1959 Harley-Davidson XLH Sportster
Cure for the blues
November/December 2006
By Margie Siegal
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As one of only 947 built in 1959, Rick Schaefer's immaculately restored HD XLH Sportster is a rare bird.
Photo by Richard Backus
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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
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“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 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 XLH Sportster, 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.
Taking stock in the bike, Rick found a lot of the stock parts were missing. The seat tabs had been cut off the frame — minor damage for a Harley 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 better than the average barn find, and 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 old Harleys — 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 Sporty
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.
Harley John rebuilt the engine and helped Rick find a lot of the original NOS parts Rick wanted. Rick found period photos of the 1959 XLH and, based on how the bike looked in them, decided to have it painted Skyline Blue, one of the three stock colors.
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