April custom roundup: Three Harley-Davidson customs that aren't your usual custom hogs

The lineup kicks off with a custom Sporty by a member of a family-owned-and-run Harley dealership. We then head to India, where TNT Motorcycles has just completed a custom version of the new X 440 Roadster. And lastly, Roland Sands Design reveals a tribute build based on the Daytona 200-winning Harley KRTT racer.

Emma Fry's "Maxine" H-D Sportster

Emma Fry has spent her whole life in the company of Harleys. Her family owns the Yellowstone Harley-Davidson (Instagram) dealership in Montana, so it was a given that her first motorcycle would be an American V-twin. At 16, she wasted no time getting her motorcycle license, and soon after that, her first motorcycle, a trade-in at the family dealership in the form of an 2007 XL883 Sportster.

"In the male-dominated world that is motorcycles, my dad always made sure that it wasn't just my brother who was riding on the weekends and helping at the shop," says Emma. "I sure as hell wasn't going to be left behind. Thus, the immersion into motorcycles, especially Harleys, started at an early age."

Since getting the 883, Emma's ridden her fair share of bigger Harleys and has been bitten by the adventure-riding bug, but she never parted with her beloved Sporty. So, when an invitation to display something at the Mama Tried show in Milwaukee landed in her lap, it was the perfect excuse to breathe some new life into it.

Working alongside her father, Emma hatched a plan to turn her 883 into a one-of-a-kind highway cruiser. To set the wheels in motion, she enlisted the help of Yellowstone Harley head mechanic and lifelong friend Travis Overstreet to assist with the engine upgrades. Under Travis' guidance, Emma increased the engine capacity to 1,200 cc. During the rebuild, the V-twin also received aftermarket cases from EMD, and the bulky belt drive was swapped for a svelte chain-drive system. The pair installed a modified Cone Engineering two-into-one exhaust to complete the power upgrades.

The glaringly obvious change to Emma's Sportster is the addition of a front fairing. The upper "mini fairing" is an aftermarket part from the Saddlemen catalog, but Emma's vision for the Sporty had the entire front end wrapped in bodywork. Seeing as Saddlemen didn't do that, she teamed up with Brett McGinley of McGinley Motorsports to fabricate the fairing lowers and skid plate from scratch. Using aluminum sheets, Brett hand-shaped each part using lines that complemented the Saddlemen fairing for a cohesive look. The fenders and subframe were modified to tighten things up a little.

When it came to painting the bodywork, Brett stepped in again to realize Emma's vision. "We were looking to do something new," she says. "The checkered flag pattern of my tank represents the completion of a race but also the beginning of the next adventure. And the bird on the side cover represents me as my family has been calling me 'birdie' since I was a baby."

Being involved in every step of this project was a must for Emma, so once Brett had all the paint laid, she painstakingly sanded through the five different layers to create its unique patina.

To wrap up the transformation, Emma added a few more custom touches. Mini Kellerman turn signals replace the stock lighting with the rear pair also managing brake light duties. The rims are wrapped in vintage-look Firestone Champion Deluxe rubber and the fork legs have been swapped so the brake assembly is on the right and the caliper in a leading position. The solo seat is the work of upholsterer Paul Robinson and there are speed holes drilled into the levers, exhaust heat shield, and various brackets.

As for the bike's name, Maxine, it's a reference to Emma's grandmother, who always supported her family's ventures.

TNT Motorcycles Harley-Davidson X440 Raptor

Midway through 2023, Harley-Davidson released the X440 to limited markets. India was the first country to receive the bikes, thanks to Harley's association with motorcycle manufacturing giant Hero MotoCorp. The X440 is their joint attempt to pull sales away from Royal Enfield. As such, its specifications and price are very closely aligned with those of Enfield's small-capacity singles.

To help promote the new model, H-D India tasked four local builders with creating custom versions of the X440 to display at India's annual Bike Week expo. This motorcycle, nicknamed Raptor, is the work of New Delhi-based workshop TNT Motorcycles (Instagram).

TNT frontman Naveen Nandal's idea behind this build was to imagine what a factory-built café racer version of the X440 might look like.

"The challenge was to build a café racer based on the X440 platform. A motorcycle that would look muscular and bulky but is super agile and lightweight. A mix of new-school tech and old-school charm," he says. To achieve his goal, he took an approach similar to how manufacturers build variations of an existing model in their lineup.

The build process began with hand sketches followed by digital renders. Once happy with the direction, they scanned their X440 donor and modelled the new components in 3D software. From there, the TNT team prototyped the parts before fabricating the final pieces.

CNC technology was used heavily during the build process. The bike's distinctly modern-looking subframe was machined from solid aluminum before being mounted to the modified X440 chassis. Similarly styled brackets support the front fender and the machined seat pan features intricate X440, H-D, and TNT branding.

Although the new bodywork is distinctly retro, it too was made using modern techniques. Naveen retained the stock tank and used its lines as the inspiration for the new components. The custom rear cowl, headlight shroud, and front fender are all made from carbon fiber and combined they weigh a mere 880 grams.

In stock trim, the X440 tips the scales at around 190 kilograms (419 pounds) so in the interest of improving performance, weight saving was an important factor in this build. The new wheels are cast alloy items and the battery has been relocated beneath the swingarm to help lower the bike's center of gravity. Furthermore, the rear suspension has been completely redesigned from a twin shock to a Showa monoshock. The process involved heavy modification of the stock swingarm and the inclusion of a mounting point on the CNC subframe.

In keeping with the café racer theme, the X 440 now wears clip-on handlebars and CNC machined rearset footpegs. Discrete lighting keeps things looking clean while a set of chunky retro-look tires give the bike a muscular stance. The slick tan leather seat is the work of Indian riding gear manufacturer Trip Machine.

From the factory, this bike's 440 cc thumper puts out a modest 27 horsepower. TNT has added a stainless steel exhaust and performance air filter to eek more power out of it, but the real improvements come from the weight reduction. What is most impressive though is that they completed the task in under eight weeks.

This trick little bike makes me think it may be time for Harley to release another factory café racer. What are your thoughts?

Rolands Sands Design KR-TT Sportster

Roland Sands Design (Instagram) has been producing aftermarket parts for Harleys for close to two decades. As you'd expect, they've put together their fair share of custom hogs, too. At RSD HQ in Long Beach, California, Roland and his team have amassed a client list that includes many Hollywood celebrities, and there's no shortage of new customers lining up for an RSD original.

The lucky owner of this bike approached Sands hoping he could build a homage to a legendary Harley-Davidson road racer, and he gladly obliged.

"In the early '60s, Harley-Davidson turned heads with the KRTT, a roadracing version of the XR750 powerplant," says Roland. "Drawing inspiration from the iconic KRTT, we set out to create a street bike that not only pays homage to its racing heritage but also embraces cutting-edge performance and design. Its shape brings back memories of historic Daytona victories coupled with the rumble only an air-cooled American V-Twin can produce."

The donor for this project was an XL1200X Sportster Forty-Eight. Similar to the KRTT race bike, the Forty-Eight's V-twin is air-cooled and is in fact the last of the air-cooled Sportster engines. Along with the heritage this engine offered, the Forty-Eight wore a wide front end perfectly suited to the suspension RSD had in mind.

At the pointy end of the Sporty is an Öhlins FG right-side-up fork sitting snugly into the stock triple clamps. At the rear, there's a pair of blacked-out 15-inch Fox shocks that level out the bike's stance. Again, similar to the original KRTT, this bike is rolling on Morris wheels, which are a modern hat tip to the original Morris Mags. Dunlop Sportmax Q5 tires provide all the grip while an all-new brake system consisting of Brembo and Galfer components offers ample stopping power.

On this build, the 1,200 cc V-twin remains untouched aside from a free-flowing RSD air cleaner and a complete S&S exhaust system that was inspired by flat-track bikes.

Of all the work performed during this build, it was the bodywork that presented the biggest challenge. The FRP front fairing, fuel tank cover, and tail unit were all purchased from reproduction bodywork experts Airtech Streamlining. Unfortunately, they were designed to fit rigid-mount Spotsters with different dimensions.

"Our team worked tirelessly to modify the Airtech kit designed for an older Sportster, ensuring that the fairing not only paid tribute to the original but also enhanced the bike's rideability," Roland explains. "RSD team member Aaron fabricated the mounts and heavily modified the Forty-Eight fuel tank to fit the glass tank cover over it."

Beyond simply getting the bodywork to fit the Forty-Eight chassis, special attention had to be paid to how it performed. Since this KRTT was destined for street use, it had to be maneuverable at low speeds. To achieve this they mounted the clip-on handlebars low and trimmed the fairing around them.

To finish things up, the Sportster has been lavished with trick parts from the RSD catalog, including rearset footpegs, grips, a CNC-machined fuel filler cap, and brake fluid reservoir covers. A chain conversion gives the bike a classic look with the black-and-gold DID chain tying in nicely with the new color scheme. The paintwork itself is a direct translation of the original KRTT livery with a few RSD tweaks. To keep it street-legal, there's an LED headlight tucked in between the front wheel and the fairing and discrete turn signals on the bodywork.

As for the ride, Roland reports that "Riding our KR-TT Sporty is a unique experience. This bike exudes vintage coolness. It may not be the most comfortable for long rides, but that's not the point. It's a street bike with a racing soul, designed for those who appreciate the thrill of the ride."

Sounds great to me!