1980 Harley XLS Ironhead Short Chop
Tjakko (aka "The Scientizt") from the Netherlands made available these pictures of his cool 1980 Harley XLS1000 Ironhead Short Chop that he calls "The Player" and for which he completely rebuilt the completely psychedelic purple and yellow Chopper that you can see at the bottom of this page.
Tjakko: "During the last 10 weeks I have been building my very first Harley, a 1980 Harley XLS1000 Ironhead bobchopper (more bobber than chopper I think). Today I finished the project (for as far a project can ever be finished, that is), and I would be honoured if you would put my project onto your Ironhead Bobbers website..."
Well, Mr. Scientizt, we are honoured to have you here!
Tjakko describes the restoration and rebuilding process of this 1980 Harley Sportster XLS Chopper as follows:
"The engine was shot, crankshaft damaged, pushrods damaged, all bearings damaged, oil lines were connected wrong so the filter was completely bypassed, oil pump was shot, gaskets were leaking, the oil tank connectors were leaking, electronics was a mess, brakes hardly worked, etc etc etc, in short, this bike was a disaster, and I had to redo everything to save this poor traumatised Ironhead from the scrapyard!"
Tjakko: "After 10 weeks of raising hell, on a very tight budget - but compensating for this with a lot of hard work - I came up with this, and I named her 'The Player'."
Harley Sportster XLS Ironhead Engine
1980 Harley Davidson Ironhead XLS Sportster Engine, displacement 1000cc, electric start.
The Ugly Purple Duckling...
Tjakko: "This ugly purple duckling is what I began with (I've included the original 2 pics that came with the ad), and what a complete basketcase it was!
But this ugly piece of %^# was to become my very first Harley Davidson."
(October 2009)
Bobber, Chopper or BobChopper?
There is a lot of confusion in the Bobber and Chopper world about which is which.
Just for clarity, and without any claim to wisdom or authority, to determine whether a bike is a Chopper we generally assume the following rule:
Any stock bike or Bobber of which the front fork has been elongated considerably or of which the rake has been increased considerably, has thereby become a Chopper.
We like to follow this rule since in our mind a Bobber is created by removing parts of a stock bike. And in our mind, Choppers have raked and/or elongated front forks, and Bobbers do not.
Long Chop, Short Chop or BobChop?
In our mind, Tjakko's custom Harley is a Short Chopper or "Short Chop".
Clymer Service and Repair Manuals
Even if you have no intent to get your hands dirty - these books are a joy for every Harley Davidson fan!
