If you have been Imagine building a flat-track Harley-Davidson Sportster, chances are you’ve pinned a few Richard Pollock bikes to your mood board. Better known as mule motorcycle, Richard built flat trackers early on and has mastered the art. He can make a sports athlete go fast, turn left looks spectacular.
His latest custom Harley Sportster is pure flame. Built for a friend racing in Hooligan flat road on the US West Coast, it has the level of fit and finish you’d expect from a professional racing bike. It also looks sharp, wearing Harley’s iconic racing orange color.
Richard kicked off the project with a 1987 Harley-Davidson XL1100 Sportster frame, delivered by his racing friend’s sponsor, Barnett Harley-Davidson of El Paso, Texas. He quickly stripped it to a minimum, cutting out unnecessary details like the side racks and part of the subframe.
Hooligan’s rules are designed to keep the series uncomplicated and interesting, so there are limits to how much you can tweak the chassis. You cannot change the bike’s handlebars, swingarm shaft position, or upper suspension mount, and any changes to the original shape must be done via bolted components. But Richard knows how to get the most out of a bike, despite that.
At the front end, he uses an adjustable triple clamp from Durelle Racing, with the front fork from a 1991 Honda NT650 Hawk GT. At the rear, he’s moved the lower arm’s shock mount. Sporty swing and install a K-Tech Razor shock absorber. Between the adjustable trio and the height-adjustable shock absorbers, this flat tracker can now be fine-tuned for optimal results.
The billet wheel is a 19-inch flat track-specific, supplied by Lowery Racing, and is wrapped in Shinko rubber. Astute eyes will notice that there is more meat in the rear wheel than in the front; The extra weight helps create traction on slippery roads.
As for the engine, Richard originally planned to build a racing engine from hand-selected parts. But then the accident happened. “Out of nowhere — or rather, on the opposite side of the United States — came a Buell X1 Lightning barrel engine, unstarted, since 2001,” he told us.
In the end, buying and shipping the Buell plant only costs about 60% of the cost of building a new unit—so that’s understandable. Richard installed the power plant, along with a reworked Sportster carburetor and a Daytona Twin Tec single ignition system.
Moving on to the bodywork, Richard placed the fiberglass fuel tank and tailpiece from First Klass Glass in Michigan. They are quintessential Harley flat road pieces and are a common sight on Mule builds. Longtime collaborator, David Tovar at SBK Paint, has worked on eye-catching paint colors.
A race-specific number plate sits up front — but this isn’t a flimsy, cable-tethered matter. Look closely and you’ll notice that it sits on a CNC-machined stand that clamps onto the fork and can be replaced in minutes.
Further afield is the aluminum AFAM steering wheel. “I’ve been saving them for at least ten years now, after using them on a few people,” says Richard. “These bars are known to be super strong and have excellent resistance to bending. A perfect fit for Hooligan’s world of rock-em’-sock-em’ racing on small tracks.
The bars only wear the Buell throttle assembly, the off switch and the clutch lever. So there’s very little to replace in case something goes wrong.
If you are looking for where the key goes, you will be looking for a long time. The car starts via a toggle switch with a cover, mounted to the left of the Sportster’s custom battery box. Crafted from aluminum, it attaches to the bike where the heavy OEM steel box used to be, via rubber mounting recessed pins.
Clever details like these are sprinkled throughout this racing bike. On the right side is a beautiful CNC machined mounting plate for the footrest and master brake cylinder; a part that Richard plans to use on several bikes is currently in his build queue. It was crafted by a family-owned company he discovered shortly after moving from California to Idaho.
He also credits brothers Chuck and Tommy Connell, for helping him weld the bike’s two-in-one stainless steel exhaust. “A lot of Sportsters runners seem to like the two-two,” he said. “But for close races on a tight track, the low tube doesn’t bring your foot out and burn your inner thighs.”
There’s more to the back end, where Richard has combined a Yamaha TZ750 rotor, old Honda CB500 front brake calipers, and a custom mount to build the bike’s sole brake. Fast Blast and Coat finished fabrication, powder coated some parts and Cerakoting others.
As always, Mule has delivered a coveted flat tracker that ticks every box it can. And it’s as good as it looks.
Richard told us: “The first outing was a great success. “The engine is super quiet, quiet and starts instantly with the push of a button. The right handling of the amount equals strength.”
