Best Vintage Motorcycle Products
This guide collects the Riding Vintage shop-and-road picks I would hand to someone building, maintaining, or riding an old motorcycle. Some are restoration parts, some are tools, and some simply make long days with a vintage bike easier.
Product pages, prices, and stock change over time, so the links here are best treated as starting points rather than current-price guarantees. The value of the list is the practical mix: fuel tanks, ignition parts, wiring supplies, tires, maps, riding gear, luggage, and shop-wall material that all make sense around old Harleys and other vintage motorcycles.
For more workshop-heavy material, the same approach shows up throughout the Riding Vintage Harley-Davidson VL restoration work, where useful parts and tools matter more than catalog flash.
Motorcycle Parts and Accessories
Replicant Metals fuel tanks
Few things stall a build faster than tanks that are dented, thin, or one rust spot away from a pinhole leak. A set of replacement fuel tanks from Replicant Metals belongs on the short list for J-series, V-series, and D-series Harley-Davidson projects when the goal is to turn a classic back into a rider.
Competition Distributing cylinder primers
These cylinder primers from Competition Distributing put a correct-looking finishing touch on a 1930-1938 flathead engine. Instead of capping the primer holes with plumbing-aisle hardware, these parts dress the engine properly and remain fully functional.
Spectro-Oils Z Clean chain lube
Spectro-Oils is known for motor oils and transmission fluids, but the small 1.5 oz Z Clean Chain Lube cans are the kind of thing that earns space in a windshield bag or tool pouch. They are handy after a long wet ride, dusty roads, or any day when the chain needs attention away from the shop.
Buchanan's Spoke and Rim
A classic motorcycle looks right with a clean set of spokes, and Buchanan's Spoke and Rim can supply standard styles as well as custom-built spokes made to your dimensions. That makes them useful for restoration work and for rider builds that mix older looks with later hubs or disc-brake conversions.
Coker Tire vintage tread motorcycle tires
When a motorcycle needs modern rubber without losing the period tread pattern, Coker Tire is one of the first names to check. The appeal is simple: retire the dry-rotted display tires and mount something that still looks right on a vintage motorcycle.
Dead Beat Customs cloth-covered spark plug wires
Spark plug wires are easy to overlook, but generic parts-store wire can look out of place on an otherwise careful build. Cloth-covered wire kits from Dead Beat Customs let you cut and assemble a custom set and pick a color that fits the motorcycle instead of fighting it.
Retrocycle restoration finishes
Original hardware is always nice to keep, but rusty hardware does not belong on a fresh restoration. Retrocycle handles black oxide, cadmium green, cadmium clear, cadmium yellow, electroless nickel, media blast with oil, parkerizing with oil, and shiny nickel finishes.
Dills Paintworks motorcycle paint
After the mechanical work is done, paint is what makes the whole motorcycle come together. John Dill at Dills Paintworks has the kind of reputation that fits high-end restorations and customs, with work strong enough to be associated with Wheels Through Time Museum machines.
Faber Cycle handlebars
Old handlebars live a hard life, and a bent-and-straightened set can be a weak point on a bike that is meant to be ridden. Faber Cycle covers early applications such as 1910 Harley-Davidsons as well as Flanders-style bars for bobber and custom projects.
Heather's Leathers motorcycle seats
A seat has to look right, but on a long ride it also has to work. Wayne at Heather's Leathers can restore original seats or build custom seats that are intended for all-day riding, the kind of work that matters on Motorcycle Cannonball-style cross-country machines.
Dennis Corso mufflers
Harleys have a classic sound, but an old muffler full of loose baffles can make the wrong kind of noise. Dennis Corso mufflers were called out for coverage from 1930 models up through 1978 machines; the old Dennis Corso web domain no longer matched the motorcycle business during link audit, so this link now points to Strange Bird Manufacturing, whose about page states that it took over from Dennis Corso in late 2019.
EBEYOND 2000 Quickstart ignition
If cleaning and adjusting points has lost its charm, the EBEYOND 2000 Quickstart 2000 keeps the modern parts hidden inside the stock timer. Versions covered 1930 VLs through 1970s big twins, a replacement for the dual-point setup used on 1961-1964 Panheads, and 6- or 12-volt compatibility.
Eastern Motorcycle Parts 45 heads
When the heads on a 45 look like they barely survived military service, replacement castings can make more sense than welding broken fins and decking tired parts again. Eastern Motorcycle Parts offers fresh heads that bolt to stock cylinders.
Good Old Motorcycle Parts wiring looms
An original motorcycle is great, but an original wiring harness is not always something to trust on a rider. The Good Old Motorcycle Parts Company carries cloth-covered, color-coded wire looms for Harley-Davidsons from the teens through the 70s, including sidecar wiring, with terminals already installed.
Print and Film
Portraits of American Bikers collector edition
The hardbound collector edition of Portraits of American Bikers: Life in the 1960s collects Jim Miteff photographs from his time with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, adds more than 50 pages of unpublished images, and includes stories from Outlaw members. The old Flash Productions product page did not survive the link audit, so the remaining link points to a live book listing instead.
National Motorcycle Museum posters and signs
The former National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa, Iowa was originally highlighted for motorcycle posters covering movies, events, magazine covers, famous photos, and related tin signs. Since the museum has since closed, this item now reads as a preserved source recommendation rather than a current online-store lead.
Dohms Creative Photography motorcycle prints
Dohms Creative Photography produces motorcycle artwork from owner Jim Dohms' photography. The work includes digital enhancement, in-house large-format prints, dry mounts, and canvas printing.
American Iron special Harley-Davidson issue
This American Iron special issue honoring Harley-Davidson's 110th anniversary was included because it works as both reading material and shelf reference. It combines historical articles with feature bikes that vintage Harley-Davidson riders can actually study.
Butler Motorcycle Maps
Butler Motorcycle Maps make the case for keeping paper maps in the saddlebag. They have no batteries, no buttons, and no voice telling you to turn around, while still marking the roads that are actually worth riding. The waterproof and tear-resistant construction is a real advantage over a throwaway rest-stop map.
Why We Ride documentary
Why We Ride is a documentary built around the passion of riding and the people who make up the motorcycling community. Racers, riders, pioneers, parents, and families all help tell the story, with photography strong enough to make it more than just another motorcycle film.
Clothing and Accessories
West Coast Shaving straight razor gear
The love of old machines does not have to stop at motorcycles. A straight-razor setup from West Coast Shaving brings the same deliberate, hands-on satisfaction to shaving that old motorcycles bring to riding. If an electric starter feels wrong on the bike, an electric razor might not belong on the counter either.
Kiehl's Cross-Terrain UV Skin Protector
Anyone worried about preserving original paint should also think about preserving their own finish. Kiehl's Cross-Terrain UV Skin Protector uses beeswax, so it stays where it is put instead of running into your eyes with sweat or rain.
Saddleback Leather Waterbag
Modern luggage can look wrong on a vintage motorcycle, especially when it is strapped to something like a 1936 Knucklehead. The Saddleback Leather Waterbag uses a single piece of leather and a roll-down top to make a watertight seal, with two sizes and four colors.
Redverz Series II Expedition Tent
The Redverz Gear Series II Expedition Tent is more than a roomy two-person tent; it is a small mobile workshop. The built-in garage bay keeps the motorcycle out of the weather, which matters a lot if repairs have to happen in wind or rain.
Gasolina leather spats
For riding to the office without wearing boots all day, leather spats from Gasolina make sense. They protect the lower legs, keep pants cleaner, and fold flat enough to store in a briefcase or desk after the ride.
Lost Worlds B-3 jacket
The B-3 jacket was first made in 1933 for crews working in unpressurized, unheated bomber cabins, and that warmth has obvious motorcycle appeal. Lost Worlds produces a B-3 jacket built to the older specifications rather than the department-store version of the idea.
Golden Age Rhinebeck jodhpurs
When jeans do not fit the look of the motorcycle, the Rhinebeck jodhpurs from Golden Age Motorcycle Clothing go all in. Details include cotton construction, boot-friendly cut, optional colored leg stripe, leather reinforcement at the knees and seat, two front pockets, a watch pocket, two rear pockets, a button fly, nine leg adjustments with lace-up sides, made-to-measure ordering, 112 colors and patterns, and a lifetime guarantee.
Harley-Davidson racing sweater
This Harley-Davidson racing sweater was modeled after the sweaters shown in the HD Accessories Catalog in 1937. Made by Dehen Knitting Factory of Portland, Oregon, a company producing quality apparel since 1920, it is built from extra heavy weight 100% wool, made to keep a rider warm while still looking the part, and was offered through the Harley-Davidson Museum Shop.
Hometown Jersey motorcycle shirts
Hometown Jersey makes custom shirts styled after motorcycle jerseys from the 40s and 50s. Details include fine-gauge 100% cotton knit, black, burgundy, red, and navy color options, and felt lettering chosen by the buyer, which makes them a natural fit for club-style shirts.
Nash Motorcycle Co. leather kidney belt
Leather kidney belts have long been part of motorcycle riding gear, especially for long-distance riding when lower-back, abdomen, and kidney support matter. Nash Motorcycle Co. makes an all-leather three-buckle version that stays true in form to the originals, in natural leather or black, with seven sizes.