The following article about -again of course- a Sportster, model XLCH 1965 was placed in Easyriders magazine number 45, from March 1975. I’ve also placed a picture of an original model of the same bike to give you an example of the changes made.
The article it selves revealed a side-effect of being ‘a subject of attention’ in a popular magazine. And it ain’t a pretty side-effect, that must be said.
Sporty Reborn
Ken, the owner/builder of this clean scoot, had a nasty bummer smack him in the mug, not long after he built his first Sporty. We featured Ken’s first creation in our December ’75 issue. No sooner did it appear on the stands than some sonofabitch ripped it off.
To many bikers that loss would’ve been devastating. Some dudes could’ve even copped an attitude, vowing never again to own and build a custom Harley, because of the risks of losing it. Some might even get the idea that the biking brotherhood was non-existent, and go back to sky-divin’, skate-boardin’, or hitch-hikin‘ as a hobby. But not Ken. His people proved to him that a true brotherhood does exist, and, with their help, he built the Sportster you see here.
Because of incidents such as this, we’ve adopted a new scheme around – this dump. If there’s one thing we can’t handle, it’s hearing about a biker who’s been burned for his scoot —and we’ve discovered, recently, that license plates make good direction finders for ripoff artists. Consequently, from this issue on, no more license plates will be displayed in this rag. It may not get Ken’s first Sporty back, or eliminate bike thievery completely, but if it prevents just one bro from getting burned, we’ll be happy to have helped.
Bandit
Photography by Jake