Shortster Café Racer

THIS PARTICULAR cafe racer styled Harley-Davidson Sportster started its transformation a long time ago. I was spannering at Twintech Motorcycles and this bike belonged to one of our loyal customers, Paul B. He was the type of customer you want to clone so you can have a lot more of them. The reason is anything that needed to be done to the Sporty or his Fat Boy was never an issue.

“Just do it.” or “whatever you think; I trust your judgement,” were very common in the conversations with this guy.

The Fat Boy received a few cosmetic changes and some practical ones for rider comfort but was not molested too much and used for weekend cruising with his wife.

The Sportster, however, was up for considerable modification. Basically it was used for commuting but it needed to be good for a scratching up in the hills too.

The exhaust was a two-into-one, under-slung, short pipe fabbed in-house then sent out for chrome followed by Mikuni carby and hi flow K&N fitted under a standard biscuit tin cover.

Low rise T-bars with no pullback were next, then a set of rear-set foot controls fabbed in-house to suit were fitted along with the modded seat which resembled a solo pod style.

The engine was not a big focus for more power but it did receive some bolt-in cams to compliment the exhaust and intake mods. While it was apart, the covers all got a severe polishing to bling it up.

That was it for a while, apart from clocking up km and regular polishing and servicing.

I did manage to talk Paul into letting me make a pair of clip-ons for him and replacing the stock speedo and tacho for some mini ones mounted over the original riser holes in the top triple tree.

I liked it when this bike was in for servicing and pampering. I would take it for a extra long road test when I had the chance. I also said to Paul if he ever wanted to sell it I would appreciate having first dibs on it.

Now fast forward seven or eight years and Paul has bought himself a Triumph Thruxton for commuting duties and the Sporty is gathering dust. Well a deal is struck and I am a very happy Sporty owner — and as I said, Paul is a great guy so I got a really good deal on it.

I rode it as it was for a while in-between riding my Buell and Shovel. I got to thinking that I should continue the transformation and chop off that stock rear guard and seat and go the whole hog with the cafe theme. This was all taken care of in my garage at home as well as a new exhaust; these I call the Rollercoasters (I love making goofy pipes).

The seat frame I made to bolt on as a unit. Carbon-fibre seat pod is a bit over-the-top but, hey, why not when you have friends in the business; thanks, Steve.

The seat upholstery was done by another Steve; thanks, mate.

The rear wheel looked small under that seat unit so an 18-inch-rim was borrowed off our wheel shelf at my current employ. Thanks, Shano!

Chain and sprockets and mods to belt guard were next.

Well back on the road and some wheelies here and there bring us to the present offering. More power is planned with some Buell pistons, Thunderstorm heads, bigger cams and single fire ignition. With some dyno tuning at work and hopefully around 90 to 95 hp and around 85 ft/lbs of torque will be achievable. By the time this is published I will be pulling some long and fast wheelies and scratching up those hills out the back of the Goldy.

Big thanks and shout out to our model Shontay who I have known all her life because she is my baby girl. Thanks, Chicka, for letting us dress you, pose you and make fun of you! Great kid; she makes me proud.

Thanks to a great friend and fantastic photographer Rod and his lovely wife Sue and his son Jack, my Godson, for the hospitality during the shoot.

Also a big thanks to the Shortsters original owner Paul B.

Story by Roscoe; photos by Rod Cole