#FreedomIsAFullTank - Building El Greengo
El Greengo started life as a bone stock red 2004 Harley Davidson Sportster.
This just wasn't going to work for the Clean Water Crusade so we brought it into the Lords Garage and started pulling all the unnecessary parts. Gas tank, handle bars, springs, shocks, forward controls, exhaust, headlight, tires, and seat all had to go.
To keep the build on budget and performing reliably, we went with some trusted parts from Burly Brand. Scrambler bars up top, MX pegs down low, pre-load adjusters in the front, and Stiletto shocks taking up the rear. The Scrambler Bar provides a comfortable riding position for the long stretches and are strong enough to handle all the bumps, jumps, and shenanigans. The MX pegs are a wider version of the classic dirt bike peg to keep your feet planted during both takeoff and landing. There is also a secret bottle opener built into the underside of the peg for those end of day cervezas.
15" Stiletto shocks are a big upgrade from stock Harley Davidson 11" with a lowering block. Not only do the Stilettos add some serious height, but also provide an excellent ride.With the increased swing arm angle the drive belt contacts the rear master cylinder linkage. There's a few ways to get around this and the cheapest/easiest way we have found is with an idler bearing mounted on a custom bracket off the transmission case. The bearing deflects the belt path when the suspension is unloaded maintaining belt tension. The exhaust is from Roland Sands Design. It's the tried and true Tracker 2-into-1 pipe with a few coats of white header paint. This pipe gives good clearance and sounds like a muscle car at idle. Of all the pipe options out there, this one is top shelf. The Screaming Eagle intake and Daytona TC88A ignition module helps get the most out of this pipe.
The seat is a Speedway from Biltwell. We picked this unit up new in the box from eBay with a best offer price. The seat looks great and bolts right up but it's definitely made for small butts.
For the more show/less go parts, we kept it simple with some tweaks and plastic. 1.5" tank lift provides enough room to tuck all the wires and connectors into the gas tank tunnel without losing any usable fuel capacity. The headlight and fairing is off a Suzuki DR project from last year. The fender is a universal Acerbis dirt bike fender with a custom mount that connects to the steering stem and headlight mount. Some simple custom brackets allowed us to mount the dirt bike hand guards to the mirror stem. The whole bike was sprayed in Deep Sherwood metallic green over a black base. There are still a few adjustments to make before departing on the big journey; the Speed Merchant skid plate needs to be mounted and maybe some more gold leaf detail for the tank.
These bikes are fun to build and even more fun to ride. With companies like Burly Brand, RSD, and The Speed Merchant continuing to developing and manufacturing all these parts, it's never been easier for garage mechanics to transform their stock daily riders into personalized performance machines. There are some amazingly inspiring builds out there from Shaw Speed & Custom in the UK to Moto Lady in the US. These 70s tracker style Sportsters are fun to build and even more fun to ride. Just check out the Instagram shots form guys like @seandel or @rustybutcher to see how much fun they are having.