2013 Sportster Seventy-Two

By Dennis Santopietro

So, my “stable” recently underwent some changes (all good). I have been riding a ’78 shovelhead for over 20 years. I bought it as a rolling basket case — a ’78 FXE. I rebuilt it from the ground up (by myself) as a stock bike. A couple of years later, I took it back down to the frame, and rebuilt it again as an FXWG. Rode it for awhile and then rebuilt it AGAIN (frame up) as an FLH (Electra- Glide), as shown in the photo.

Then, after riding it like this for many years, I got married, and my bride needed a bike. So, I sold the shovelhead to buy her an ’06 Sporty, which I had repainted, and she has since added lots of bling to make other own. But, shortly thereafter, I went into the local dealership to buy her some accessories, and I fell in love with a 2013 Sportster Seventy-Two. It was almost exactly like a bike my dad had admired, many, many years ago (uh, in 1972!). He saw it in front of a convenience store, and made it a point to tell the owner how great it looked. He said, “I believe that’s the best looking bike I’ve ever seen. If I ever owned another one, I’d want it to look just like this one”. When I saw the ’72 in the showroom, it reminded me of that event — it had the same ’70’s big metal flake, a candy apple paint job, and mini-apes. It isn’t identical to the bike my dad saw back then, but it’s got a lot of the same elements, and the same general appearance. My dad passed away a year before, so in honor of him, I traded in my other bike and bought the ’72.

I’ve since made some mods to the engine, exhaust, and a lot of cosmetic upgrades to make it my own. I can’t tell you how many comments (good) I get on this bike. And every time someone says something about it, I can feel my dad smiling down on me!

And thanks to you and your team for a great resource. As I mentioned, I do all of my own wrenching, and love it. Along with the love of motorcycles, I inherited my father’s mechanical abilities. I’m not afraid to tear apart anything mechanical, and can actually manage to get it back together (AND working), most times.

That said, there will always be things I don’t know, and there are also many things that just don’t come across well in a printed manual. Getting to actually SEE what a procedure looks like, and watching someone actually DO it, can make all the difference in the world.

JHog