1957 Harley-Davidson Sportster — Handmade Metal Model Motorcycle

The Sportster — Harley's answer to the British bikes that were embarrassing it on American roads, and the longest-running model in the company's history.

Handcrafted in iron with rolling metal wheels and hand-painted finish, carrying the peanut tank, exposed overhead-valve V-twin and stripped-down proportions that defined the original.

Details

• Handcrafted iron frame and body
• Metal wheels that roll
• Hand-painted with applied detail
• Engine, tank, saddle and exhaust detail
• Ready to display

The machine

By the mid-1950s Triumph and BSA were selling lighter, faster bikes in America and Harley's flatheads could not answer them. The XL Sportster of 1957 brought overhead valves, a shorter wheelbase and enough power to compete — and, in the hot-rodded XLCH form that followed, became the fastest production motorcycle in the country.

The Sportster stayed in production, in one form or another, for well over sixty years.