1985 Harley-Davidson FXRT Sport Glide

What was your intended objective when you started the build?

My intention was to give the attention to maintenance and upgrades that sometimes went by the wayside over the years.

What motivated you to start your project?

I decided to do the refresh on Ole Girl because she had been a faithful ride for 25 years seeing me thru 2 relationships, a homeless stint, good days and bad. Now, I’m past retirement age and I’m going to make the most and best of the time left.

What was the most unique and creative thing you did to the bike?

Keeping the bike essentially stock was the goal. Sensible upgrades to the otherwise OEM ride like LED lights and modest engine mods (cam, carb, heads, pipes) gave me a familiar feel but a power boost that will make merging into traffic a non-issue.

What are you most proud of?

For the first time in thirty years I had my hands on every part of the bike; painting, polishing, cleaning and assembling. It’s not a full frame up restoration but nearly so. It’s a rather ‘resto-rod’ that is intended to last me another 25 years.

What do other people say about your motorcycle?

The response so far has been great. Looks new, is it for sale, where did you get that…

One Comment

Jack Coulter says:

January 2, 2024 at 11:10 pm

Nice job bro! Congrats! Also, you need to get the Breaking Bad award for looking like Bad Mike Ermentrout from the Breaking Bad cast. You could be his stunt-double easily.

Ride that beauty! Jack Coulter

Reply

Rate this build

- (0 ratings)

Submitted by: Gary G

Submit your email to win fantastic prices. This is completely optional. Visit our email submission page to enter.

Specifics

Classification: Classic/Restored

Make, Model & Year: 1985 Harley-Davidson FXRT Sport Glide

Fondly known as: Ole Girl

Time spent: God only knows

Motorcycle cost: $8000

Money spent: $8,000

Engine: Stock OEM 80″ Evo Heads milled 30 thousandths, polished, “27” cam, single fire ignition

Intake: Mikuni 42 kit

Exhaust: Basani Road Rage Two FXR2 2-1 (Later conversation to 2-1 turn out)

Transmission: Stock 5-sp and clutch

Frame: OEM

Suspension: OEM

Wheels, tires and brakes: OEM with fresh Dunlop

Finish – Paint: Paint is Ford ruby red metallic. Cases are stock silver. Top end boxes, side covers levers got the chrome treatment by accident (sent to shop for polishing. Got back triple chrome plating) Fender struts and grab handles powder coated SS engine wrinkle black

Accessories: Puctured shield is 15″ Clear View recurve in stock cut and recurve. I also have a 9″ Klockwerks black Sport, a 12″ Clearview bar cut smoke recurve with vent and a Clearview 21″ stock cut OEM style replacement. My mood changes and the 21″ is for my girlfriend.