Dave Devanna's 87 Sportster Hardtail

Dave Devanna is one of the thousands of garage builders that used our forum to help complete his bike, a nice Sportster, below. He introduced himself as a professional lurker (not the creepy kind) as he never took the leap to sign up until now. We want to welcome Dave to the finer side of life and thank him for his patience with this feature. Enjoy.

Owner name, location: Dave Devanna, Sparta NJ

Chop Cult Member profile: DanielLaruso

Bike name: Honey

Engine, year and make, model, modifications: Harley-Davidson 1987 XLH1100, stock with a S&S Super E carb.

Frame: Stock with a David Bird hardtail, and 3" drop 4" stretch. I bought it with the frame already hardtailed, and thankfully it was the one thing done right.

Fork: Stock 35mm with shaved lowers and top tree, 2" drop springs

Paint: Duplicolor Ford Sunburst Gold spray cans with spraymax 2k clearcoat.

Chassis mods: David Bird hardtail, shaved off unnecessary tabs, added exhaust tabs.

Tire/wheel size and style: 16” spoke Softail wheel with Shinko tire on the back, 21” Custom Chrome wheel with Avon Speedmaster on the front.

Favorite thing about this bike: The stance. Love the straight line from the neck to the rear axle that the 4" stretch gives.

Next modification will be: Nothing, I'm done with this one. I bought 4 over fork tubes for it but they're still in the box. Now working on an ‘84 FXR that I'm doing up in a late 80's style.

Other mods, accessories, cool parts, etc: All wiring in the frame. Car-style ignition switch. Oil tank by Slims Fab Farm. Rear fender by 7metalwest. Oil tank and sissy bar chromed by Superchrome, Asbury Park, NJ. Homemade gold medal points cover, taillight mount. and ignition switch bracket. Biltwell Whiskey throttle. Kustom Tech hand controls. Paughco exhaust.

Any building or riding story or info you'd like to include: Although I've loved Harley's since I was a kid, I always was an old car and pickup guy. In the Summer of ‘14, I met my friend Sal and he invited me to the Strange Days bike party, and that was the turning point. I rode up in my 1950 Ford pickup, and had such a blast that the truck was for sale the next day. I bought this bike on ebay having just seen the pics, and man did it turn out to be a wreck when I went to pick it up. The guy just cobbled it together for the pics hoping some jackass would buy it, and lo and behold, one did! I wanted to make it my own anyway, so I tore it down to the frame and engine and rebuilt it the way I wanted it. It was a learning curve coming from a world of 4-wheeled vehicles, but with the help of the service manual and reading on chopcult for hours a day, I managed to get it where I wanted it, and had it back at the next Strange Days. I'm not sure if I'll ever get another old car or truck, but I'll never be without a bike again.

Thanks to: I'd like to thank my two buddies I ride with the most: Lou "Sal" Salvemini, "Tattoo" Bob Pettersen, and my beautiful girlfriend Christina Boysen who encourages me in everything I do. Most of all, I'd like to thank my cousin Mark "Buzz" Reiman (RIP). He showed me just what you can do with basic tools, a home garage, and determination. I feel like he's with me every time I ride. -Dave

Photos by Gianpaolo Fabiano / @gianpaolophoto