As a nuclear chemist with clients spanning multiple industries, Corban Gallagher’s day job calls for ingenuity and precision in equal measure. So when he occasionally takes a break from work to build custom motorcycles, he typically ends up creating machines that are both outlandish and well-engineered?just like this totally bonkers Harley Sportster ‘Grand Prix’ racer.
Just like his debut custom build, Corban built the Sportster specifically for the annual Handbuilt Show. ?Because it’s held in Austin on the same weekend as the American MotoGP, I wanted to do something that was in the spirit of both events,? he tells us. ?I thought it would be fun to build the most low-budget ‘GP’ bike ever, by using almost exclusively salvaged parts.?
The starting point of the project was a wrecked 1996 Sportster frame and the rear shock from a 1998 Ducati 900SS. With a 1997 Sportster XL1200 engine sourced from a junkyard, the project was more or less underway. But first, Corban had to bring the 27-year-old V-twin up to spec…
?Once I had the crusty motor torn apart, I asked Hammer Performance to put a package together for me based on a set of Buell Thunderstorm heads I had on the shelf,? he tells us. ?It now has 1,275 cc barrels with domed pistons, a racing clutch, Andrews cams, a 42 mm Mikuni carb, and a few other bits and pieces.?

Adamant about using the Ducati shock, Corban’s next big task was to build a new mono-shock rear end to put...