love my main shop… but the 2hr commute sux… so i’m really excited about this project!