BREAKING

Feature Bikes

Sun City Sportster

Published In The November 2013 Issue Of Cycle Source

Article & Photos By: Grizzly

Feature 4a Kerri Nov 13

Marco drives an ambulance and rides a chopper in his spare time: a lean hardtail Evo Sportster, to be specific. He started with a Sportster 1200 Sport and an L&L hardtail frame. He then turned the stock Sporty into a Frisco style chop with Japanese custom influences.

Our guy Marco lives in Den Helder, the city with the most hours of sun per year in Holland. That doesn’t mean it never rains over there because it does — a lot! Still, when I made an appointment with Marco at the McDonalds outside of town, it was a warm and sunny day. I was riding my F*ckcup bike (no, that is not misspelled), which is a Frisco style chopper too. I thought it would be kinda cool to race through town together with Marco on his chop, which is what we did! Marco led me to the seashore in Northern Den Helder where I started taking the photos. Then we rode up to his house in the middle of town, and we both had a blast doing so.

I asked the chopper loving ambulance driver what his colleagues at work thought of him riding a bike ‘cause I know most people who work in a hospital think bike riders are a bunch of nutcases. Marco said, “Well, it depends what kind of bike you ride. In our region, we have eight to ten severe motorcycle accidents a year and in almost all cases, the victims were riding race bikes. Sometimes the only thing holding these guys’ bodies together after an accident are their leather motorcycle suits. We sometimes literally have to scrape them off the asphalt. Over here, we all call those bikes ‘organdonorcycles’. I have yet to see a severe victim who had been riding a chopper at the time of the accident. So, no, my colleagues do not think I am a nutcase. A lot of them actually own a bike as well. They do however complain about the fact that I come in riding my chop wearing nothing but sneakers, jeans, a shirt, and an open helmet. I don’t care. I would hate to dress up for every little ride.”

Marco’s first bike was a Suzuki Intruder. He rode it for seven years. When he got the job as a driver on the ambulance, he started making enough money to buy his dream bike: a Harley.

Feature 4b Kerri Nov 13

“I bought a Sportster 883, owned a Softail, a Road King and even bought an Electra Glide once. But my biggest dream was building, owning and riding a chopper. When my wife was pregnant with my first child, I sold the Electra and bought a Sporty Sport instead. I also ordered a hardtail frame from a local shop. I then started stripping the stock bike, trying to mount most of the stock parts onto the hardtail frame which was designed for that. So I mounted the motor, reused the frontend, both wheels and all brakes. This way the bike was not gonna cost me a fortune. I swapped the bigger, newer gas tank for an older smaller Sporty tank and tapped the holes to bolt it to the frame. I turned a custom front fender with just the right length into a rear fender and made some simple fender struts. With a friend, I also made a license plate holder and some custom pipes. We chopped the stock battery box and welded it to the hardtail frame. The motor of the 1200 Sport was painted black, but my magnesium wheels were grey (sandblasted). I liked the way the wheels looked so I took all paint off the motor to make it match. I also bought some vintage tires. In the rear I used a whitewall, and in the front I copied the Japanese chopper builders by using a 19 inch Avon MK II sidecar tire. I think the tires make the wheels and bike look f**king cool,” described Marco. The chopper builder from Den Helder wanted a Frisco look so he kept the stock mid pegs, and asked DT Chopper Parts from Holland to custom make him a set of handlebars.

He explained, “Again, I chose to use the stock handles to save bucks and I bought the risers, air filter and seat on e-Bay. Last but not least, the bike had to be painted. I asked my friend and car painter, Geert, to paint the bike. He really did a good job laying on the white scallops, the Ferrari red paint and the scattered flakes. To top it all off, I asked Royal Jack to do the striping! When the bike was finished, it looked great but it handled way too nervous. It was probably because of the loss of weight the Sportster Sport had. It had become even faster than stock. There was no way to ride normally with it, so I had it fixed by my favorite mechanic, Jan de Wit. It is still fast now, but much more manageable. It’s a great bike for in town riding; I use it to go to work all the time.”

Feature 4c Kerri Nov 13

Sun City Sporty Tech Sheet
Owner: Marco
City: Den Helder, Holland
Fabrication By: L&L, Marco and Friends
Year: 2011
Model: Chopper
Time: One Winter – 3 Months
ENGINE
Year: 2003
Model: Sportster Sport
Builder: Harley-Davidson
Ignition: Points
Displacement: 1200cc
Carb: CV w/ Vintage Cover
Air Cleaner: e-Bay
Exhaust: Handmande
TRANSMISSION
Year: 2003
Make: H-D
Shifting: 5 Speed
FRAME
Year: 2010
Make: L&L Choppers
Rake: 30 Degrees
Stretch: 4”
FRONT END
Type: Sportster Sport Adjustable
Builder: H-D
Extension: None
Triple Trees: Stock/Shave & Polished
WHEELS
Front Wheel: H-D Magnesium
Size: 19”
Tire: MK II
Brakes: Stock
Rear Wheel: H-D Magnesium
Size: 16”
Tire: Classic Whitewall
Brakes: Stock
PAINT
Painter: Geert’s Paint Shop
Color: Ferrari Red
Pinstriping: Royal Jack
Lettering Royal Jack
ACCESSORIES
Bars: TD Chopper Parts
Risers: e-Bay
Gas Tank(s): Sporty
Front Fender: Nein!
Rear Fender: Chopped Front
Seat: e-Bay
Foot Controls: Stock Mid-Pegs
Oil Tank: L&L Stainless
Headlight: Bates
Taillight: Small Stoplight
Photographer: Grizzly

Related Posts

1 of 54