Daily Slideshow: Street Rod Flat Tracker Build Was Destined for Dirt

One of a Kind

Harley-Davidson is just getting back into the world of flat track racing after many years of absence. And they're attacking the rapidly growing sport with a group of specially prepared XG750R motorcycles. But while those rides are certainly cool, we've often wondered what a Street Rod flat tracker might look like, and apparently, we weren't the only ones. In fact, Scott Jones of Noise Cycles actually built one, and it recently graced the virtual pages of BikeEXIF.

Dirt Obsession

To be fair, the Street Rod is specifically designed to attack narrow city streets, not slick dirt tracks. But it is also a sharp and agile ride that produces plenty of torque for accelerating out of corners. Jones has long been a fan of the Street Rod, but he's also found himself obsessed with dirt racing in recent years.  

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Small Change, Big Difference

Jones just build a Street 750 racer, but something just didn't feel right. So this time around, he chose a Street Rod, which features a 27-degree neck in lieu of the 31-degree rake used on the 750. And according to Jones, that small difference makes all the difference when you're sliding around on dirt. “This one feels so much better and easier to ride," he told BikeEXIF. "Still 500 pounds, but more nimble.” 

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Trading Places

The rest of the mods Jones made to this Street Rod weren't so simple. Including the exhaust, which he's swapped to the opposite side. In fact, Jones had to actually flip the cylinder heads to make it work. Which apparently wasn't as bad as you'd think. “It wasn’t too difficult, but I did it twice!" Jones admits. "The main thing is to make sure the timing chains stay in the right spot. And the hardest part was counter-boring the heads for the new locating pin.”  

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Grilled Legs

That exhaust mod is also a bit of a tribute to the XR1000, which also featured left-side pipe placement. As is the slate grey color choice, which was used on many of those same bikes from that era. Jones has had to experiment with three different heat shields, however, just to keep his legs from getting burnt.  

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Abandoning Plans

You'll undoubtedly notice that the bike's tank is much different from the stock Street Rod piece as well, which is wide and flat. Jones cut an inch off the back, added a bubble on the left side, and made some other modifications so it would work. “Initially, I wanted the bike to still resemble the stock look. Well, I failed. So I cut the sides off the tank to make it ten inches narrower.”  

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Stock (But Not Stock) Wheels

Both wheels also have an interesting and unique story to tell. Up front, you'll find a basic, stock, 9-spoke Harley mag. The back wheel is actually the front wheel from a V-Rod that fits thanks to a custom hub and quick-change adaptor.  

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Racy Bits

Those little changes also allow Jones to easily change gears depending on which track he's competing on. And compete he does. The rest of the bike features a slew of racy bits, including Vortex bars, Big Al's risers, Motion Pro throttle, Durelle Racing adjustable triples, and a ProTaper clutch, to name a few. 

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Quirky Ride

That isn't to say that this Street Rod doesn't have its quirks. The gear shifter is currently at an awkward angle, but that also prevents it from hitting Jones' boot. And the oil catch can is nothing more than a Red Bull can taped to the bike, thanks to a broken coolant overflow canister suffered at a recent race. 

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For the Fun of It

Jones competes with the big dogs of flat track on his one of a kind Street Rod, but he's obviously just in it for the thrills. And you can bet we're rooting for him harder than just about anybody else. Just as hard as we're rooting for Harley to build a Street Rod flat tracker, in fact! 

>>Join the conversation about this Street Flat Tracker right here in HDForums.

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