My other ride
Seth Huot
Pro-snowboarder.
Pictures : Steven Stone
Harley-Davidson XL1200N Nightster 2007.
I have always loved motorcycles and grew up riding a few here and there as a kid. I decided motorcycles were going to be an everyday part of my life after we did « The Morning Out of Austin » ride, which was a group of us snowboarders riding motorcycles from SLC to Tahoe for a spring park shoot. I borrowed my brother’s bike for the trip and within the first 10 miles I made my mind up that as soon as I got back home I was going to buy one.
I ran a few buying scenarios through my head; buy an older used one, buy a new one off the showroom floor, have one built up custom, etc. When it came down to it I wanted a new bike that had no previous owner and also a 2007 which marked the year in which I got into bikes and keep this thing forever.
I’ve done quite of bit of cosmetic work to it to make it mine, paint, reworked the headlight mount, custom rear fender, custom exhaust, custom seat and handlebars, and a fair amount of rewiring and switch re-placement.
For motor work I have put in aftermarket Cams and an aftermarket ECU that controls the fuel injection mapping and tuning. The cams favour the top end so it screams on the freeway.
Between the style and performance of this bike I couldn’t be more pleased.
Custom bike.
H&H Garage built Sportster. About a year ago everyone around me was building or had built a custom bike, and I have to say I had the bug. So I made the choice to buy a stock ’96 Evo 1200 sportster and a Kraftech aftermarket frame, and got to work out in my garage. Through snowboarding and other jobs I have acquired some welding and fabricating skills as well as the tools, so putting my vision into action was a no brainer.
With reliability and my fabricating limitations in mind I took a very minimalist approach to the build, I just wanted to keep things simple. I kept the stock sporty front end and wheels, as well as the stock brakes and controls. I custom shaped a seat and handlebars to fit the tight narrow stance I wanted to have with the mid-foot controls. I bought an oil tank builders kit and fabbed up and mounted the oil bag as well as put together a custom exhaust from a kit Biltwell sells. I put hooks on the sissy bar to hold a skateboard along with a bag for trips.
I did a copper vein powder coat finish on the tins and a gloss black finish on the frame. There are some gold hits on the seat rivets, gas and oil line fittings, and sealed o-ring chain. My brother tooled up and engraved the leather on the seat, and I made a leather solo bag for tools and shit.
This bike is really fun, and for a rigid it’s a pretty smooth ride. I am very pleased with the end result.
