Eric DeCoste – 1990 Harley Davidson XLH1200

This interview brings in an American Icon, the Harley Davidson. Harley is an institution

Photo from an advertisement

in and of itself, with no other bike in America having the same longevity and popularity.

The amount of stuff you can buy with the colors are phenomenal, but, the bike itself is timeless. From its inception to today, Harley has always stood for freedom, in all its forms.

I hope you enjoy this interview. Leave a comment at the end, telling us your HD story, or just letting us know what you think.

Like Harley’s? Check out some of these Harley Davidson products.

So, tell us, what type of motorcycle is this?

This bike is a 1990 Harley Davidson xlh1200

How much was it purchased for?

I got the bike from a friend for $1,000 .

Why this vehicle?

I’ve always wanted a Harley since I was 13 and now at 43 I have my first Harley

The bike was sitting in his garage for 10 yrs and not being used, the owner before him had done a lot of custom work to it, such as, oversized cam, S+S carburetor, pipes, custom paint, engraved front forks, hyper charger.

He promised me the bike ran when I purchased it. (We all know how that tends to go.) I got it home and put in a new battery and fresh fuel,well, the bike fired right up, to my disbelief.

I had a vision for the bike from that moment, bars had to go, ugly seat also had to go, however, I had to go through the motor before putting any money in it.

Give me some backstory, are you a mechanic, do you like to fabricate, are you really good at body work, etc. Some info about you. Info about the vehicle prior to starting it. (i.e., condition, missing parts, just needed paint, no engine, etc.)

I enjoy building and repairing things, I’m an owner of a building and Remodeling business, but I love getting old dirt bikes and bringing them back to life.

I don’t do restorations on them , just get them back to ride-able and reliable.

What have you done to it so far? (Be as descriptive as you can, I may make it several blog posts if it is long, but, that is OK.)

I pulled carburetor and cleaned it, installed new fuel lines and filter, oil change and filter, transmission fluid change, drained fuel tank and cleaned it out. This was the point I fired it again and it sounded amazing!

My friend who is a welder fabricated the drag bars for free, to my liking, ( 4″ kick back and 33″ wide )

I drilled all holes and painted the bars, also used all grips, levers and switches from old bars.

Found some new/used shorty shocks to drop the rear 3.5 inches from Facebook Massachusetts Harley Davidson for $40.00.

At this stage I was happy with the set up, I was going to leave the paint but it had some good chips in it and I’m not into graphics.

Now, my brother -in-law is a custom bike builder/fabricator and he offered to paint the tank and fenders for me for $300 bucks. I jumped on the offer. He had this amazing custom gray paint left over from a bike he built yrs prior, it came out amazing !

I got the tins back and couldn’t wait to install them. I got fenders on, but I found some bad wiring I had to repair before the tank went on. Once the tank was on, I couldn’t believe how great it looked!

I got a new solo LePara seat that pulled it all together. Then I cleaned the 10 yrs of crap off the chrome with Never Dull and boom, bike looked awesome!

Where is it now, in the rebuild stage?

Only thing left to do is have an electrical test done, may need a new starter or regulator, as my battery isn’t charging while riding.

Also, I am looking for new foot pegs as I don’t like the ones I have, they are all chrome plated with no grip so I’m looking for ones with some rubber

Any help you have gotten? (i.e., friend(s), a garage, body shop, parts supplier, box store or online, yahoo videos that were helpful, etc.)

My friend who is a welder fabricated me the drag bars for free to my liking, ( 4″ kick back and 33″ wide )

My brother -in-law is a custom bike builder/fabricator and he offered to paint the tank and fenders for me

A list of things done & the cost.

Cost:
Bike. $1000
Paint. $ 300
Shocks. $ 40
Horn. $ 15
Rear tire. $ 120
Seat. $140
Misc $ 100
Total. $1715.00

I hope you have enjoyed reading the story of Eric’s 1990 Harley Davidson. Please like and leave a comment letting us know what you think. Check out the photo gallery to see larger pictures.