2000 Mule Harley-Davidson 1,200cc Street Tracker

Frame no. 1HD1CHP31YK127087

· Built by street-tracker expert Richard Pollock
· Mildly hot-rodded Sportster 1200 motor
· Reworked chassis with inverted forks and moved-up shocks
· Less than 1000 miles since conversion

The original owner of this machine handed over the base bike—a 2000 Sportster Sport—to master builder Richard Pollock of Mule Motorcycles for one of his award-winning street-tracker conversions. A longtime aerospace professional, building motorcycles for himself was something Pollock did in his spare time, but people began to pay attention and soon were imploring him to construct bikes for them, too. Awards, magazine coverage, website mentions and many more commissions followed. Today, some 150 motorcycles later, Pollock is recognized as the world's most prolific builder of street-trackers.

When Pollock finished this bike in 2010, about the only items that remained untouched were the main frame loop and the center engine cases. Everything else was thoroughly "Mule-ized." Wanting to mimic the aggressive look of older XLCHs, Pollock moved the shock mounts forward about 6 inches on the swingarm, which required that the rear subframe be totally reworked to match. Front suspension duties are handled by jumbo Italian-made Paioli inverted forks, mounted in A&A Racing black-anodized adjustable triple-clamps. Out back is a pair of adjustable RaceTech shocks.

What looks like a 19-inch Morris mag wheel mounted between those massive fork tubes is actually cast aluminum as fitted to Kawasaki cruisers in the 1980s. Likewise the rear wheel, except it was sent out to Kosman Specialties to be widened first. Maxxis dirt-track style tires add to the competition feel. Brembo four-piston Goldline brake calipers are another parts transplant, sourced from a sporting Ducati. Of course, not everything is from the parts bin. A multi-function Motogadget analog tachometer with digital speed/odo readout lives atop the triple-clamps, not far from the slick little PIAA driving light.

Pollock lopped off the clutch dome and rotated it about 40 degrees clockwise before rewelding for a more direct shot at the handlebars. While he was at it, he sectioned off the upper portion of the dome and fashioned a three-bolt cover in its place. Now if the engine needs to be timed, it can be done with a socket and breaker bar on the crank end, instead of having to put the engine in gear and rotating the rear wheel by hand while peering through a tiny porthole on the right side. Just one example of a Mule mod that is both aesthetically pleasing and a technical upgrade.

The second and current owner acquired the Mule in 2014 and returned it to Pollock for a tune-up and some updates, namely a Mikuni HSR42 carburetor, a ceramic-coated megaphone exhaust and a Storz shift kit that converted the gearchange from race-style back to conventional 1-down/4-up. At that time the bike was treated to new paint in gray and metallic silver with red pinstriping. In total, the bike has covered less than 1000 miles since its original 2010 build, and has just had its carburetor cleaned and a fresh battery fitted.