Caleb Owens Builds a No-frills XL

Merriam-Webster defines "ubiquitous" as "existing or being everywhere at the same time." A fitting description of The MoCo's venerable but oft-maligned XL, but should this machine's commonplace nature be construed as negative? Fussy mustaches, ironic belt buckles and superfluous headgear prevail at many biker hoedowns too. Does this fact make them worthy of contempt?

This no-frills XL was built for a happy customer by none other than Caleb Owens. The identity of its owner will be revealed later. For now, let's consider its builder.

Cro you may know is the man whose peers bestowed "builder's choice" honors on his Siksika at Born Free 3. Why would a craftsman of such esteemed pedigree get his hands dirty on a lowly Sportster? Why not? Caleb prides himself on building bikes whose prime mission is to be ridden, and no Harley model manufactured in the last half decade has pounded pavement in greater numbers than the Sportster. When you look at it from that perspective, it's easy to see why Caleb, Kim Boyle, Dan Collins, Scott Alvarez, Tim Park, Rouser Rob and a half-million others are so fond of H-D's dominutive Big Twin.

ChopCult readers and the Quad Cam Bastards who came before them are some of the most vocal Sporty supporters in the world… much more so than nearly any salesman you'll meet at a Harley dealership. The Sportster gallery in the ChopCult PhotoDump is one of the most popular pages on this site, and Sportster bike features like this one continue to generate high traffic on this humble online news forum.

Why then so much drumbeating for that which seems obvious? Recently a ChopCult supporter asked me, "Why is the vibe and attitude on ChopCult so positive compared to other websites?" My answer may be wrong, but it's what I believe in:

Today's builders and bikeriders are cut from more open-minded cloth than many of the cynical chopper hooligans that came before them.

When Caleb shared the identity of the Cro customer who commissioned this bike, I was shocked. When it comes to motorcycles, hunky Hollywood types aren't known for their sense of understatement. Nevertheless, Alex O'Loughlin of the cop drama Hawaii 5-0 paid Caleb to execute the mild tweaks and rigid re-frame seen here, and the finished bike strikes me as the kind of machine any ChopCult reader would be happy to have in his garage. I don't know what's more refreshing: that there's a guy in Hollywood who doesn't parade his ego on an 80-grand theme bike, or that builders like Caleb are comfortable enough in their own skin to massage nondescript XL's for friends and happy customers. Frankly, both facts say much about the positive direction modern motorcycling is headed, and for that I am grateful.

Here's the specs and back story on Steve McGarrett's XL as told by its builder, Caleb Owens:

Owner: Alex O'Loughlin

Shop: Cro Customs

Year make model of donor bike: '99 1200 Sportster

Fork mods, if any: lowered a bit

Suspension/frame mods, if any: Paughco rigid frame, stock

List of hand-fabbed parts: Narrowed and Friscoed Sporty tank, shaped rear fender, spun brass foot pegs, fender struts, chopped window bars, modified early shovelhead oil tank, custom seat pan and leatherwork, exhaust pipes, coil mount, rear brake mount, and tag mount.

Front wheel size and tire specs: 21" H-D

Rear wheel size and tire specs: 16" H-D Dunlop

Seat: custom spring seat by JD of Flying Monkey Fabrication

Backstory: I got a random call from some dude with a thick Australian accent. "Hey mate, I fookin' love your bikes." So that chatter went on for a few weeks. He said he scored this Sportster from a mate that owed him cash or something. He asked if I would take a look and see if we could put together a simple runner out of his pile of parts. I don't build a lot of Sportsters, and this was the first one I messed with. Add the fact that this Evo was owned by an actor and you can see why I wasn't jumping through hoops on this one. After several phone calls and feeling this Aussie out, he sounded like he was into two wheels for all the right reasons and that made me feel a lot better, so I said, "Why not?"

We cut a deal to just build a runner: no frills, nothing crazy; just a solid runner with a few nice custom bits to get it on the road. I recruited my good buddy and collaborator JD of Flying Monkey Fab to help out on this build. The initial pile of parts included an ugly stretched Paughco frame and DNA springer with ape hangers. That got sold off in exchange for a stock rigid frame, early Sporty front forks, and a nice set of wheels pulled from the pile of parts scrapped from the BS1 project. The rest of the parts were basically things laying around the shop.

Once the bare bones version was together I had Kiyo work his zen magic and do the electrics for me. JD got on the bike and that damn thing almost pulled him off. This scoot has some major balls. Super FAST! Right then and there we were sold on the concept of a bare bones chopper out of a Sporty. Apparently Alex O'Loughlin new something I didn't. He wanted a hard runner and no flashy shit—not a common request from a Hollywood celebrity. When all was said and done JD did a ton of work on the bike and T. Markus came through on the back end for a stellar paint job.

Alex spent a bulk of his time last year thrashing around Hollywood on this bike before landing the leading roll in CBS's Hawaii 5.0. Alex hasn't taken his LA bike to Hawaii yet, so it sits in my shop until he decides what kind of motorcycle is right for the Big Island.

Somebody call the reptile veterinarian—this guy has sick pythons!