Harley-Davidson is undeniably one of the best bikes any rider would think of due to its prominent presence in the American motorcycle industry. As the top gun, the brand became a starting platform for a lot of motorcyclists. Adding to its range of goodness is the new L-Twin variety, a creation by Pepo Rosell of XTR Pepo.
Born in France and raised in Madrid, Spain, Rosell came up with a new custom model to reflect the brand’s presence in Europe. Although not as up to par with the Americans, its European fan base is nevertheless a strong one.
“The idea of the making this bike is to make the Sportster more European,” he explains, “with a real front suspension, with real brakes, and drop the weight to improve the handling.”
A 1992 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH883 in good running condition was brought to Rosell. He stripped the non-essential parts from the bike and made changes to the model. He removed the non-adjustable fork and inserted an inverted fork acquired from a 1992 Suzuki GSX-R750.
He modified an 18-inch front wheel to cave in a new front end that would facilitate a dual rotor set up. In doing that, he tapped Barcelona’s NG Brake Disc for a fresh set of rotors and clamped it down with Suzuki’s Tokiko calipers. He then topped it off with a a Discacciati master cylinder.
Rosell also converted the dual shock suspension design into a monoshock. The 883cc V-twin has plenty of power but Rosell amped it up by converting it to 1200cc. High-compression pistons were added to allow better performance.
The appearance of the bike is definitely eye-catching. The fuel tank was sourced from a Yamaha SR500 and modified to fit. The seating position is also changed to a long, flat, washboard style seat. To top it off, the bike was given a blue paintjob, courtesy of Artenruta.