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A few ears ago Mark Perry of Oranaeville, Ontario, came to the conclusion that his life was missing a little something. A little spice and excitement And he knew exactly what to do: get his hands on a Harley-Davidson. "It looks like lots of fun and they get lots of attention, so I said, 'I better try it,". the Canadian said. Mark, who owns Universal Rentals with his brother about an hour north of Toronto knew that he would have to find a used one if he had any chance of owning a Harley. His luck couldn't have been better. He called a bike shop in his area and while he was on the phone with the manager, a customer was posting an index card on the shop's bulletin board advertising a 1990 XL with an asking price of $4,350 Canadian.
The shop's manager immediately handed the phone to the guy posting the notice. "The guy said, 'Come over Sunday morning and we'll have a beer at the picnic table and talk it over,' " Mark explained. "So I went, you know, and it was like bone, bone stock. The only thing it had on it was some chrome pieces from Harley." The Sporty had a King Tank with "Sportster" airbrushed on both sides of the tank and had "Ride to Live, Live to Ride" painted on top of the tank. It was close to being true to showroom condition, so Mark wanted to show it.
"I have a friend that rides a decker up here, I said to him, 'Hey, there's a show going on down [in Richmond, Va.], whatta ya say we take the Sporty down there? We rented a U-Haul, got the road maps out and got there about two o'clock in the morning and these guys pull in with their van and trailer, eh? And out comes the Freedom bike from American Iron (cover bike Dec. '93).
"That's when I met Roy. He's kinda laid back, he didn't say much, eh? Then that night Roy showed up in the bar and we started talking and became buddies ... I said to him, 'Excuse me for being so excited, but we don't get to see these bikes up close.' Roy Chamberlin is a builder of beautiful rides and he works out of C&C Cycle in Crofton, Md. He's been building show bikes that his customers also ride for some time now and there's a pretty good collection of trophies scattered around that are a credit to his abilities.
Roy remembered meeting an excited guy from north of the border. "He said, Oh man, you've got to do a bike for me," Roy said. After the show, Mark and his buddy dropped the Sportster off at C&C. "His only criteria were that he wanted it black, he wanted yellow highlights and wanted it eagle, and we said, 'yeah, we can do that,"' noted Roy.
The 883 "was fairly plain" in Roy's estimation. The first thing he did was put a Roadster tank on it and converted the chain drive to a belt. Roy mounted a five-speed rear pulley cover over the belt because its slots would allow for interesting yellow highlights. The displacement was punched out to a full 1200cc, the valves were replaced with those from a Big Twin, a Screamin' Eagle ignition went in, and a Dragtron II air cleaner from Drag Specialties lets this baby breathe. White Bros. Porker Pipes went on with baffles for a rich sound without being neighborhood tormentors. "We had to make the front pipe because it's got forward controls," said Roy. "We chopped it up, welded it back together and sent it out for chroming."
Roy has all his chroming sent to the Chrome Pit in Winnipeg, British Columbia, where "they triple plate, they do black chrome, gold, nickel, they don't care how big or how small the stuff is.... And they give us excellent service," Roy explained.
The body work went to Steve Salins for the chroma black before Gene Garbowski took it over for the "eagleizing" graphics and yellow highlights. After finishing all the paint, a polyurethane clear went over everything. The do-dad shopping list includes a Drag Specialties handlebar, turn signals designed by Rick Doss, grips from Chrome Specialties, and chromed brake calipers. Progressive Suspension shocks smooth the ride and the saddle is a LePera Silhouette. The Ebony Eagle rolls on Dunlops fore and aft.
Since the photos were taken, the rear solid wheel was replaced with the slotted Bad Boy style and the slot interiors were painted yellow. It all adds up to one slick design. "I like the eagle idea," said Mark, "because [the previous owner] had one on the old tank, but not like the one Gene Grabowski did, eh?" We couldn't imagine. "And, if it wasn't for Roy," Mark continued, "this bike wouldn't be near anything like it is ... the guy is always thinking." That much is clear.
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