Red or Blue – Pair of 1960’s Sportsters

In America, Cruiser by Tim HuberLeave a Comment

Since the mid-1950’s, Harley-Davidson has been producing its Sportster model, one of the iconic brand’s stronger sellers. Dozens of updates and changes have been made to the Sportster over roughly six decades of production, though they’re all powered by the same iconic 45-degree V-Twin. The Knife and Fork ironhead engine on the original Sporster utilized connecting rods where both units shared a common crank pin. Sixty-years or so later and it’s received a lot of updates but is in very many ways still the same beast as it was in the mid-’50’s.

I can count on one hand how many cruisers I’ve ridden in my life, but one of the few I piloted was an early-’90s Sportster and it was admittedly a pretty fun ride with more torque than I’d anticipated. These 1960’s examples enjoyed the benefit of a few upgrades from the original model such as changes made to the engine on the high-compression touring XLH model introduced in ’58, alongside the sportier XLCH (or “Competition Hot”) variant.

The XLCH would also undergo another major change in ’71, when the 900cc model would get a new redesigned tail that was the work of “Willie G” (Godfrey) Davidson, motorcycle designer, former senior VP and chief styling officer at Harley-Davidson, and grandson of William A. Davidson who was one of the American moco’s founders. The “Boattail Sportster XLCH” was met with mixed reviews that typically resided on polar ends of the like/dislike spectrum and it only spent two years in production. The XLH and the XLCH had a few key differences that made them easy to differentiate. The XLH sported a different seat and fuel-tank than the CH, in addition to losing the electric system (start and battery) the other model came with.

The XLCH weighed in at around 450lbs, though its 50hp was capable of propelling the soft-tailed scoot up to a claimed 120mph. These figures weren’t bad, but in the early-’70’s the 883 (55ci) platform was nonetheless ditched in favor of a 1000cc engine. The air-cooled 45-degree “OHV-Twin” had a sweet-spot in its rev-range just prior to hitting the 6K mark. It may seem almost comical today, but when the Sportster was first unveiled around ’57, it was considered one of the first “Superbikes”. The moniker “Sportster” has made increasingly less sense over the decades, but that hasn’t motivated H-D to rename the classic two-wheeler.

This “virgin” 1969 Sportster “H” (XLH) example here features matching casting numbered cases and were never split. The seller refers to it as “Owned by a single family”, which may not necessarily mean single owner, but with only 14,000 miles on the odo and its current cosmetic state, it appears to be a fairly solid example. Aside from an XLR exhaust and non-factory carb this example is said to be 100% stock (though the seller still has the original one too). It has both the electric and kick-start, a recent top-end rebuild, guides and valves, new battery, new rear wheel and tires, new regulator, alternator, and new fork and boots. As the touring “H” model this example also has original fiberglass HD saddlebags, four-gallon tank and dual-seat.

Unfortunately this example does need a little bit of work to get back on the road, but it’s more than 90% done and the seller is offering it as is, or for an extra $1K they will do the last 10% of the work themselves. (In the seller’s words the bike “cannot be ridden as is due to needing the carb accelerator pump check ball replaced or that passage further cleaned for easier/proper cold starts & clutch needs to be deoiled.”)

The Original owner of this 1966 Harley Davidson XLCH Sportster recently passed away so this bike is now being sold. Its late owner was the first and only owner of this machine that also boasts matching casting numbered cases with the lower end supposedly never having been opened. This example was purchased new at Bill Chaney’s Harley-Davidson in Walnut Creek, California and features the optional larger capacity fuel tank. The top-end on this example was completely gone through in ’91 and supposedly needed nothing except “re sealing and curing minor oil seepage as the bike maybe has 10,000-original-miles, if even that.”

The gauges that have been removed from this bike are included in the sale (they were taken off at 3,300 miles apparently due to rattling). This example also had its rings replaced, was given factory optional performance cams and had its valves cleaned up as well. The carb was rebuild recently too. It was also fitted with a Pingel petcock, it’s undergone full service and gotten new fluids, and was lastly hit with a coat of non-original “police blue”. It’s been PNO since ’92, but has still been ridden every month to keep it in good shape.

You can find this red 1969 Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster example for sale here on Craigslist in the Bay Area of California with a price of $5,000 as is, or $6,000 for the example in “ready to ride” condition with a new updated clutch, accelerator pump, and rebuilt carb.

You can find this blue 1966 Harley-Davidson XLCH Sportster for sale here on Craigslist in the Bay Area of California with a price of $5,000.