Monday 12 November 2012

"1969 XLCH HARLEY IRONHEAD SPORTSTER" AND "AMF XMAS DIV" ["69xlch22"] . . . . BOTH THE BLOKE AND THE BIKE IN THESE TWO VIDEOS ARE PRETTY DAMN LEGENDARY . . . . I'LL GIVE YOU A HINT, THE NAME OF THE BIKE IS 'ANIMAL MOTHER' . . . . THE OWNER/RIDER/BUILDER IS HIMSELF AN ACCOMPLISHED CHRONICLER OF ALL THINGS CHOPPER . . . . PRIMO BARE BONES ROARTY SPORTY ACTION !!!!

I've always been a fan of the old ironhead sporty, even over my years as a manic Trumpy lover, compared to the later models, even those immediately preceeding the introduction of the blockhead motor in '86 or whenever it was, the much loved and lusted after earlier jiggers are narrow, light, lithe and potentially brutally quick things . . . . I was parked beside one on Sunday and it made the Purple Penis look the size of my '74 shovel, a great, fat doughy exercise in flabby excess, the '75 Skirty on the other hand was all stripped back sinew and muscle, thin like a anorexic on slimming tabs, and it was nearly stock !!
Over the last three years or so I've been continually drawn to spending time of a night trawling through the net and reading more and more about the MoCo's 'sport bike' with a history and heritage unmatched even today . . . . Jappa Rocket lovers, don't scoff, it's perfectly true . . . . it's only in recent times I have learnt just how potent the original XLCH models were and how fucking deadly they can be in regards to knee joints, ankles and dignity . . . . I guess I would've been real partial to attempting to pick one up three years ago if I wasn't so concerned with dull reliability required for work duties, as I've said before, the excitement and romance of time spent on the side of the road struggling to fix, reattach or cobble something together on a bike has somewhat dwindled . . . . anyway, the venerable and entirely cool ironhead, what a thing . . . . gotta love em !!! 
As for the fella in the limelight in this pair of videos, it is none other than David Snow, fettling, fiddling and frottling on his killer '69 XLCH chop, totally fucking wicked, only the shit that's needed and nothing more, not even the rear guard or a seat on the shakedown run . . . . I read a great piece somewhere on the net a while ago written by the man himself about the dangerous vagaries and infamous perils of kicking the things into life, I could feel the pain by the time I was done . . . . I don't know Mr Snow and to be honest, the old Iron Horse was something I only ever read at mates places or when in a gig specialising in Hogglies, but I've only ever been told good things about the bloke and his encyclopedic knowledge of the thing he clearly loves so much, whether by one of the proprietors of The Speed Merchant or by any one of a good handful of esteemed and revered bloggers getting around . . . . a bloke who has obviously played a significant role in keeping the chopper fires burning and the history of the alternate biker lifestyle a relevant and living thing. Cheers mate, keep it rollin, keep it real.

3 comments:

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    1. Kinda figured you'd be one of those with the limp of honour mate . . . I dare say that Nootnagel chap may be a recipient of the same order of merit.

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  2. All you need to keep that old Ironhead runnin' are a couple good 'Bronson rocks'...

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