Heart Of Glass: Jared Smith’s sweet 1966 XLCH Sportster
Jared Smith has a pretty diverse skill set. He has one foot in the digital world as a user experience and software designer, and the other in the analog realm as a custom bike builder. And he does it all under one banner: Blue Jack Studio.
?What gets me up in the morning is designing and creating anything,? he says, ?whether physical or digital.? From his converted single garage in Vallejo, California, Jared builds a bike or two a year. This mid-60s Harley-Davidson XLCH Sportster is his fifth build, and it’s a real peach.
Jared first got interested in building motorcycles about six years ago. Since then, he’s collected an array of vintage metalworking tools?and taught himself to use them too.
?I’ve been lucky to meet several very skilled motorcycle builders and fabricators in The Bay Area,? he tells us, ?that have been kind enough to help me along the way and teach me what they know.?
?There were many trips over the last few years to Jasin Phares from Phares Cycle Parts (now based out of Kansas) to ask how to get the weld just right, or to shape a piece of sheet metal, or how to hold a complicated part to mill it, or just to borrow a tool I didn’t own yet.?
Jared’s goal with the XLCH was to find a balance?between old parts that would show their age, and handmade touches. ?I wanted to build something that still looked (from a distance) like a stock 60s Sportster,? he says, ?but on closer inspection, and more importantly when riding, felt a...
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