Flashback Friday: Blue Jack Studio's Rebuilt 1966 XLCH Sportster
This old-school Sportster has been brought modernized in a way that has to be seen to be believed.
Right out of his garage
This bike is just Jared Smith's fifth build, but you'd never know it by looking at this beauty. You see Jared is a user experience and software designer by day but in his spare time, he is also a custom bike builder. Both of these occupations are done under the banner of Blue Jack Studio that he runs out of his converted single garage in Vallejo, California. “What gets me up in the morning is designing and creating anything,” he says, “whether physical or digital.”
Self taught... and a little help
The love affair that Jared has had with bikes began about six years ago. Since that time he's collected a menagerie of vintage metalworking tools and then self-learned how to use them. “I’ve been lucky to meet several very skilled motorcycle builders and fabricators in the Bay Area,” he tells us, “that have been kind enough to help me along the way and teach me what they know.”
“There were many trips over the last few years to Jasin Phares from Phares Cycle Parts (now based out of Kansas) to ask how to get the weld just right, or to shape a piece of sheet metal, or how to hold a complicated part to mill it, or just to borrow a tool I didn’t own yet.”
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Old meets unique
The goal from the start with the XLCH was to create a middle ground where old met new with the original parts next to handmade touches. “I wanted to build something that still looked (from a distance) like a stock 60s Sportster,” he says, “but on closer inspection, and more importantly when riding, felt a far cry from that.”
“It’s a 1966 XLCH Sportster, which is a favorite platform for me to build around at this point. I just love these simple, battery-less, magneto-fired, right side shift motors so much.”
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Back from the dead
When Jared first got his hands on the bike it had been parked and forgotten for almost two decades after an ill-fated attempt at customization by a prior owner. Right off the bat, the oil pump was rebuilt and a set of PB+ cams, the motor was ready to run.
The frame was a mess with many of the panels covered in Bondo and crappy spar paint. Plus, the bike was rear shock mounts and fender strut castings. From the shape it was in, Jared surmised that perhaps the previous owner was looking to hardtail the bike. Luck was on Jared's side for this build and he was able to source the original mounts and castings that the bike needed. Next, the frame was sandblasted raw and then a jig was made to hold everything in place before welding them in.
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Pretty swanky seat
The tank and rear fenders are new reproductions that come courtesy of V-Twin Manufacturing and painted up by Jay Abate. Wes at Counter Balance Cycles took care of the seat with the Jared only saying “The only direction I gave him was to make them look like they could be the pilot’s seat in a B2 stealth bomber. He killed it with the narrow Bates-style pair.”
The exhaust is also a custom creation that comes from piecing together Cone Engineering parts and running it to the left as a homage to the iconic XR750. It was finished in black Cerakote and has a stainless steel heat shield to cap it off.
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A fitting name
The classic Sporty has a six-bolt bar riser setup that is custom by Jared and his own design and the narrow high rise bars are handmade one-offs. He actually sells both 7/8th" and 1" versions of it. The suspension has been upgraded by Ikon Suspension and has a 3" longer than stock rear shocks and a rebuilt stock front end.
A very interesting style choice by Jared was using Pyrex pushrod covers which is a concept that is being tested out in hopes of reproducing them for newer Sportsters. “It’s an idea I’ve had for a while, and I finally found a Pyrex manufacturer that could machine the sizes I need. The uppers were custom made here in-house from 4130 Chromoly. All told they took about 30 to 40 hours of design and 20 hours of fabrication to produce on my manual lathe.”
Jared has nicknamed the Sporty 'Zardoz' after the bizarre classic Sean Connery movie of the same title.
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Seeing what comes next
Check out Jared and his work right here on each of these platforms Blue Jack Studio | Facebook | Instagram |
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