Australia Iron Head Sportster

Editor’s Note: We looked at 2009 as the Year of the Sportster, due to the economy in the USA, and because we ran into a vast assortment of rigid framed Sportsters at the Smoke Out this year. It was a strange year, but good for Sportsters, then this one landed in our laps from a life long Australian Builder, Deano. It was previously featured in Heavy Duty, the major Australian bike magazine. The story was originally written by the master, Doc Robinson. He shipped his text over for us lowly Bikernet bastards to use. So enjoy, and we’ll see if from time to time we plug in any additional facts or bullshit to augment Deano’s story in the photo captions.–Wrench

Deano kicked off his bike building career in tin shack on the back of his 26-acre chunk of land outside Bathurst New South Wales, 16 years ago, sorta like the Harley boys.

“I just wanted to chop an Ironhead” – now you won’t get a more succinctly expressed reason for customising a bike than those few words from Thunderhead Choppers’ Deano. He went on, “I bought a fairly rough, stock 1981 AMF Ironhead Sportster from a dealer in Sydney for a handful of cash, threw it into the ute and then rolled it into the shop for some stripping”.

I don’t know how Doc missed all the shit Deano told us. For instance he handles his own seat making chores including leather tooling and stitching.

As for the finished product, Deano says, “This is a rockin’ little Sporty. It’s a good ride. It’s like boppin’ along on a vintage classic; yeah it sure makes me smile when I’m riding, it’s such great fun. It’s just a bit of glam metal really and there’s room for a wider tyre under the rear guard. Unskinnybop – nuthin’ more to say!”

Doc’s Ironhead attitude sucks. Most Harley race bikes have been developed around Sportsters. Sportsters are the inexpensive bomb in the H-D line-up, always have been. Same configuration from 1957 until 1985. I rest my case.

That’s it in a nutshell. If you want to know the steps between rolling a stock AMF Ironhead into the shop and then rolling out this heavily stylized rigid custom, then read on.

Now some of you might be thinking, “Deano’s been at those mushrooms again”. Others might simply say, “Why would ya?” Some might recall the old saying, “You can’t polish a turd” – to which I would say, “Maybe not, but you can roll it in glitter and make it sparkle!” Which undoubtedly qualifies for the grossest mental picture ever generated from the pages of this magazine.

However, there is no doubt that the old Ironheads were turd-like in many ways, responsible for more curses and wrecked knees than anything that ever rolled on two wheels. But with this original and creative makeover, Deano has lifted this bike from the deep dark recesses of the Valley of the Turds and placed it in the bright sunshine atop Custom Mountain, causing an increase in the heart rate of the biker gods looking down.

“Who’da thought,” one of them breathlessly whispered, “that a mere mortal could turn such a pile of sh*t into this sweet custom”. There was a nodding of heads and murmurings of general assent from the other biker gods before they turned back to their bongs and re-runs of, “Then Came Bronson” on Sky TV.

Deano is a one-man band. He even built this frame on his own handmade frame table, while kangaroos jumped around in his front yard.

The bike is built around a Thunderhead Boper style frame, of which Deano says, “This frame is one of our big twin style Boper frames; I named it Boper ‘cause it’s a pro street/chopper/bobber mix.”

Yes, it is a mix of styles indeed, from its severely kicked back single down tube to its unusually angled rigid rear section and I venture to say that it will polarise opinion, with blokes either liking it or hating it.

When you have such an idiosyncratic frame as this one, you need to match it with tinware which is also individual and features distinctive styling, which is exactly what Deano did.

The front guard is a handmade one-off, café style piece of kit while the rear guard Deano describes as a, “one off, custom bobber style which was hand shaped and finished off with half-round metal trim, which has been TIG welded into place.”

The fuel tank is an FX series but with custom mounts to fit the frame. The oil bag is a Thunderhead letterbox style. There is a Thunderhead custom oil filter and mounts and a custom battery box containing a genuine Harley-Davidson battery about which Deano adds, “Yeah H-D batteries are good.” There’s also a beaut Thunderhead custom plate holder that adds a nice finishing touch to the rear section.

The forks Deano describes as, “stock length sparrow glide” with associated stock triple trees; however, the frame features a rake of 40 degrees for that stretched out look. A set of drag bars mounted on 4 inch pullback risers gives the rider something to hang on to; the grips and levers are stock, the mirrors are aftermarket and the headlight was first modified and then painted.

Deano built his first bike in 1989, in his bedroom, after customizing push bikes as a kid.

Wheels are stock AMF mags, a 19-incher up front and a 16-incher at the rear, both wearing Michelin Commander rubber and carrying H-D drilled stainless rotors and stock H-D calipers. The calipers have been highly polished and then had Motor Company decals applied.

Sharp eyed readers may notice the rear caliper has been inverted with the use of a custom bracket that Deano reckons, “took some work to get right” as no doubt it did. You’ll also notice, if you look closely, the rear brake set-up features a hard line to the switch then a braided stainless line from there to the caliper.

Right, we’ve done frame, forks, wheels, brakes – all bits that make it roll and stop, time to look at the lump of iron that drives the bronze beast. Well, it’s a 1981 AMF Ironhead Sportster which Deano has torn down and rebuilt.

Capacity is 61 cubes if you like it in inches, or 1000 cubic centimetres expressed metrically. Into the mix went a 40 thou oversize bore job, which was then stuffed with a set of Wiseco pistons to squeeze the fuel/air mix to 9:1 after the Keihin 38mm accelerator pump type carby is finished with it. From the carb the raw mixture flows on down through the polished intake port, swirls past the Manly intake valve and into the combustion chamber.

Spark is courtesy of an Accel points conversion with mechanical advance, condenser and the rest of that type of system. A system incidentally, which was good enough to fire fuel/air mixtures for the past 100 or so years until modern electronics took over the scene.

The exhaust Deano lists as stock style, with correct heat shields, while the intake consists of a classic 7-inch round item, with custom mounts and choke button.

Now it wasn’t a case of just bolt it together and go, in fact Deano shifted the whole motor and drive train about 19mm to centre it and make it a well-balanced bike. Speaking of drive trains, the tranny is a stock Harley-Davidson 4-speed that’s had Andrews close-ratio gears slotted into it. There’s a diamond primary chain drive with a modified chain tensioner and down the back there’s a heavy duty chain for final drive duty.

Deano welds with MIGs, TIGs and torches, and operates his own milling machine and lathe.

There’s a lot more to this bike, things like the motor mount which was made from pushbike pedal arms and which took quite a bit of machining. The horn got a bracket mod to relocate it. There are custom axle adjusters, axle plates and various brackets here and there along with steering stops and lower tree mods.

Once in a while he escapes his current 8 by 5 meter block shop to watch the sun set.

So there you have it, a boring old Ironhead transformed into a uniquely styled custom rigid proudly wearing a coat of Nissan Sun Orange paint trimmed in black. Deano describes the black trim as a, “sort of a half flame scalloped to suit the tank’s shape and flow, with Harley decals in gold.”

Deano sends cheers and thanks to Rollies Speed Shop for the “fast parts”. There’s no-one to thank for the chroming because a bit of Autosol brought that right up and no one to thank for the bead blasting except Mr. Canov Paintstripper who set the barrels and heads up for a blast of silver from the Thunderhead Choppers spray gun.

If you’re looking for something like this you could do far worse than bell Deano via email at contact@thunderheadchoppers.com.

Bikernet.com Extreme Deano Tech Chart

Regular Stuff

Owner: Deano @ Thunderhead choppers
Bike Name: Unskinnybop, like the song from the glam metal rock band, poison, I was going to go with , skinnybop with the 130 rear, but theres room in the rear to fit a 150, or bigger,so unskinnybop is the name, & yeah I heard that song, a few times during this build, so it was stuck in my head, if any members of, poison are reading this that’s a,great guitar riff ,
City/State: NSW Australia

Builder: Deano @ Thunderhead choppers
City/state: As above
E-mail: contact @ thunderheadchoppers.com
Fabrication: Thunderhead
Manufacturing: Thunderhead
Welding: Thunderhead
Machining: Thunderhead

Engine

Year: 1981, AMF
Make: Ironhead sportster
Model: Amf xl
Displacement:61 cubic inches
Builder or Rebuilder: Deano @ Thunderhead choppers
Cases: standard
Case finish: Polished
Barrels: Blast , high temp silver coated
Bore: 0.04 oversize ,
Pistons: wiseco pistons & rings
Barrel finish: high temp silver
Lower end: stock hd
Stroke: 3/ 13/16th,s
Rods: stock
Heads:polish intake ports
Head finish: high temp silver
Valves and springs: manley
Pushrods: stock style
Cams:stock
Lifters:solids
Carburetion:keihin 38mm accelerator pump type
Air cleaner: classic 7’’ round custom stainless brackets & choke
Exhaust: stock style torpedo, with oem heat sheilds
Mufflers: stock torpedo
Other: custom frame exhaust tabs, 1000,cc of ironhead, sounds great the ironhead really blasts, out the notes

Transmission</B

Year: 1981 AMF
Make:stock ironhead cases
Gear configuration: Andrews c ratio gears
Final drive: heavy duty chain
Primary: stock style with diamond chain , with modified chain tensioner
Clutch: heavy duty type
Kicker: non kicker, electric start

Frame

Year: 2000 Thunderhead Ironhead rigid
Make: Big twin style bopper, goes with the name
Style or Model: as above
Stretch: Out there, gooseneck digger style
Rake:41 degrees
Modifications: Thunderhead, bopper style, It’s a mix of styles, eg, pro street, bobber chopper , low slung but handles well, I actually shifted the whole drivepackage, ¾’’ as to centre it, & I tell ya this is balanced near perfect

Front End

Make:hd
Model:stock style narrow glide
Year: 1981 amf
Length: 2’’ over stock
Mods: lower tree mods custom stops

Sheet metal

Tanks: fx series with custom mounts
Fenders: one off Hand beaten, Thunderhead rear, with handshaped half round metal finish, hand made one off café style
Panels: front headlight stock visor with custom panel
Oil tank: Thunderhead custom, I call that one , letterbox, mailbox style, & no I didn’t tig up one from the hardware store, rolled my own
Other: custom battery box, rearranged headlight shell

Deano handles his own paint and is studying the art of pinstripping on glass.

Paint

Sheet metal: Thunderhead custom
Molding: fenders, tank ,oil bag
Base coat: black
Graphics: scalloped half flame type, with hd decals in gold
Type: Nissan orange metalic
Frame: same
Molding: none
Base coat: black
Type: acrylic
Graphics or art: custom half flame
Special effects:
Pinstriping:

Wheels

Front
Make: stock style AMF mags
Size: front 19’’ x aftermarket roadmaster style 90×90
Brake calipers: dual stock polished, with braided stainless lines
Brake rotor(s): drilled stainless
Tire: as above

Rear
Make:Amf mag
Size: 16’’
Brake calipers: stock style with inverted rear caliper bracket
Brake rotor:drilled stainless
Pulley: none
Tire:Michelin commander 130x 90

Controls

Foot controls: stock modified custom
Finish:Chrome& polish
Master cylinder: Stock style
Brake lines: front dual braided
Handlebar controls: stock style
Finish: black paint
Clutch Cable: stock
Brake Lines rear custom , hardlined to brakeswitch
Shifting: stock
Kickstand: modified stock

Electrical

Ignition: accell points conversion, mechanical advance
Ignition switch: custom bracket, fixed, lower frame position
Coils: accel
Regulator:accel
Charging: stock generator style, yer its been polarized, don’t forget to do it,that little red genny light wouldn’t go off till I did
Wiring: Custom harness,
Harness:custom
Headlight: stock style, sportster all stock holes welded shut for a cleaner look
Taillight: Thunderhead sidemount style
Accessory lights: aftermarket , bullet style flashers, blinkers
Electrical accessories: hidden electric box under the fuel tank
Switches: stock style, with chrome switch stickers
Battery: Harley davidson

What’s Left

Seat: custom one off, hand tooled& laced , thunderhead choppers
Mirror(s): aftermarket, chopper style
Gas caps: oem
Handlebars: drag
Grips: chrome aftermarket
Pegs: customized stock
Oil filter: thunderhead custom mini
Oil cooler: wind
Oil lines: rubber , custom fit
Fuel filter: petcock screen
Fuel Lines: custom
Throttle: stock
Throttle cables: custom made
Fasteners: high tensile & loctite, ironheads vibrate a lot,

Specialty items:Mainly the frame, and engine arrangement,solo seat bungs & brackets

Deano also builds big twins.

Comments: all custom bungs & tabs , & I suppose we could call it ’ a thunderhead Ironhead, ,better get back to choppin,& Many thanks to bandit & the team Ride forever, oh & a special thanks to all those involved etc; regards dean