A sleek frame, a mechanical aesthetic, a distinct lack of plastic and a lot of polished metal. This Harley-Davidson Ironhead Sportster café racer must be from Craig Rodsmith. Based just north of Chicago, the Australian ex-pat’s mastery over the dark art of metal shaping is evident in everything he builds.
A few years ago, Craig was approached by a customer, Reto, who liked one of his previous Harley builds so much that he wanted a replica. Craig was understandably hesitant to copy another bike, but he had no qualms taking inspiration from it and fitting it to the new owner. That turned out to be a good decision, because Reto is 6?6?.

I’m not sure how many Sportster café racers you?ve stood next to, but I can assure you that most of the time, they are rather low-slung. So with Reto?s height in mind, it all kicked off with a 1973 Sportster frame. Once it was rid of all the unnecessary bracketry by care of an angle grinder, the head stem was modified and a new set of 35 mm forks were fitted. For the wheels, Craig started with the front hub from an old Moto Guzzi and the rear hub from an early Sportster. Then, in typical Rodsmith style, he tweaked the twin-leading front shoe brake, adding a vent to the leading edge. Both hubs were laced with stainless spokes to new 18? Borrani wheels, and wrapped in Avon Roadrunner tires.

The engine is from a 1979 XLCH Sportster and is relatively stock. It has split rocker boxes and nickel plated cylinders and heads. A Dynat...