The History of Led Sled
Led Sled Customs: American Made, Dayton-Raised
Pat Patterson’s love affair with two wheels began long before Led Sled Customs was ever dreamed up. It started with a bicycle, then a promise. “I had a baseball game one night and my dad told me if I hit a home run he’d buy me a three wheeler,” Pat remembers. “I didn’t hit a home run that night. But the next day I looked out at my brother’s Nova in the driveway, and there was this weird thing sticking out of the back. It wasn’t a three wheeler, but it was a little homemade minibike. I rode the wheels off that thing.”
That little minibike became Pat’s first teacher. When things broke – as they often did – it was up to him to figure it out. “You break a throttle cable and it’s not like your dad is just gonna rush you over to the motorcycle shop to buy you a new one,” he says. “So I would just play with it to try to fix it myself through trial and error.”
The mechanical curiosity grew along with the bikes. After cutting his teeth on dirt bikes, Pat graduated to a street bike just a week after high school – an old Suzuki GS450. He wasted no time making memories. “One time I rode that bike all the way to Oklahoma City with my buddy, who was on a Nighthawk. I never will forget this one gas station we stopped at – a couple dudes on their big baggers and Goldwings asked where we were from and where we were going. When we said ‘We’re from Ohio and heading to Oklahoma City,’ they kind of laughed. I didn’t know what they were laughing about – but now I do. They were picturing me on a 450 with the throttle wide open, with nothing but a warm shirt bungie corded to the fender.”
From Dayton to Daytona
In 1993, Pat bought his first Sportster, and unknowingly set the foundation for the rest of his life. He’d grown up around car and truck customization – mini trucks, dancing beds, slammed suspensions – but the concept of customizing motorcycles didn’t click until a trip to Daytona Bike Week in 1994.
“I saw a couple Arlen Ness bikes down there and was just like ‘Woah,’” he says. “It just never dawned on me growing up – no one around here was really doing it.” As soon as he got home, he dug up a magazine, ordered a set of rims, and dove into a full-blown chrome obsession. That Sportster became his canvas and his daily ride for a decade.
At the time, Pat was working as a truck driver – burning up the road by day and wrenching on bikes by night. “There were no cool aftermarket parts,” he recalls. But long drives gave him time to think, and those miles became incubators for ideas. By the late ’90s, he was painting bikes for friends and dreaming bigger.
Out of necessity, he started making his own parts – first fenders, then frames. “I was having a late-night conversation with a buddy from Kustomwerks and told him I was thinking about making a hardtail for Sportsters. He laughed and was like, ‘Why wouldn’t someone just buy a full frame?’” Pat pauses. “After two decades, it’s interesting to look around and see the influence just this one product has had on the industry.”
Helping Hands
Led Sled has received a lot of help and support over the years, from raising and installing the sign on our first shop to slinging merch at events.
Small Space, Big Ideas
A 1,000 square foot shop didn't stop Led Sled from dreaming big. From award-winning bike builds to revolutionary new parts, it all started here.
Led Sled is Born
The demand for Pat’s work outgrew the garage, so when an old five-n-dime building went up for grabs on the same road he lived on in Dayton, Ohio, he jumped. Formerly a gas station, trailer park office, and bait shop, the place had seen some miles. But in 2003, it became Led Sled Customs.
“When I started the shop I just wanted to build parts that I always wanted and could never find,” Pat says. “My brother had a ’91 Softail Custom with all these cool parts on it, but you couldn’t find anything like that for Sportsters at the time. I always built Sportsters because that’s what I liked to ride – I like to make them fast, make them light, and just try to make them look cool.”
That ethos caught fire. With one foot in old-school craftsmanship and the other kicking against convention, Pat pushed Led Sled forward. Builders and home mechanics began looking to his shop not just for inspiration, but for the parts they needed to bring their visions to life.
But Led Sled was never a one-man show. So many friends, family members, motorcycle industry colleagues and even community members played a part in making Led Sled what it is today. “We have always been blessed in every stage with people wanting to help,” explains Jen Patterson, Pat’s wife who took over business operations for Led Sled in 2010. “An electrician, a plumber, a construction guy, friends that work the trailer slinging shirts or collecting bike entries at an event. Heck, even Pat's dad, who is 86 years old, STILL comes over every Friday to grab the trash cans!”
Fast forward to March 2011, and Led Sled introduced the EVO Sportster Kicker Kit – a first-of-its-kind product that had been years in the making. It cemented Led Sled as the go-to for Sportster innovation.
A Barn, a Legacy
By 2016, Led Sled had outgrown its humble beginnings. Pat and Jen bought an old barn built in 1878 without a clear plan, but quickly realized it could be more than just a pretty restoration project. “We started fixing it up just to make it look better, then had the idea to move the shop into it.” The move was gradual, involving the migration of machinery, parts, and workspaces that had been scattered across the 1,000-square-foot shop, trailers, and even their home.
By 2021, Led Sled had fully transitioned into the 11,000-square-foot converted barn. It became more than just a workspace – it became a living museum, filled with parts, memorabilia, and decades of stories. “We continue to work on it and fill it with memorabilia from the past 23 years,” Pat says.
Today, Led Sled ships to over 40 countries. The name is known in every corner of the custom motorcycle world. Even as Harley-Davidson’s lineup evolves, Pat’s influence stays front and center. In 2024, Harley invited him to customize a Nightster Special that went on tour with the factory, stopping at major events like Born Free and Harley Homecoming.
It’s been quite a journey, but along the way, Pat had countless conversations with builders, reps, and riders who helped shape ideas and spark innovation – Led Sled owes much to the generosity of the wider motorcycle world.
Hammered in History
If anyone doubts Led Sled’s mark on motorcycle culture, they need only scan the accolades. Pat has appeared on over 100 magazine covers and features. He’s been a centerpiece at Artistry in Iron and Michael Lichter’s Motorcycles as Art exhibits. In 2014, he was part of Discovery Channel’s #BikerLive. Led Sled has even customized bikes directly for Harley-Davidson – twice.
Led Sled has taken home top honors like Cycle Source Magazine’s Top Custom Product of the Year (2010 and 2016) and Builder of the Year (2016). Though Pat no longer enters bike shows, he now gives back to the scene through The Sportster Showdown, an event he began hosting in 2016 at rallies like Sturgis.
More than two decades since opening its doors, Led Sled Customs remains fiercely independent, deeply rooted in the Sportster world, and driven by the same fire that started with a homemade minibike in an Ohio driveway.
