“Street tracker is an overused description
which has diluted the true meaning”
- Richard Pollack
amcn.com.au 27
Harley-Davidson in El Paso
in Texas.”
The bikes were delivered to
Mule and torn down immediately.
The only thing retained would
be the swingarm, the engine’s
bottom-end and the chassis. The
the decision to use the standard
frame is a strategic one.
“I’ve done a few Sportsters
using just a motor and sourcing
aftermarket frames,” Pollock
says. “But the builds were
complicated and a hassle
to register. So I’ve started
gravitating towards retaining
the stock frame, increasing
modifications for weight
reduction and improved mass
centralisation.”
So with the bike completely
stripped down, Mule bought
an all new Harley-Davidson
Screamin’ Eagle top-end and
cams and sent the bottom-
end to Darkhorse Crankworks
in Wisconsin for new rods,
bearings, seals and balancing.
They then cut the back half of
the frame off and moved the
shocks forward six inches. The
swingarm was also lengthened.
One of the biggest difference
between a standard Sporty
and Rupert’s tracker is the
suspension and brakes. The bike
now has Paoli upside-down forks
in custom triple clamps and is
brought to a halt by
some whopping six-piston
calipers taken from an MV
Agusta F4 Superbike.
One of the neatest touches
on the bike is the front master
cylinder designed in-house. It
was machined by the team to fit
a Yamaha clutch cover window
at one end with a small fitting out
the bottom, and screw in the top
for filling. I haven’t seen anythinglike it before; it’s about as custom
cool as you could ever get.
Everything else about the
bike is typical of Mule’s no-
compromises approach to bike
building. It’s got a gorgeous set
of two-into-two high stainless
pipes that have been ceramic
coated black, and which bend
perfectly around the bottom-
end. The tank is aluminium,
the ’bars are Mule’s own design
and instrumentation comes via
Motogadget’s tidy Chronoclassic.
The blacked-out colour scheme
is a bit of a topic of contention
with Pollock.
“I’m not a fan of murdered out,
all-black bikes,” Pollock says.
“I think it’s been done to death
in triplicate. But that’s what the
customer requested.” The red
stripes were added down the
centre as his own little strike
against the empire.Rupert’s tracker is the
culmination of every lesson
learned by Mule Motorcycles
over the last 20 years.
“It’s user friendly, lighter than
stock, better brakes, better
handling and much faster,”
Pollock offers.
And better looking. Much
better looking than the frumpy
ol’ Harley cruiser that it started
life as. The best thing about
the bike? “Riding it fast!’ beams
Pollock. “The sound is why
everyone needs to build or own a
Harley with cams and high dual
pipes!”