Article and Photos By: Kerri Schindler
Originally Published In The March 2012 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine
Sully’s Customs has gone through some major changes in the past year or so due to the way Chris Sullivan was thinking about the motorcycle industry. He decided it was time to get away from all of the cookie cutter stuff and get back to his roots. What came from that change was this bike. This Sportster was originally purchased brand new by Chris’s dad; it was an anniversary edition. Around a year or so after having the bike, his dad decided to take it apart and make it more of his own. A couple of years down the road, one of Chris’s cousins bought the bike from his dad and it went through a complete change again. So this bike was now on its third life. It wasn’t until recently that Chris’s cousin came to him saying that he wanted to change this bike yet again. He wanted it to have a completely new look from before. So Chris took on the challenge to give this bike its fourth transformation. What Sullivan wanted to do this time around was to show people what can be done with a stock Sportster, making it cool without spending a ton of cash. Most of the parts on this reincarnation were handmade by Chris. He came up with the idea S for the coffin struts just for something different to lower a Sportster. He didn’t want to use the round struts like everyone else was doing, taking the coffin idea from the choppers of the sixties and seventies. Coffin parts used to be pretty common back then but lately you don’t see them anymore. He thought it would be cool to bring some of the old school look to this new school kind of bike. Chris designed the struts, had them laser cut from ¼” steel and then powdercoated.
The seat is something that sparked an idea for Chris since he could never seem to get what he had in mind when it came to seats. Being fed up with not being able to find exactly what he waned, he decided to start his own seat company. They now make lots of different colors and designs and that part of the business is actually its own entity. The seat that was done for this bike is a green metal flake to match the grips and the green that is in the original gas tank. When it came time to make a decision on handlebars, he had a vision of what he wanted and just went with it. He knew he wanted that Z-bar look but at the same time, wanted them to be really narrow. They just barely clear the risers and have a great feel especially for a narrow glide. In making the handlebars he used 120 dom steel tubing. Chris noticed that a lot of the younger generation that are building and riding bikes are also skateboarders, so he wanted to incorporate something from their world into this bike. In order to accomplish this, he took skateboard wheels and called them Footplant footpegs. The other footpegs Chris designed, the Big Allen footpegs, are made out of hex aluminum and meant to look like a big Allen wrench. Like I said, Chris designed almost everything on this bike including the h e x aluminum taillights with LEDs. In the end, Chris didn’t want to lose all the history behind this bike so he just added to it by changing a few things. In doing so, he took a bike with an old soul and gave it new life, for the fourth time. He wanted to be able to show people that you can make a Sportster cool with just some minor, simple adjustments. Sometimes it’s the little things that can add up and make the biggest difference.
Second Chance Sporty Tech Sheet
Owner: Clark McCollum
City: Columbus, IN
Fabrication By: Sully’s Customs
Year: 1980
Model: Sportster
Time: A Month-Give or Take
Value: How Much Ya Got?
ENGINE
Year: 1980
Model: Ironhead
Builder: HD
Ignition: Dyna
Displacement: 1000
Pistons: HD
Heads: HD
Cam(s): HD
Carb: S&S
Air Cleaner: S&S
Exhaust: Sully’s
Primary: HD
TRANSMISSION
Year: 1980
Make: HD
Shifting: 4 Speed
FRAME
Year: 1980
Make: HD
Rake: Stock
Stretch: None
FRONT END
Type: Narrow
Builder: HD/Sully’s
Extension: 4” Under
WHEELS
Front Wheel: Mag
Size: 19”
Tire:
Brakes: HD
Rear Wheel: HD
Size: 16”
Tire:
Brakes: HD
PAINT
Painter: HD Anniversary
Color: Purple Base
Type:
Graphics: HD
Molding: None
ACCESSORIES
Bars: Sully’s Bonz
Risers: 4”
Hand Controls: HD
Gas Tank(s): HD
Front Fender: None
Rear Fender: Sully’s
Seat: Sully’s H Pleat Green Metallic
Foot Controls: Sully’s Footplants & Big Al Pegs
Mirrors: Round
Oil Tank: HD
Headlight: HD
Taillight: Sully’s
Speedo: N/A
Photos.By: Kerri Schindler