43-year-old Harley-Davidson XLX Ironhead gets ultimate facelift

After being left in a shed for years, sitting in water, and with no future insight, this 43-year-old Harley-Davidson XLX Ironhead has instead been fully resurrected by ‘Old School’, from Vintage Harleys Revived, although he’s done so with just $500 (around £360).

The man known as ‘Old School’, Harley-Davidson expert, but bringing this 1983 XLX Ironhead back to life took on a challenge of its own.

The resurrection, which you can watch on YouTube in full, below, started with OId School finding the motorcycle left in four inches of water. But the water was not the sole problem. Incorrect parts and a nasty purple paint job were paired with what he described as ‘bolt-on junk’.

He began the rebuild by removing the purple bodywork, before taking off other parts such as the exhaust system. After bleeding the bike and stripping off all its ‘junk’, Old School began the rebuild with just $500 to play with.

But what did Old School want to achieve with this rebuild? Well, he championed it for its simplicity and minimalist appearance back when the bike was rolled off the production line in the early 1980s. The bike was known for its blacked-out look, and he wanted to give the motorcycle a taste of its past.

Corroded surfaces found a new lease of life, as did the bike’s hardware. And with the purple paint work gone, and years of grime, he finished the bike in glossy black.

“What I want to do is take the corrosion and bad decisions off the bike. And leave the years on this bike. I don’t want it to look new. I want it to look 40 years old.” said Old School.

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