by Silvian Secara from https://www.autoevolution.com
Are you ready to meet the grooviest Sportster Forty-Eight that’s ever roamed our roads?
As of 2010, a gifted aftermarket wizard named Winston Yeh founded Rough Crafts in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei. His enterprise specializes in developing an extensive selection of aftermarket items, as well as creating some of the raddest custom two-wheeled masterpieces you’ll ever have the honor to encounter.
Generally speaking, the workshop’s range tends to revolve around Harley-Davidson’s creations, but the RC team will gladly tackle just about any motorcycle brand on their magnificent bespoke exploits. As I was navigating through the firm’s portfolio, I stumbled upon a glorious creature based on a 2012 Sportster Forty-Eight.
This build was completed back in 2015 and served to let everyone know these folks aren’t playing around. It features an intricate display of meticulous craftmanship that’ll leave you genuinely speechless. In fact, let’s take a minute to examine what’s at hand here.
The donor is put in motion by a malicious Evolution V-twin behemoth, with an astronomical displacement of 1,199cc. At approximately 4,000 rpm, this nasty piece of air-cooled machinery will generate up to 79 pound-feet (107 Nm) of ruthless twisting force. A five-speed transmission channels the engine’s unholy power to a belt final drive.
Rough Crafts kicked things off by outsourcing a retro Dunstall GT front fairing replica and reshaping its windshield to fit the desired aesthetic. Instead of discarding its factory gas tank, the crew went about sculpting a pair of knee dents that complement the lines of the aftermarket front fairing.
Ultimately, these refinements add up to a stunningly fluid design language. At the rear, we notice a single-seater quilted leather saddle and one handsome cafe racer-style tail section, which houses the bike’s relocated oil tank.
Next, RC browsed The Speed Merchant’s inventory to obtain a custom triple clamp. You will find that it grips a Sportster 883R’s forks, offering a considerable suspension upgrade. Additionally, the brakes were also treated to a comprehensive makeover, receiving a blend of top-shelf Lyndall Racing Brakes units.
Forty-Eight’s Evolution V-twin is allowed to breathe with ease thanks to a Super E S&S carburetor and a fresh two-into-one exhaust system that manages to look the business. The latter wears a stainless-steel reverse megaphone muffler fabricated in-house.
Lastly, the finishing touches consisted of equipping clip-on handlebars, a grille headlight and rear-mounted foot pegs, besides a new filler cap and a set of sinister levers that round out the updated appearance.
If you’re digging this XL1200X Sportster Forty-Eight as much as I am, then I’d strongly encourage that you head over to Rough Crafts’ Instagram and Facebook pages. Their remarkable works of moto art will have you drooling!
