Joshua Boggs is a Pittsburgh-based motorcycle rider who has been involved with metalworking his entire life. He started Steel City Blacksmithing in 2019 and began utilizing his skills to craft custom motorcycles. His latest bike was featured at the 2025 Glory Daze Motorcycle Show. Josh mentioned that he enjoyed the annual festival’s new venue, Pittsburgh Brewing Company, home of Iron City Beer. “Glory Daze was a hell of an event,” he shared. “I’ve been going to the show since 2019 and have seen it grow a lot over the years. Every year it gets bigger and better!”
The gears started to turn for Josh’s latest custom chopper after being asked to build a bike for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. He first got a 2005 Harley-Davidson Sportster but wanted to try something a little older. He bought a 1975 Ironhead XLCH 1000 from a buddy to use the engine, then picked up a transmission from a 1980 Harley-Davidson shovelhead to use with the bike build. Josh’s goal was to showcase some of his machining skills that he learned over the years, so he decided to “divorce” the engine and transmission, which entails cutting the engine in half, essentially.
He had always wanted to make a new stainless-steel frame with a solid twisted stainless downtube. From there, the build took on a life of its own. From start to finish, the custom chopper took about eleven weeks, with parts in the paint and polish stage for about four weeks of that time.
Working a full-time job and taking care of his family made the process extremely difficult to build and finish. Josh couldn’t have made it work without the help of his fiancé, Jordan, for holding down the fort. He welded the last tab on the frame at midnight, loaded the ironhead chopper directly into a trailer for a trip to Georgia, where it was then hauled to Sturgis by a good friend.
His advice to those who want to get started in the world of custom motorcycles is to “learn new skills and reach out to other builders or me to get tips and tricks. Build something the way you want it to be and be proud of the work you do. Everyone starts somewhere. The fact that you built it yourself is something you should take pride in.”
