Richard Pollock has an enviable problem: a full order book. Just last week, we featured a stunning Harley Sportster street tracker in his signature Mule Motorcycles style. It turns out that he churned out a second Sportster around the same time, and it’s just as wild.
The project was conceived when Mule’s client brought him a very unique Harley-Davidson motorcycle—an early ‘iron’ XR750 flat tracker that had previously been owned by the late Allan Girdler. A lifelong racer, journalist, and former editor of Cycle World magazine, Allan was also a good friend of Mule’s. The bike’s current owner wanted it upgraded for spirited road riding, before the project unexpectedly took a sharp left turn.
“After some background research, he said that what he really wanted was one of my more straightforward Sportster street tracker builds, which I was only too happy to provide him with,” Mule tells us. “I wanted to build him something that would really stand out and use a few more exotic components.”
The old XR750 was shelved and a 2001-model Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 was dragged onto the bench instead. Mule’s client had been itching for a completely bespoke motorcycle since discovering Bike EXIF twelve years ago, and, after losing both parents several years apart to cancer, figured that it was time to make that dream a reality. So Mule pulled out all the stops.
The motor spec on this build is a slight departure from Mule’s normal template. Upgrades include large-finned Screamin’ Eagle heads and cylinders, Andrews cams, and a trick billet aluminum intake manifold from Hammer Performance, which allowed Mule to attach a carb to the normally fuel-injected heads.
Randy Troy’s Carb Restorations handled the requisite carb modifications. Meanwhile, Mule constructed a burly two-into-one stainless steel exhaust system using parts from Cone Engineering.
The Sportster’s chassis mods are subtle, yet impactful. Mule trimmed the rear end, modified it to support a flat track tailpiece, and moved the shock mounts forward on the swingarm. A custom battery tray sits under the seat, and the bike is propped up on a lightweight chromoly side stand.
Right-side-up Öhlins Blackline forks do duty up front, held in place by a set of Mule yokes. They’re matched to Öhlins piggyback shocks at the rear, with a full range of adjustability fore and aft.
The wheels are featherlight carbon fiber items from BST. Measuring 19” each, they’re matched to Mule hub adaptors and wrapped in street-legal Dunlop dirt track treads.
The front brake setup includes 300 mm EBC rotors (designed for the Yamaha MT09), with Brembo four-piston calipers mounted on GPS Racing brackets. A Beringer caliper on a Mule hanger grips a Braketech disc at the back. The brake lines are from Crown Performance, and both of the master cylinders are Brembo parts.
Anyone familiar with Mule’s work should recognize the bodywork. It’s standard fare for the American custom builder; a Storz aluminum fuel tank, a First Klass Glass seat unit, and a Saddlemen pad. If there’s a more quintessential Sportster flat track arrangement, we haven’t seen it.
A set of stainless steel Mule flat track bars dominate the control area, fitted with a Motion Pro throttle and a Buell clutch assembly. A Trail Tech gauge keeps things legal, while a chromed headlight on GPS Racing brackets lights the way. Lower down, you’ll find Mule’s signature CNC-machined right-hand side foot control assembly.
A sporty silver and black livery, executed by regular collaborator SBK Paint, takes this Harley Sportster street tracker over the finish line. “I had this paint scheme idea from a Ducati 916 I had built about 25 years ago,” says Mule, “and since very few people ever saw that bike, I thought this bike needed it. The new owner’s other bike is a Ducati too, so it was a good fit!”
Once again, Mule has balanced form and function in a way that only he can. As far as all-American Harley street trackers go, Richard Pollock is the G.O.A.T.
Mule Motorcycles | Instagram | Images by Olivier de Vaulx
