Richard Pollock has an enviable downside; an order e book that’s bursting on the seams. The ink has hardly dried on the story of his full-throttle Hooligan flat tracker, and we have already got one other top-shelf Mule Bikes creation to drool over. This time, it’s a well-sorted Harley-Davidson Sportster avenue tracker.
Though Mule has labored with different types earlier than, trackers are his bread and butter. The revered American builder has been racing and constructing them for so long as we will bear in mind and has a knack for creating machines that prioritize performance, however nonetheless find yourself trying impossibly trendy.
This Sportster bears all of the hallmarks of a quintessential Mule Bikes construct, even when the method behind it was slightly unconventional. In a uncommon transfer, Mule took the challenge on after the client had already made a number of key modifications to the bike. “It was additionally one of many uncommon ones the place there have been exhausting buyer requests,” he provides, “however in the long run, it labored out effectively.”
The 1993-model Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 motor had been transplanted right into a chromoly twin-shock body from C&J Racing Frames a number of years in the past, with a C&J swingarm out again. The chassis is an oil-in-frame design, with the primary spine performing as a reservoir. The bike’s proprietor had additionally manufactured his personal fork yokes, handlebar risers, entrance axle, brake rotor carries and caliper brackets, and headlight mounts.
New bodywork was crafted for the 90s Sportster by a fabricator in San Diego who usually makes a speciality of plane panels. It’s all constructed from aluminum—from the entrance fender, proper by means of the gas tank, flat observe-style tail part, and facet panels. “The tank was modeled after the early mannequin Sportster’s ‘turtle tank’,” Mule explains.
A Corbin seat pad sits up high, with an LED taillight and license plate mount tucked away below the tail. A custom-made electronics tray hides below the seat, formed to double up as an inside fender for the rear wheel.
Mule shipped the bodywork off to his ordinary painter, David Tovar at SBK Paint. David laid down a basic Harley-Davidson combo; orange and black, punctuated by delicate white pinstripes and a thick polished aluminum strip throughout the highest. The body was powder-coated in black, whereas the swingarm was handled to a chrome Cerakote end (each had been dealt with by Quick Blast and Coat).
It’s a restrained livery that fits the Sportster effectively, giving it a basic roadster vibe. However, as we’ve come to count on from Mule, a more in-depth look reveals an array of tasty upgrades befitting a contemporary machine.
19” carbon fiber wheels from BST sit at each ends, alongside suspension parts from Öhlins. The entrance finish wears a set of the Swedish firm’s ‘Blackline’ forks; fully-adjustable models with blacked-out lowers and a black low-friction coating on the stanchions. Conversely, the adjustable rear shocks proudly sport Öhlins’ signature yellow springs and gold reservoirs.
Brembo calipers do obligation back and front, gripping wavy discs from EBC. The rear brake makes use of a Brembo grasp cylinder, whereas the foot management assemblies are all Mule elements.
The precise-hand facet of the Sportster is dominated by a burly two-into-one exhaust system, terminating right into a kicked-up Cone Engineering muffler. For the consumption, Mule put in a Mikuni HSR45 flat-slide carb, fed by an enormous Okay&N filter. A Mule ignition cowl additionally adorns the motor, whereas a sequence conversion sends energy to the again wheel.
A even handed mixture of black and polished finishes has the venerable Harley V-twin mill trying model spanking new. There’s some refined bling too, within the type of machined textures on the sides of the cooling fins (one other element that was added by the proprietor). “It’s form of a glitzy chopper contact which isn’t actually on my styling to-do record,” says Mule, “nevertheless it’s sorta growin’ on me.”
Completed off with Dunlop tracker tires, broad ProTaper handlebars, a Koso tacho, and discreet LED flip alerts, Mule’s newest Sportster nails the trifecta of basic seems to be, flat observe chops, and a street-specific setup. It’s the very definition of a avenue tracker—and it’s lighter and extra highly effective than it was, making it one hell of a runner, too.
Mule Bikes | Instagram | Photographs by Bart Cepek
