The Harley-Davidson Sportster has been built since 1957. It cut its teeth in the world of flat track racing, but builders have long been attaching clubman bars, rear sets, bum stop seats, and longer rear shocks to level out the lines of the bike, achieving a cafe racer’s styling and geometry. Modern inverted (USD) forks from Japanese makes have become another popular upgrade for the XL platform, as have minimalist gauges and controls such as those produced by Germany’s motogadget. Below, we have a broad selection of Sportster cafe racer for your viewing please.
XL1200 Sportster Cafe Racer by Bull Original - Last year we featured the Harley-Davidson "MX1000," a 1000cc Ironhead dirt bike built by Takuya Yonezawa — “Yone” — the founder of Japan’s Bull Original (www.mc-bull.com). That bike was no mere showpiece -- as the photos and videos attest, Yone regularly puts the 1000cc V-twin dirt bike through its paces on motocross tracks and in sand races. Now we're thrilled to feature another one of Yone's builds, this Sportster cafe racer based on a 2005 Harley-Davidson XL1200. Yone has lived a varied and adventurous life, to say the least. He grew up in Sapporo, where he was involved in motocross… ...read more
Turbo Sportster Street Tracker by Bryce Schmidt - "I figured if it was called a Sportster, I might as well make it a little more sporty." Such were the words of 34 year-old machine/fabricator Bryce Schmidt, who does all of his own work -- including paint -- out of his small two-car garage. Starting with a 2005 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200R, Bryce decided to increase the machine's sportiness through one of our favorite methods: forced induction. First, however, he attended to the frame, stretching the swingarm 3.5 inches and fabricating a monoshock conversion, with the rear shock and wheel from a Ninja. He opted for a T15 turbo and… ...read more
Stop Rules: Harley-Davidson Sportster S “Revolution” - AC Calella Custom x Stop Rules customize a Sportster S... In 2021, Harley-Davidson introduced the Sportster S (RH1250S) -- a seismic shift for the Sportster platform, which can trace its heritage back to 1957. Many of the characteristic Sportster elements are gone, replaced with modern tech and performance: "What Harley-Davidson have presented us with now is a brand new bike, nay a brand new concept, that chucks all but the Sportster name in the bin. Following on from the Pan America, the Harley-Davidson Sportster S eschews air-cooling, non-existent electronics and 'feel over performance' in favour of modern engineering, less show… ...read more
Sportster Cafe Racer by Ardent Motorcycles - Today, we're proud to feature one of our favorite Sportster builds of all time: The Cafe Sportster, built by Curtis Miller of Ardent Motorcycles. Curtis has one of the most interesting backgrounds of any builder we've ever featured. He was trained as an artist, with a BFA in painting. He's been self-employed since he was 24, first as a custom furniture maker, later as a computer animator. He's sold his paintings and photographs through art galleries, and does the photography for his own bikes. He's built a classical guitar, several electric guitars, a wooden kayak, many radio controlled gliders up… ...read more
Pushing Iron: 883 Sportster Cafe Racer - Chris Owens is an Air Traffic Controller by trade, and with a job that stressful, you need to have some good ways to relax. Chris has always enjoyed woodworking, but this was his first foray into a custom bike build: a 2013 Iron 883 (Sportster) cafe racer. Pushing Tin Iron: Iron 883 Cafe Racer Build Story I built this bike simply because I wanted something different. About 2 years ago I decided to get myself another motorcycle. I have been riding since I was a kid and got rid of my last bike about 5 years ago. As many riders… ...read more
Porsche Tribute: Sportster “Speedster” by LDK - For Sale: Sportster "Speedster" by Lord Drake Kustoms The 356 Speedster is one of the most desirable models that Porsche ever produced. Developed for the American market at the behest of the US importer, the Speedster debuted in late 1954 -- a spartan, open-top roadster with a sheet-steel cabriolet body, lightweight bucket seats, a raked windscreen (removable for weekend racing), and a minimal rain top. "In the USA, the 356 1500 Speedster cost just 2,995 US dollars and became an instant hit in the sunny coastal states. Hollywood icon James Dean was also an enthusiastic racing driver and chose this… ...read more
One Mean Harley XL1200S Cafe Racer - Here we have one very cool XL1200 cafe racer by @crowsbike. How bout those pipes! And blue frame! We've asked the owner if we can run a feature on this bike. We'll keep you posted! #Sportster #xl1200s #caferacer #motorcycle ...read more
Harley XR1200 Cafe Racer by Shaw Speed & Custom - Shaw Speed & Custom continues to turn out amazing Harley customs, well over 100 to date. The ones that light our fire are the kick ass Sportster builds, like the CRXR. Shaw Harley-Davidson has been an award winning H-D dealer since 2003. When Harley put the Buell out to pasture, SS&C was born to fill the gap for high performance street and adventure bikes. Owner Steve Willis created an independent studio and assembled a collection of dedicated craftsmen, whose creations have drawn worldwide attention, resulting in collaborative builds with the likes of Bell & Ross, Ralph Lauren, and Gibson Guitars.… ...read more
Harley Ironhead Cafe Racer by Redonda Motors - Redonda Motors is a workshop in Portugal building custom street bikes, race and off-road bikes, and even has a division dedicated to electric bike builds. Recently, we featured this incredible Yamaha XT600 street tracker. Now the crew is back with another project. This time, it's a 1985 Harley-Davidson Ironhead cafe racer. As you may know, the ironhead was the motor in the H-D Sportster before it was replaced by the Evolution engine in 1986. The ironhead motor -- looking much like the big twin shovelhead of the era -- is one mean-looking motor around which to build a bike. Below,… ...read more
Cross-Bred Harley-Ducati Sportster! - It is becoming quite common to customize Harley Davidson's Sportster in a "cafe way." It's Harley's best-selling bike over time and they produce a lot of them, and a few key modifications make big differences in the bike's look and handling. In fact, there are so many Sportster customs out there that we moto-mavens get a little jaded...until the good folks at Silodrome came across this truly unique specimen from JSK Custom Design, out of La Puente, California. This bike is a real trick in engineering, combining the Sportster frame with a Ducati front and back end. Most impressively, the… ...read more
Black Owl: Sportster 883R by Hidemo - Hide Motorcycle builds a KR-inspired street and circuit Sportster... Introduced in 1953, the Harley-Davidson KR would come to dominate motorcycle racing in the United States. A year earlier, Harley had introduced the Model K, a fully modern street bike with hydraulic forks, a suspended rear swingarm, four-speed transmission, unit engine construction, and a hand clutch -- technologies that kept it apace with the likes of BSA, Matchless, Norton, and Triumph machines. Then came the KR... "The KR750 was the racing version of the roadster Model K, destined for glory on America’s flat tracks." --Mecum The Harley-Davidson KR, also known as… ...read more
883 Sportster Cafe Racer by Get Lowered Cycles - Today we're proud to showcase one of the prettiest Sportsters we've ever come across, and the story of the build is even better. This is the personal bike of Meg, who is the co-owner of Get Lowered Cycles with her husband Mike. Mike started the business out of his garage in 2007, and the couple gradually built the business between classes in college. Based out of Pennsylvania, they specialize in aftermarket Harley parts, and Meg is an avid motocrosser, riding a KTM 150 on the track. About a year ago, she decided she wanted a cafe-style build, and this 2004… ...read more
“Stormbringer” Harley-Davidson Sportster Café Racer - In 1972, English illustrator Paul Sample created Ogri for Bike magazine, a cartoon whose leather-clad star -- Ogri himself -- wears a set of Thor-like wings on his helmet and rides a self-built 1000cc Norvin -- a Vincent engine in a Norton featherbed frame. "Bearing a stubbly, unshaven lantern jaw that would not disgrace Desperate Dan, and a nose that appears to have sustained an impact with a solid object at some time in its history, Ogri's rough and unhandsome face belies its essentially good-natured owner." Ogri is gifted both as a rider and tinkerer, having shoehorned a 750cc Kawasaki… ...read more
