1959 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH
Years produced: 1957-current
Total production: 947 (1959)
Claimed power: 40hp @ 5,500rpm
Top speed: 115mph
Engine type: 883cc (53.9ci) overhead valve, air-cooled 45-degree V-twin
Weight (dry): 225kg (495lb)
Price then: $1,200
Price now: $6,600-$11,000
MPG: 40-50

“I was never into Harleys,” says Rick Schaefer. “But one day I saw a bike in a friend’s barn, and he asked me if I wanted it. I felt I needed a restoration project to keep busy, so I bought it.”

Rick didn’t know it at the time, but what he had bought was a 1959 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH, one of 947 made. His need for the project was driven by personal loss: His brother had died of cancer, and then six months later his father died. “I went through the whole winter depressed,” Rick says. He soon found the cure to be a classic Harley restoration.

Taking stock in the Sportster XLH, Rick found a lot of the stock parts were missing. The seat tabs had been cut off the frame — minor damage for a classic Harley-Davidson motorcycle of this vintage, as many bikes that went through the chopper era of the Sixties and Seventies have frames that are altered beyond repair — but the engine was original, even if the forks were not. It was a better than the average barn find, and a classic American motorcycle well worth restoring. Even so, Rick knew restoring the bike would be a challenge, and he knew he’d need help.

There are a lot of people out there who work on classic Harley-Davidson motorcycles — frame men, magneto experts and sheet metal artists, wizards who can do wonders with even the saddest lump of rust. The trick is in finding them, because people who know what they are doing — like “Harley” John Cunningham — don’t advertise much. Most of them have all the work they can handle.

“I went to the local dealer for help. He didn’t know anything about old Sportsters, but directed me to Harley John Cunningham, a former Harley-Davidson dealer. I looked up Harley John and showed him the Sportster. ‘I’ll help you,’ he said.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Rick’s 1959 Harley-Davidson Sportster XLH
The story of Rick Schaefer’s labor of love started in Texas. The friend who sold him the Sporty was driving through Texas some years ago, when his VW bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. He walked to a farmer’s barn for help, and there was the Sportster. The farmer helped him get the VW going, and he went on.

Two years later, Rick’s friend was driving by the same place. He stopped, thanked the farmer for his help, and asked if the Sportster might be for sale. It was, he bought it, and he brought it home to New York. He rode it hard, customized it, and at the same time generally ignored giving it any maintenance. Eventually, the poor thing refused to run. Several years later, Rick bought it.