DP Customs Harley-Davidson Sportster
When DP Customs long time upholsterer, Uniqueaz.com, dropped by the workshop one afternoon it wasn’t to discuss a new design, or to collaborate on a customers bike. It was to place an order for them. If you have seen the Rocket Mortgage commercial then you understand the idea behind building things that let others build things and how it comes full circle. That’s what we have here, businesses working together and then creating together.
The concept from Unique Upholstery was simple. Comfortable to sit on. Seriously that was it. With that in mind they thought up a Street Tracker based on a 2002 Harley Davidson Sportster named “W”. It’s big on power, low on weight, runs like a scalded dog, and yes, the seat is comfortable.
The bare Sportster frame was smoothed out, factory tabs and knuckles were ground off and the subframe was cut off. A hooped rear now carries a hand crafted tail made from aluminum. They used an Aristech fiberglass tank that saves even more weight and the belly pan is also aluminum to keep everything svelte. A mix of leather – with diamond stitched Alcantara – cover the seat. Walkers Way sprayed the paint with a combination of silver metal flake, black, white, and neon red that incorporates both the owners and builders logos.
The twin shock setup remains in the rear of “W” but it now runs Progressive’s 970 series piggyback shocks that allow for easy adjustment of the compression dampening. Upfront there are more Progressive parts with full monotone damper cartridges, and custom tuned forks. That gives this Sporty handling to match the looks. Since the main frame wasn’t touched; it will still shimmy like a belly dancer but it definitely gets the job done far better than stock. The fork tubes were smoothed to give an ultra clean finish, it does mean there will be no fender, but we think the look overrides the need for a fender.
Trac Dynamics swingers is fitted that once again drops a ton of weight and despite being a purpose built unit is gorgeous in t’s craftsmanship. A custom made battery box holds a Ballistic battery that is 20% of a conventional batteries weight. Both front and rear now brakes are now drilled floating rotors and the calipers are polished and then painted Brembo units. There is no mistaking who made them. Far more stopping power than this bike needs, but overkill is good.
“W” is also gifted with a metric truck load of go to compliment all of the woah we described above. A Revolution Performance big bore kit with new cylinders, and forged pistons upping capacity 1250cc. The cylinder heads were ported by Duffee Motorsports, then matched with a cam from Andrews to work perfectly together. Evacuation of those hot exhaust gases is a custom crafted set of pipes that finish under the seat MotoGP style. The pipes are heat wrapped and the underside of the seat fitted with heat shield to keep from roasting the chestnuts as it were.
The chin spoiler doubles as an oil tank that was made from steel this time for maximum impact durability. I really dig how the fittings, the shape, and the overall look of it just work. I might be concerned about those lines in a crash, and you certainly don’t want to run through anything too tall. All the covers were trimmed and cleaned up and then coated with Cerakote.
Custom fold-up rear sets, levers and master cylinder from ISR and custom DP Customs 7 spoke wheels machined at Thomason Performance. No you can’t buy these but we sure wish we could. Pirelli Scorpion rubber gives the bike the tarmac grip it needs.
I really dig this build and pretty much everything DP Customs has created. Tell us what you think in the comments below!
