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Can anyone shed some light on my bike? Factory paint yay or nay

Can anyone shed some light on my bike? Factory paint yay or nay

skinny07
2 years ago

Hi all,

Picked up this 07 XL1200C from a Harley dealer a few weeks ago, it came with this paint scheme from factory apparently but I can't find anyway to tell 100% if that's true or not. Called up Harley parts with the vin and it came back as a black colour but it didn't say anything detailed, like custom paint or anything. The guy who sold me the bike said they sold it new back in 07 and this is the way it came from factory and was delivered.

Does anyone know if this actually a possibility, as in did Harley do custom or one off things like this?

The guards all look factory black, I even scratched a little paint off under the seat and there is no different colour under it.

The only sign of different colour I can see on the whole bike is on the U bracket where the tank bolts to under the seat, you can see it has red metallic where it was masked off, but I have no idea if Harley took a already painted red tank and just painted over it with this finish or if the dealer is lying and one of the owners had it painted.

Was hoping someone might know something or shed some light about this bike or what Harley was doing back in 07 with custom paint.

Cheers.

OlChesnut
2 years ago

I can remember back to 2007, it was the first year the Sportster was fuel injected. I'm familiar with all the Sportster colours they released that year and I never saw a black one in anything other than Vivid black (gloss black). Yours doesn't look factory to me. I'd say it may have been a dealer custom or something like that.

skinny07 and WideglidingNZ like this post

WideglidingNZ
2 years ago

looks like a custom paint job to me, I wonder if the dealer painted it when it was brand new

Ratbob
2 years ago

If you bought the bike from HarleyHeaven they advertised it as “features custom satin black paintwork”. If you got it from another dealer then we know there’s at least two around and therefore it could be a special non stock release like those custom HD paint sets you can buy which are harder to track. If it is an HD paint set, it’ll have a number something like 53/100 at the trailing edge of the tank, maybe the right side.
When you look up the original listings for the 07 bike, 10 colours were offered, nothing in a satin finish. No listing for a Willie G Skull.
It’s great paintwork, hope you’re happy with it.

paulybronco likes this post

tussuck
2 years ago

Nice custom paint job. Be VERY careful in how you clean/polish a matt paint job, as you can add shiney spots….lol

Look for products designed for Matt finishes.

skinny07
2 years ago

Yes got it from Harley heaven, that listing is still up for some reason on bikesales and their site even though I picked it up over 2 weeks ago.

By the sounds of it it may be a custom dealer thing, which is cool, was just really curious to what options are available for HD dealers or if that was a legit thing or not.

I like that it's unique, I might actually 2K clear the tank and guards as its like a satin gloss which is starting to wear a little, might even chuck some metallic in it too :)

Cheers for the replies guys.

tussuck likes this post

flstc08
2 years ago

G'day,
could it have been when the Harley shops had a 'build a special' competition?

bloodog
2 years ago

nay

tussuck
2 years ago

Have a gander under the tank where the sun do not shine. Most paint jobs overlook that section so it might shed some light.

skinny07 likes this post

skinny07
2 years ago

It's fully black under the tank, they painted the whole thing it looks like.

Ratbob
2 years ago

Quoting skinny07 on 09 Nov 2022 07:02 AM
It's fully black under the tank, they painted the whole thing it looks like.

I assume no numbers?
I.e. 56/100 or similar which would mean it’s tank 56 of 100 made.
If not I’m thinking it was done by the owner. Regardless of colour, that model bike all bore the same side panels on the tank (examples attached) and interestingly one feature of the Custom was the centre chrome piece running down the tank, much like Dyna Wideglides. As the chrome panel is missing and the paint job has changed, I’m thinking the original owner commissioned the work to change the panel design, why not, it looks great 👍

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