UK based Shaw Harley-Davidson is in its 11th year as a dealer with its custom division wing3rd called Shaw Speed & Custom now in its 3rd year. Shaw started customization using only genuine after-market Harley bolt-on parts, then as customers required more originality and the crew went more confident, Shaw Speed & Custom went into full redesigning and styling. During the last 3 years the Shaw team gained recognition via big wins in the AMD World Championship Of Bike Building and other European very competitive bike shows, attracting clients like, Bell & Ross watches, Ralph Lauren, Rockstar Energy, Playboy and radical bike projects coming from clients in Australia, Lebanon, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Monaco and even Las Vegas.
A client from Paris fell in love with a previous 2010 Shaw project – the custom XL ST3 -that I had featured in this website, but wanted several upgrades like a slightly higher suspension, an ohlins front end, and leaving the team the chance to tweak and improve the original bike. The brother of the original XLST3, named the XLZT3, got started by the full strip down to the bare frame of a XL1200X 48 Harley-Davison model. Then the bike was fully mocked up, lifting the bike by replacing the factory front end with suspension with Ohlins front forks and rear shocks. Front brakes were given a twin makeover with the radial mounted front caliper set up.
The engine details were also worked on using Roland Sands Design Engine Rocker covers (these were not available when the original XL ST# was built), looking great on the 1200 cc engine, especially when mounted on Harley-Davidson wrinkle black lower rockers. These covers sit on the tuned 1200cc engine running new Screamin Eagle Performance Heads and cams. A signature design in most Shaw customs, anodizing was applied all over the bike, from pushrod tubes to oil pump, from brake calipers to master cylinders to, clutch housing etc.
For a cleaner build, a caddy was built to hide all electricals and aid to the mounting of the gas tank. The handlebars were also new to this build and based on 1 1/4 inch Harley-Davidson Fatboy handlebars to which a retro loop was added for a different and unique look. These bars were custom painted with the shop logo. A slightly different shaped front number board and side panels were made to add some flow to the bike. Wheels were given a little extra with the bike now featuring a 180 mm wide rear tire instead of the original 150 mm. The racing bicycle rim inspiration was used to personalize the wheels with painted logos.
The original frame and engine guards were thought to be a little too bulky so the team set about reinventing the original look and building a lighter weighted version, of course color coded. The exhaust system which really impressed the owner in the first place was bended and welded made in house and improved with how it was positioned on the motorcycle and mounted differently but still retaining the original look. Notice the Softail ignition and the start push button installed on the right side of the neck. Full tech sheet below. Shaw Speed And Custom.
Transmission. HD
Engine. 1200cc modified with Screamin’ Eagle Heads
Cams. Screamin Eagle
Rims Harley-Davidson
Hubs. Harley-Davidson
Tires. Continental
Rear. Fender Shaw Speed & Custom
Rear. Suspension. Shocks by Ohlins
Front. Suspension. Forks by Ohlins
Tailight. LED stop/tail/indicator
Seat. Shaw Speed & Custom
Gas Tank Roland Sands Design
Rockers. Covers Roland Sands Design upper
Rocker Covers.. HD Lower
Derby Cover Roland Sands Design
Timer cover Roland Sands Design
Air Breather. Roland Sands Design
Handlebars HD Modified
Master Cylinder. front Performance machine
Master cylinder. rear HD
Pegs. Roland Sands Design
Number boards. Shaw Speed & custom front and sides
Brake Calipers. Performance Machine
Brake Rotors. Roland Sands Design
Exhaust system. Shaw Speed & Custom
Headlight. LED
Grips. Roland Sands Design
Brake lines.. Gooodridge
Custom Paintwork Image Design Custom UK
Frame fabrication. Shaw Speed & Custom
Very cool!
IMO, it’s a great look for a Sportster. Love the Roland Sands covers and the exhaust system.
It’s the bike for Sturgis if riding where the police aren’t interests you.
Nice, work.
K
Very tasteful! Why doesn’t the motor co think along these lines?
I do not want to be the party-pooper.., BUUUT, brilliant custom work as it is, great colours/colors, paint-job, suspension upgrade, etc, etc, other than a show piece, what purpose would the XL ZT3 serve..?
I have a 1982 (I think, or rather I was told at the time) Honda XR500R I bought at an auction for < $700. It is in brilliant shape, without a single mod, one engine overhaul that cost next to nothing (basically just a new piston, rings, head and valves), suspension still clinically sharp, the frame as straight as the Pope's mother andI am prepared to say (respectfully) it will match the (likely) upward of $35k show piece, on any surface.
The intent is not to be the bug-eyed redneck with the two-thousand dollar Ferrari-eater, but at 50 times the price, it is kinda difficult to grasp the point. I am not saying do not spend the money, just not on a pimped wheelbarrow on acid.
The Sportster is not a tracker – of any sort – and if ever it was/is Richard Pollock (Mule Motorcycles) has come nearest to the essence…
I’m sure this bike will do the job of a Sporty as well as a 30″ front wheel bagger does it’s ☺ And this bike actually looks good at the same time. I’d rather see the gold anodized parts done in red, but it’s a sharp looking bike all the well.
As a person growing up on a large farm and a motorcycle rider all my life, and a motorcycle mechanic and customizer for most of my adult life, I can say I have ridden most sizes and most brands in the past 40 plus years. I have on occasion taken street bikes (usually wrecks or junked title bikes) and configured them for off-road use and blasted across the family farm and into the woods on old skid roads and trails, and while they are not as nimble as a modern factory trail bike, they were a lot of fun and ridiculously FAST! Especially one I built using a 1986 Yamaha Radian 600 about 20 years ago.
While I doubt the owner of this machine will ever take it out in the dust & mud, I bet it would eat it up… and I would still love to try it out.
Oh, I should also like to say I think it looks nice.
Ya, its a cool look, certainly.
And being too old MX i’ll take a skoot like this for sliding around fire trails & logging roads any time.
Don’t need much HP just reasonably quick steering and a nice sit-down-suspension ride…..
Dave, where is this farm, i’m ready………. :-).
-nicker-
It would be just plain horrible to actually RIDE guys.Knobby tires and high grade twin front discs? As an art piece for young beardy hipsters in Deus t shirts who have parked their 50cc scooter in a side street to avoid derision,I guess it is the goods.It’s a very feminine bike,and I can just see a rich French guy in a Mickey Mouse t shirt and having a LV manbag going a la flaneur down the Champs Elysees and getting in everyones way.Meep-meep:”Je suis un hipster interdire bébé”.
Have seen the Shaw bikes and like most of them… move the clutch cable a la Mule etc (ie higher up) and put some decent road tyres on this and its my ideal ride to work bike…. less is more
I agree with nicker… this would be the perfect… well if it wasn’t so pretty, fire road bomber. rattle can paint job and we are good to go!
First Harley I owned was a 1965 Harley Sportster XLCH. It had knobby tires and the exhaust pipe came from the front jug under the carb across the top of the mag, then the rear pipe joined it, went straight back to the beginning of the rear fender-swingarm- then a 90 degree up and 90 degree back – attached to a single rear chattanooga muffler that was attached to the rear fender strut- a factor scrambler to compete with the Brits, BSA, Triumphs, Norts factory dirt – flat track racers- No Jap bikes yet. It would blow them the dirt, literally. Never seen one again, has anybody else..
P.S. A chattanooga muffler is 60s slang for a factory sportster muffler- later the first Superglide mufflers, that has been gutted.(Baffles knocked out)
BADASS!!! I