Racing components aren’t cheap, nor is race tuning, track fees, or any of the other myriad expenses involved in amateur competition. Buying a used pre-built race machine can be a great way to save a lot of money when getting into racing, so long as it’s in good shape and has been well cared for. Here we have a 1993 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 that’s been turned into a bonafide flat tracker by the current owner. A lot of specialty work and parts have gone into this custom Harley, making it far more than just another cosmetic street-tracker-job.
Powering this American 1993 heavy-weight is a 72.55ci (1,189cc) four-stroke V-Twin with two valves per cylinder that in its stock form reportedly made 50hp at 5,200rpm and 55.7 ft-lbs of torque at 3,600rpm. This particular example was brought to Branch O’Keefe, a renowned Southern California-based Harley tuner and purveyor of performance parts and services. With almost forty-years of experience, Branch has become a trusted name in the H-D community, probably best known for the company’s heads. So the current owner had O’Keefe port and polish the heads on this example.
Branch currently shares a shop with the equally formidable, Bennett’s Performance Inc, a shop with an absolutely stellar reputation that specializes in American V-Twins. Bennett’s then cut and balanced the crank on this example. From there, Andrews N4 cams were installed, as well as a Dynatek ignition and lithium battery. The front end also reportedly got new valves and bushings, the rear suspension appears to be of the aftermarket variety, and the wheels were given new bearings and tires. This example also looks like it’s undergone a chain drive conversion.
The handmade aluminum tail section was custom designed and built by the current owner. The bespoke track tail features an internal aluminum battery tray while the top has been capped-off with a custom Saddlemen seat. The seller also drew-up and built the bike’s nifty, one-off, aluminum oil bag. Since last being ridden – as this is the owner’s back-up machine – this example has been given a brand-new gas tank that has yet to have fuel in it. Other aftermarket bits include a set of tracker handlebars, risers, triple-clamp, custom intake, and a Supertrapp exhaust.
A few months ago I went to Roland Sand’s inaugural Moto Beach Classic where I attended my first Super Hooligan Race. Walking around in the pits I was surprised by the diversity of machines being utilized as flat track racers, many of which I would never even consider racing, especially on dirt. But after watching some skilled riders wrestle and slide large V-Twins around the small dirt oval, I was sold. I’ve since learned just how many local flat track racing scenes there are and how just about anybody with a motorcycle can partake. Classes such as the “Run What You Brung” are exactly what they sound like. Lemmy from RevZilla made a cool video where he did some amateur flat track racing aboard a new stock Street-Rod.
As it currently stands, this particular example is in street legal trim with headlight, taillight, mirrors, and license plate, (although I don’t see any turn signals), all of which could easily be removed for flat track riding or kept as is as a hip-looking road-goer. We should probably address that pink-colored stock Sportster front-wheel…the ad shows other pictures of the bike in race trim where it has matching spoked rims, and it says this example’s front end is off an R1 – which it doesn’t appear to be.
The seller does say that the bike “runs like a champ” and based on the work done to the engine I’m inclined to believe it. There’s no mention of mileage but that could be because of the lack of instrumentation. The ad does say that this example currently has a clean title. It’s not perfect, but it’s a proper tracker build as far as I’m concerned. Find this Sportster for $7,800 in Venice, California here on Craigslist.