We’ve all seen Sportsters for sale with assorted Storz street tracker parts added on and they’re usually pretty nice bikes, but this one is definitely different. This is a 1995 Sportster 883 Storz bought new, way back when, to use as a showcase for all of the pieces he had in the catalog. It had the pampered life of a celebrity, it spent a couple of years at motorcycle shows looking good for the crowds, then it was in photo shoots to highlight the Storz catalog items. Eventually it was sold to a restaurant owner who displayed it on a stand for 9 years. When the restaurant closed, the owner put it in storage.
Recently, our friend Richard Pollock of Mule Motorcycles, was looking for a Sportster as a donor bike for an upcoming project when he found this one for sale. The bike had just 501 miles on it and the owner wasn’t going to give away a bike this special, but they came to an agreement and Mule carted it home.
He was all set to pull all of the pieces for use in some other builds, but when he started to clean it up he realized this was already a beautiful finished street tracker. It has a new battery, horn, turn signals and tires, and after cleaning the HS42 Mikuni carb, it fired right up and runs like new, because it is.
If you ever wanted to have a Storz street tracker without all of the work of first buying and swapping out all of those parts, this is probably one of the nicest you’ll find.
Link: Storz XR883 on eBay – sorry, auction long over
Buzz Kanter says
A wonderful bike well before its time. Sure hope the new owner keeps it original.
Carolynne says
I don’t know if it because I have spent most of my life in the backwoods of northern Ontario but I am amazed at how many cool bikes are out there. How do you pick just one? Thanks for bringing this to us Paul. My husband and I have been discussing all the finer points of engine design since we discovered your work much to his delight
TheMotoShack says
The Sportster is a fun bike. My first Harley was a 1996 XL1200C. Today we have a 2005 XL883C in the garage.
I don’t think they get the credit they deserve with a lot of riders. They’re nimble, fun to ride, and great on gas. I’ll always have room in my garage for a Sporty.
todd says
It pains me why factory Sportsters (at least some of them) don’t look like this.
-todd
Zipper says
Very nice, I’m partial to 883’s.you can beat on them all day and not worry about getting arrested for speeding. I understand the Storz decal on the tank but it’s time for it to go. Wish I owned it. Down the road it will be one of the bikes you wished you hadn’t sold. ..Z
Mule says
Agree 100%. As soon is this bike rides off down the road, I’ll be questioning the reasoning for selling it. But I wouldn’t leave it alone and I would hate to dismantle it for the bike it is. For me a no-win.
Todd, why Harley doesn’t see the market value in a model like this (with the new XR1200 motor) is a mystery to science! Guess thats what keeps me in business.
Oh yea, the same mystery applies to Triumph.
Nicolas says
Well, maybe because there is actually no real market for a bike like this, despite the fact that it’s a beautiful bike.
Ride this one to the local bike night here down in the south, it will get miminum attention, the few folks looking at it will think “it’s a uh … XR1200, yeah, meh, it’s not what a HD ought to be” and the very few ones that take a closer look will say “oh, it’s actually a fake XR1200 made of a 883, girls bike, oh oh oh” …
HD hardcore folks will dismiss it as a fake Harley, and the squid population will dismiss it as a fake sportsbike. The beamer geezers will condescendently smile at it. I’m not kidding you guys, it’s a real shame, maybe because it’s the south, you guys out west may have another experience, but there are unfortunately here very few people who’d appreciate this baby to it’s right value and potential.
Mule says
When I built my first Sportster based streettracker in 1995, it appeared in Cycle World. Over the next 2 months I recieved over 400 phone calls (pre-email era), from people that said they didn’t like Harleys, but if they would just build something like this, they would like nothing more than to own an American made bike. But Harley has predermined what you will get if you want American made.
Harley makes different colors and subtle changes to a few base models. Honda by comparison, has models that cover the entire spectrum. No wonder they are the world leader. Should Harley make scooters and dirtbikes? No. But they could easily make some slight vaiartions and a streettracker built on a Sportster platform would be a no-brainer…or at least it would seem that way. No, not the XR1200 either. That’s a nice enough bike, I own one for sure, but it seems to be a bridge between the Sportster and a Buell. What Harley bigwigs think is a complete unknown. They want to make money for sure and maybe $20K Doodle-Glides is becoming a dying market. Perhaps they need to open the curtains and look outside.
Not sure if any of this applies to the “South”, as it s an entirely different culture there and of course this is just my opinion.
Mule says
Correction on the XR1200: I “Would” own one for sure. I don’t actually own one.
Nicolas says
I need to move out west
Cowpieapex says
Sometimes it seems “real market” and real world diverge. Any bike sold as a fashion accessory and putted down to the local look and be seen scene will be in the perfect condition for me to strip, enhance, modify and ride to ribbons when it is no longer approved by the arbiters of group think machismo.
You were so correct Mule to preserve this bike in this configuration. Whoever scores this bike will have a true bargain and a sweet ride. I have to admit that it makes my hand tremble over the mouse, but just as you shouldn’t be modifying it I shouldn’t be spinning up the odo. and burning through tires.
Oldtimer says
How true! Seldom do you see a custom that becomes so iconic you want to see it remain “original” as the customizer built it! This is one of the beautiful ones…wish I had some extra coin laying around!
Oldtimer says
Oops, Meant for this to post under Buzz Cantor’s comment.
Greybeard says
Trade you my Guzzi for it!
Ken says
I can’t afford what you want for it but if cut me a huge deal I will bring it by a couple times a year so you could take her for a spin! 🙂
Sportster Mike says
Lovely bike, much better looking than Harleys XR1200, missed opportunity for Harley to buy the whole lot from Steve Storz rather than just the XR1200 moniker…
There are some lovely Storz bikes made here in the UK by Crazy Horse Customs – last one I saw was 89 cubic inches!!