Builder Steve Huff has made a name for himself in the Seattle rock star community. Back when the music scene here blew up in the early '90s, one by one the new local superstars turned to Steve to create their two-wheeled dreams. Over time, several of rock's northwestern glitterati became his riding buddies.
Last year a group of them were planning a road trip to Oregon and invited Steve along. The catch? They would be taking their sportbikes of Italian and Japanese extraction, and they were worried about Steve keeping up on his bagger.
Steve, a former AHDRA Top Fuel record holder, was not even a little worried about keeping up with these guys. But "keeping up" is not what champion racers do. They would rather whoop ass.
Looking over at the corner of his shop, Steve spied a 1200 Sporty he had taken in as a trade. It already had the aluminum JMC swingarm seen here and that gave him the kernel of an idea. Steve had always wanted to build a Sporty into a road-burning street racer. He finally got started. But Steve had only two weeks until the ride. Therefore, he went with proven sets of parts he was familiar with.
Steve first got a ton of Sportster race components from Storz Performance. The pipes, tailsection, and rear-set controls were all from the company's race-inspired Sportster collection. A '90s Buell donated its frontend, while sticky Dunlops and PM brakes should help keep pace with the more exotic bikes in the twisties. For the motor, he went back to his old drag racing ways.
Steve left the motor's dimensions stock, but added a set of high-compression pistons, headwork, cams, a modified S&S Super G, and a high-flow exhaust. Just in case the 1200's torquey goodness wasn't enough, he also added a NOS nitrous kit.
Aesthetically, Steve wanted this down-and-dirty machine to reflect its purposeful nature. Therefore, he kept the shine to a minimum and laid down a very low-maintenance paint scheme in dull grey. There are a few sportbike-esque touches that were added with a sense of irony, like the Buell gas filler and the GSX-R tank protector.
The biggest eye catcher is obviously the gas mask headlight. Perhaps, owing to his grungy Seattle roots (and those of his riding partners), the mask tends to be love-it or hate-it for everyone who sees it. Starting with a decapitated mannequin's head, Steve slipped a gas mask over it, then mounted a pair of smallish halogens in the eye sockets. Steve worries for our boys and girls in uniform, as he says the mask only lasts about a month at a time before it needs replacement.
The big sport ride down to Oregon ended up getting cancelled just a couple of days before they were scheduled to leave. Sure, his friends can probably quote sudden scheduling conflicts and unescapable family tragedy, but we think they were just afraid of getting smoked by Steve and his old Sportster.