Son’s Street Tracker Custom Lights Up His Failing Father’s Eyes
Harley Davidson street tracker custom build is a overwhelmingly touching tribute from son to father.
Flat track motorcycle racing has always held a certain allure for Harley Davidson sportster lovers, and many of them remember the heyday of the sport, when the flat track championship was the premier motorcycle racing series from the 1950s up until the late ’70s.
So it’s little wonder that nostalgia has carried into a multitude of street tracker customs. You take an ordinary sportster and turn it into a racing machine that looks like it could have jumped out of the 1950s, ’60s or ’70s.
The sport, sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association, is still popular, so street tracker custom builders can build their bikes to race or just to admire.
Special Kind of Custom
The custom featured here, nicknamed the “Evil Twin,” can do both. But, there is more to this build. Much more.
A man named Bill Brosius basically grew up on flat tracks in their golden period, mainly in California, but also in a variety of other places. Tagging along with his father, he grew to love the sport too, worshiping its icons and heroes.
So when his father came down with Parkinson’s later in life, the sport of flat track racing and its motorcycles helped Bill express his love for his father. His father used to enjoy watching his son wrench on bikes when he himself could no longer do so, and Bill built a flat tracker for him in 2021 that was featured by Bike Bound.
Tribute to his Father
The bike we’re concerned with today is another street tracker custom with a story that goes even deeper.
Bill’s mother asked her son to help her sell his father’s motorcycles in the last year of his dad’s life when his health was seriously declining. Bill turned that emotional task into a tribute he will have a lifetime to lean on. He noticed a 2003 100th Anniversary Edition 1200 sportster among his father’s motorcycles.
“I thought it would be cool to make 15-to-25 minute videos on You Tube so that he could follow along with the build,” he told Bike Bound. “My mother would stream it to the TV and he could feel like he was right there with me as I was piecing it together. I sent the first video and it worked. My mother told me that his eyes lit up seeing me and the build happening.”
No Expense Spared
Hearing this, the younger Brosius wanted to keep the build going on as long as he could for his father to enjoy, so he spared no expense in parts and no time or effort of his own on the build.
Look at the result: 19-inch wheels, Ohlins Black Series forks and rear piggyback shocks, and Brembo brakes, as well as a variety of other parts from other models.
‘I Got to See the Enjoyment’
The end result, as you can see, is a sweet ride and one of Bike Bound’s Top 10 trackers of 2023.
Obviously, it means a lot more to its builder.
“For the very last video I was able to fly down to Arizona where he lived and watch it side by side with him,” Brosius said. “The video was a recap of the entire build and a few laps around the track at Thunderhill Raceway, California. He couldn’t say very much but I got to see the enjoyment of the American thunder in his eyes. He had an ear-to-ear smile the entire time.”
Photos: Bike Bound
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