Some people find it hard to hold onto a bike for more than a couple of years. It doesn’t take long before an itch sets in, and they find themselves window-shopping for the next set of wheels.
Canadian Ben Boyd is not like that. He’s owned this 1989 Harley-Davidson Sportster for a solid 23 years, since 1994, and not once has he considered shifting it. That?s because he inherited it from his late grandfather, Fred Boyd.

?Fred was a pretty big name in the post-war racing scene here in Vancouver, BC,? Ben tells us, ?and was team mate to Trev Deeley?the guy who established Harley-Davidson in Canada.?
?Fred died when I was seven and I inherited this little Sporty. I’d been riding and racing MX since I was five, and used to sneak Granddad’s bike out well before I had a license. Heck, I even rode it to my first date!?
?After several years of injury-induced hiatus from racing, I’ve come back to it. I’m now racing flat track a fair bit, and won the North West Championship vet class this year.?
The Sportster’s evolved over time into this bona fide hooligan flat track racer. Ben doesn’t consider himself a pro builder though, but rather a hobbyist, wrenching under the moniker ‘Escape Velocity Cycles.’

?I’ve always worked on my own bikes and built customs,? he says, ?but they’ve usually been scrappy street fighters and such. I thought I’d make this one pretty, and see what happens.?
Over the years, Ben&...