Richard Pollock has an enviable problem; an order book that’s bursting at the seams. The ink has hardly dried on the story of his full-throttle Hooligan flat tracker, and we already have another top-shelf Mule Motorcycles creation to drool over. This time, it’s a well-sorted Harley-Davidson Sportster street tracker.
Although Mule has worked with other styles before, trackers are his bread and butter. The respected American builder has been racing and building them for as long as we can remember and has a knack for creating machines that prioritize functionality, but still end up looking impossibly stylish.
This Sportster bears all the hallmarks of a quintessential Mule Motorcycles build, even if the process behind it was a little unconventional. In a rare move, Mule took the project on after the customer had already made a few key changes to the bike. “It was also one of the rare ones where there were hard customer requests,” he adds, “but in the end, it worked out well.”
The 1993-model Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 motor had been transplanted into a chromoly twin-shock frame from C&J Racing Frames several years ago, with a C&J swingarm out back. The chassis is an oil-in-frame design, with the main backbone acting as a reservoir. The bike’s owner had also manufactured his own fork yokes, handlebar risers, front 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 normally specializes in aircraft panels. It’s all made from aluminum—from the front fender, right through the fuel tank, flat track-style tail section, and side panels. “The tank was modeled after the early model Sportster’s ‘turtle tank’,” Mule explains.
A Corbin seat pad sits up top, with an LED taillight and license plate mount tucked away under the tail. A custom-made electronics tray hides under the seat, shaped to double up as an inner fender for the rear wheel.
Mule shipped the bodywork off to his usual painter, David Tovar at SBK Paint. David laid down a classic Harley-Davidson combo; orange and black, punctuated by delicate white pinstripes and a thick polished aluminum strip across the top. The frame was powder-coated in black, while the swingarm was treated to a chrome Cerakote finish (both were handled by Fast Blast and Coat).
It’s a restrained livery that suits the Sportster well, giving it a classic roadster vibe. But, as we’ve come to expect from Mule, a closer look reveals an array of tasty upgrades befitting a modern machine.
19” carbon fiber wheels from BST sit at both ends, alongside suspension components from Öhlins. The front end wears a set of the Swedish company’s ‘Blackline’ forks; fully-adjustable units 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 duty front and back, gripping wavy discs from EBC. The rear brake uses a Brembo master cylinder, while the foot control assemblies are all Mule parts.
The right-hand side of the Sportster is dominated by a burly two-into-one exhaust system, terminating into a kicked-up Cone Engineering muffler. For the intake, Mule installed a Mikuni HSR45 flat-slide carb, fed by a massive K&N filter. A Mule ignition cover also adorns the motor, while a chain conversion sends power to the back wheel.
A judicious mix of black and polished finishes has the venerable Harley V-twin mill looking brand spanking new. There’s some subtle bling too, in the form of machined textures on the edges of the cooling fins (another detail that was added by the owner). “It’s kind of a glitzy chopper touch which isn’t really on my styling to-do list,” says Mule, “but it’s sorta growin’ on me.”
Finished off with Dunlop tracker tires, broad ProTaper handlebars, a Koso tacho, and discreet LED turn signals, Mule’s latest Sportster nails the trifecta of classic looks, flat track chops, and a street-specific setup. It’s the very definition of a street tracker—and it’s lighter and more powerful than it used to be, making it one hell of a runner, too.
Mule Motorcycles | Instagram | Images by Bart Cepek
