Gallery

Customized Creations Company Bike

Customized Creations company bike began it's days as a 1986 883 Sportster, which we purchased in 1997. It came totally stock with rusty parts hidden under spray can flat black. In order to show what Customized Creations was capable of creating we took this diamond in the rough and transformed it into this show worthy bike.

Every weld has been smoothed and every piece of sheet metal has had extensive bodywork. The color is PPG's Harlequin pastel, which depending upon the viewing angle, changes from gold to copper and then to magenta. The airbrush scene was designed by Customized Creations and sublet to Dan Mansur, a Twin Cities airbrush artist.

Customized Creations offers a "glass finish", which is achieved by wet sanding the top coat of clear with 1200 grit sandpaper, working up to 2500 grit and then finishing with a 3-stage buffing process in order to achieve the show quality appearance. You can see a close up example of this process in the tank or fender sections.

The Tank
The bike came with a stock Sportster tank, So, we replaced it. After market tanks require hours of body work to achieve perfection and this tank was no exception. After the bodywork was complete, color and clear was applied. Then it was time for the ghost graphics to be taped off and sprayed by Customized Creations, followed by more clear. Then the airbrushing was added followed by enough clear to bury everything.

The Frame
The welds on the frame were already smoothed by Customized Creations when the decision was made to have MC Specialties fabricate the fender struts out of metal tubing and section them into the chassis.

Here you can see how Customized Creations applied several layers of body filler to create the perfect radius of the fender struts. The primer-surfacer was then added which was again sanded to a 500 grit smoothness in preparation for the paint.

The fenders struts have been painted. Note the swing arm (extended 2 inches by Donnie Smith Customs) has also been treated to the same molding process by Customized Creations.

The Engine
After eleven years, the stock 883 Evolution engine looked a bit worn! The rusty parts were replaced, the cases bead blasted, the rear brake and the master cylinder relocated. Everything that wasn't going to be painted was sent to the chromers for the shiny stuff. The fins were polished and after a meticulous session of cleaning the rouge, the cylinders received the acids designed to maximize adhesion and prevent corrosion. The fin edges were then taped off and readied for the undercoat and color. After proper dry time, the tape was removed and the engine was treated to several coats of clear by Customized Creations.

The Seat
The bike came with the basic factory Sportster seat. The Sportster seat and passenger pad were sublet to Bonnie March of St. Croix Leather Works for reupholstering. The broken arrow on top signifies "peace" and the circle with arrows pointing inward is meant to "ward off evil spirits."

Rear Fender
Customized Creations sublet MC Specialties to cut out the elongated diamonds shown here on this after market rear fender. Notice the gap between the fender and the struts in the early mock up.

Customized Creations worked the metal on the sides of the fender to achieve uniform spacing from the fender struts. The lens from a brake light was cut and notched to fit into the diamonds, in order to create the brake light and turn signals. After the paint and clear were dry, an arrowhead was taped off and sprayed as ghost graphics. The company logo was then added. Additional coats of clear were applied to bury everything, followed by wet sanding and polishing to finish the look.