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Storz Performance SP1200RR Cafe Racer Accessories

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Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer
Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer

Storz Performance is already very well known for their aftermarket pieces for the Harley Davidson Sportster and they’ve just introduced an all new set of accessories to create a cafe racer style bike, the Storz Performance SP1200RR. The tank and tail section have all new lines compared to their previous street tracker parts. Check out these photos of their new show bike and see what you think.

Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer
Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer

Designed for any Sportster, model year 2004 to the present, they make it easy for you to change the appearance of your bike in a big way even if you don’t possess the high level skills of the pro builders. This looks really good to me.

From Storz Performance:

Storz Performance has developed a new line of Café Racer style accessories for use on 2004 to current model Harley–Davidson Sportsters. A new show bike, the Storz SP1200RR, has been constructed to serve as a rolling display case for these items. A hand formed aluminum gas tank and road race style fiberglass tail section with custom Saddlemen seat pads creates the basis for the look. Specially modified clip-on handlebars by Driven are mounted to the Storz/ Ceriani 55mm Inverted fork tubes above the top triple clamp. Ohlins rear shocks with adjustments for compression & rebound damping, spring preload, and overall length, complete the suspension package.

Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer
Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer

The donor bike for this project was a low mileage 2007 model 883 Sportster, but installation of a Wiseco piston kit increased the displacement to the 1200cc level. A BUB / Storz 2:2 high pipe exhaust and a Performance Machine air cleaner handle the breathing chores on this fuel injected bike.

Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer
Storz Performance SP1200RR cafe racer

The bike rolls on 18” wheels, front and rear, with Metzeler tires, Galfer Floating Wave Brake Rotors, and Performance Machine brake calipers. A Storz billet rear set footpeg kit, Barnett custom cables, PM hand controls, and a Storz/Ceriani Steering Damper keep things under control. Pearlescent paintwork done by Vintage Restorations, Oxnard, Ca.

Link: Storz Performance

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Accessories

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Comments

  1. Nice job by Storz, Why will HD not bring out a bike like this?? The new Sportster 72 is just Apes and Whitewalls on the same old thing.

  3. It’s a change, but not all that cool.

    First, the seat bum stop is waaaayyy overstated. Might as well have a Tour Pack back there or at least a locking box cavity for a brew or two.

    Second, the hump tank curvature made desirable on the Star bikes is out of proportion. Nice sculpture but totally not in tune with the seat. It seems the two aspects were designed with total disregard for having to work together.

    Third, I’m not shelling out major bucks for flat-black powder coat at the same price as for chrome.

    Now the rest of the machine as pictured ain’t bad at all. ‘cept for that price tag on top of a donor Sporty. And for the usual downer of ponying up all those bucks for a bike that will look just like anyone else’s bike that has a checkbook.

    I hate the factory custom ideal as an aftermarket clone vs a true custom. Kinda like every secretary’s red mustang; if you can buy it easy, don’t friggin bother trying to be special. I already have your sister’s number.

    But it doesn’t look bad in that dress, I’d at least take her to dinner before ripping the crap off and doing it right. Well, less commercial at least!

    • The LED plate light is awesome. Worth at least half the humiliation of being blown off at every stoplight by a half liter bike wearing no makeup at all. Did I mention, I love a little light from behind, it makes all the difference in size due to the shadow effect….

  4. Once again Storz Performance creates a great looking product. I think the way that this kit transforms the basic Sportster into something that hits the nail on the head with the current cafe racer craze is simply amazing. The nice thing is that 2004 and 2005 base 883s are depreciating steadily, making this an attractive prospect to someone with a few extra bucks hanging around after picking up a used Sporty.

    @ AlwaysOnTwo, your comment about every red mustang was amusing. Ford sold a hell’ve a lot of those red mustangs in 1964 and 1965. I think the people in Milwaukee would stand to sell a lot of a Sportsters styled in similar fashion to what Storz Performance is showing here.

    Great job Storz Performance!

  5. Yeah, Dave, HDs always look like the rear springs are shot. That was one thing the Storz street tracker corrected, but it looks like they’ve gotten to accustomed to the Harley view of the world.. They could have revised a couple of lines and the bike would have looked level.

  6. I like it a lot, but there are few streetrackers I don;’t like. To not be to critical about any of them people need to be aware that you just really don’t have to accept every item. If you want a showroom bike then you really can’t get what is really cool. Source items to replace what you don’t like in the kit or offerings. As for a Sportster, they come cheap. I just bought an ’05 low mile 1200 for $3150.00 to paint and resale. If I rode solo I would ride something like this!!!

  7. I think it looks great. The seat height doesn’t look any lower than any CB750 or NorVin cafe racer I’ve seen. I’ve always thought the wide tire thing was an attempt to hide some sort of deficiency but I guess that’s just another concession to styling trends.

    This has plenty of the authentic feel that Harley tries to instill in its bikes. For the life of me I cannot understand why H-D thinks something like this isn’t worth the effort. These would sell like hotcakes in California (what is it about hotcakes?).

    -todd

  8. I was intrigued when the XR1200 was introduced, but appalled when the cover shots of the bike being introduced at Laguna Seca all showed broad scrapes on the low slung exhaust. The one I demoed seemed to be nearly nimble but not up to the Buells it was derived from.
    Thanks to Storz the pieces necessary to fulfill the potential are available, thanks to Harley the foundations of unrealized greatness are hidden beneath the surface of countless disappointing mini-hogs.
    For those of us who perhaps lack the time, resources or skill to hand forge our own con-rods this is a great opportunity to tailor our own individual machine.

  9. thank god i didnt sell my 2004 sportster…. i might need to convert mine like this… i have ohlins shocks, 55 mm mid trees from storz next i need the legs…i might need to sell some stuff lol … love this motorcycle !!!!

  10. Ahh, it’s always nice to see a Harley dressed up to look like a motorcycle. If Harley would, they could sell a lot of bikes like this in Europe. Guess they have decided to leave that option to Steve Stortz.
    Maybe I should start to look out after an old 883 Sportster?

  11. I agree with the other post about Europe. Harley Davidson has hit a wall on its sales in Europe because only so many riders here like the laid back HD look. This bike would attract a lot more riders to the brand if it came off the line in Milwaukee. It’s not that everyone wants more performance, but people do want a bike that at least looks like it has some performance. This looks really good.

  12. That swingarm looks like it’s got plenty of flex in it. Bet it’s scary when your cranked over and putting the power down in a corner.

  13. My husband is giving this one the thumbs up, but I would prefer something that I had room for me on the back

    • I might be mistaken, but didnt we see something else that looked alot like this recently? It was one that was for sale that had “been living the life of a celebrity” and spent a lot of time on display at a restaurant?

  14. Carolynne —

    Maybe your husband likes it because it DOESN’T have room for you on back? The only solution — and to keep an eye on him — is to get your own bike and ride alongside! Maybe a nice stock Sporty — when my wife saw one in a parking lot she said it looked like a good, ladies’-sized bike. Not that she wanted one (she stays off bikes), but it was a valid observation.

    • Actually after much shopping I am thinking of going the same route as one of my girlfriends. She drives a Yamaha Virago, seems like a good place to start. No need to keep an eye on him though, he is not one to stray to far from home, I am lucky that way. But I actually really like riding on the back, you can just enjoy no thinking involved.

    • Apparently they’d rather come out with recycled parts-bin bikes like their new Softtail Slim and Sportster 72. Sadly, HD seems interested in producing motorcycles in only three categories: cruiser, touring…and various combinations of these two. Bikes similar to Storz’s SP1200RR shown above (wow…that is stunning) and it’s SP1200 dirt-track styled sibling (same reaction)will likely never find a home in HD’s street-bike line-up. Harley’s current XR1200, while likely a good bike in it’s own right, misses the mark for me when it comes to what an HD sport motorcycle could or should be (it may be an XR in name, but it has little in common with the XR750 dirt-track racer that it is supposed to be inspired by), while the latter two bikes from Storz more or less hit the bullseye.

      • @ Dr. Gellar – not sure what makes this’n different from other “recycled parts-bin bikes” besides the new tank/seat/tail section. Also: maybe there’s not much new on the Slim besides a front fender, but I did a double-take when I read that it was based on the Fatboy. Still not something I’d pay $15k to buy, but it shows design thought which isn’t apparent in the SP1200RR. Otherwise, we’re in complete agreement.

        Can’t believe I just wrote a post that even slightly defended the Motor Company. Excuse me, I’m going out to the garage to apologize to my Buell!

        • My mistake, I should have been more specific. What I should have said is that HD would rather continue to come out with the same old not-so-original recycled parts-bin cruisers and touring cruisers in their yearly model lineup. What makes the Storz SP1200 bikes different (both the cafe racer and dirt-track variant) is that they have been transformed into the kind of sporting motorcycles many enthusiasts would like to see Harley build. That is closer to what I meant to say before. As akaaccount states, why can’t HD produce bikes like these?! Good thing we have Steve Storz and others to fill in that void.

      • Very well said. Unfortunately for us, Harley or Storz will ever make a st. bike that comes close to the XR750 in any way shape or form. ..Z

  16. Carolynne —
    A Virago is a great bike, and not just as a starting place. It’s a good, solid machine, smooth with good power, low maintenance and comfortable. One of my woman friends rode one for several years back in the 80s and she loved it. Once you get used to twisting the throttle yourself, you won’t want to ride on the back so often! Great to hear your husband likes to stay close to home — he’s a lucky guy, too, with a wife who likes to ride along. You’ll enjoy riding separate bikes; there’s more room on the seat so the ride is more comfortable and you can ride further.

  17. He has no choice about staying close to home, the child support would kill him 🙂 (we have 4 kids) Actually I have done a fair amount of throttle twisting, but on back roads mostly. We tended to ride like demons Yehh haaah. Oh I miss that now that I live in civilized society. Thats the beauty of Northwestern Ontario, there are literally thousands of miles of logging roads to bomb around on.

  18. Carolynne —

    We have 5 kids — cats, actually, which are far less trouble and never ask for the car keys. But they do wake me up every morning at 5:30 for breakfast whether I want to sleep in or not.

    Northwestern Ontario sounds like motorcycle heaven! But I guess the riding season is rather short. I live in “civilized” Chicago, where riders have to be skillful to avoid being knocked off our bikes by crazed, antagonistic drivers whose sole ambition seems to be killing riders. Well, mostly they’re just not paying attention. I do miss living in a small Illinois town (many years ago) where lonely country roads were a few minutes away. Or the Phoenix area (during the late 80s) where riding season was all year and the Southwestern roads stretched on for miles across the desert and into the mountains. My XS650 got a real workout.. Now my riding mostly is commuting and the occasional blast around the neighborhoods — my B50 isn’t exactly a road bike. However, I just made a deal on a ’71 BSA A65 Thunderbolt that will run down the highway and take me to those country roads. I only have to drive to Iowa and pick it up, then restore it. Fun times!

    • You will have to make sure to show up pictures of your 71 BSA A65. Actually our riding season wasnt that bad, probably about the same as Chicago, then we switched to snowmobiles. Oh I really miss those too, the fun we had, we even drove them to school, we rarely have enough snow in Ottawa for them. My parents owned a fishing resort, we got tourists from Chicago all the time.

  19. My dad used to enjoy fishing at Barney’s Ball Lake Lodge in Ontario — the only way to get there was flying in, and he spent several vacations there. I understand the lodge no longer is in business, but at age 89 Dad still remembers it fondly.

    Snowmobiles were fun for me until I decided to quit playing in the snow. I never owned one but rode sleds owned by friends (I once dumped one and broke the windscreen to the tune of $35; a lot of cash in 1971).

    • Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for Chicago’s own AMA rep Jim Viverito! Yer’ busted!

  20. JasonB —

    Nope; Jim Viverito ain’t me. I am a charter member of the AMA but there are no Italian branches in my family tree. Not that I’d turn down a Ducatti or Moto Guzzi if someone offered to give me one….

  22. Carolynne —
    Thank you!
    It’s not so clean now. The only way to get a good photo of an old English bike is to take the picture after you rebuild it and before you start it. They operate in a haze of oil that gets on everything, no matter how often you clean them. There’s not way to keep all the oil inside because the English didn’t believe in putting seals everywhere a shaft came through the cases, and with their poorly vented engines, the pressure pushed oil out places you wouldn’t think there were places.

  25. Cafe racing American style. Keeping the orange/black color scheme and using an HD power plant to create this awesome looking cafe racer is just too cool. The transition from the standard seating position to the cafe racer seating position increases the aggression factor multiple levels. Leaning forward while digging into corners – wow – this cafe style must be a blast to ride.