Chris Hajer's Butchered 1988 XL

The Bike
I purchased this 1988 XLH 883 Hugger new in March 1988. It was shiny and red then.

(click any picture on this page for a larger one)
Left front of bike
The brick under the sidestand (for photo purposes only) is because I raised the suspension 2" all around for more ground clearance.

Also visible in this shot is the 13" full-floating PM rotor and GMA one-piece fork brace.

Cool axle adjusters and swingarm extension
I lengthened the swingarm 4-1/2", but it kept cracking. So a machinist from Illinois Harley made me some new extensions, and then another friend of mine made the cool axle adjusters.

Oh yeah, that Supertrapp muffler has 40 plates in it. I had to make longer bolts.

Exposed chain sprocket and chopped cam cover
My favorite area of the bike. Exposed chain and front sprocket, cool exhaust mount and trimmed cam cover. You can also see the chain rubbing block and the tensioner wheel.

OEM peg rubbers too. Keep it safe, keep it stock, I always say.

Right-rear of mono-shock
Right rear view of the mono-shock. I modified the frame and swingarm to allow the use of a single shock. Why? I have no idea. It was so long ago.

The shock is from a CBR 600, which I lengthened about an inch, with a different spring from White Power Suspension, before they changed their name to the more politically-correct WP Suspension.

Left-rear of mono-shock
Same shock, different side of the bike. The fender is from Northern Tool and they said it was supposed to fit a trailer.

This is from the days before Jesse James, OCC and Milwaukee Iron. I think it was much cheaper, too.

Frame downtube hacked
The exhaust header I bought from Rowe Machine was designed for their rubbermount frame, and the instructions said "slight frame modification may be required." So I took a Sawzall® and made the slight frame modification.

It has been together like this since 1997.