I am wondering if there was a production off-road sporty? I believe I have seen pics ,but it could have been someones own build. I don't believe just adding dirt tread tires would be enough without longer suspension.

 

What was available was an XLRCH. This came without lights or road equipment and had to be ordered through a dealer. I have never seen one just sitting on a dealers showroom floor.
The rear shocks were a bit different than an XLCH, but that was about it. You still had to do some conversion for your purpose. The big deal was that the engine on an XLR had roller bearings where a regular Sportster has bushings.
You could set up the XLR for something like a Bonneville machine, or the other choice was for TT racing.
Back then all AMA competition fell under Class C rules. Dirt tracks were limited to using 45 cu inch KR model flatheads. Same limit for road racing. XLR's were allowed for TT (Tourist Trophy) racing and Bonneville use. A few guys who had enough money to get an XLR rode them in Sportsman scrambles. These were the days long before Motocross and long travel suspensions were something for the next generation of riders yet to come..........pg

 

Gone are the days of factory ordering with tons of options, that didn't tach thousands to the price. Two sections that seem to be lacking from the HD line (off road AND smaller entry sized). The Buell Blast and Ulysses are nice efforts, but not enough.

 

Heck, I thought the sportster was a dirt bike... Mine always were! lol I used to ride Bultaco 175 and 250s back in the late 60s and early 70s. Then I discovered the Sportster could go damn near anywhere I could take an 'official' dirt bike. Little too heavy for Trials though... lol

 

Yeah, I rode two KRs in Class C back in the early 1960's. One for flat track and the other was in a swing arm frame for road racing.
However, I also had access to a 1960 XLCH that I used for the occasional TT race. We also had a local half mile dirt track where the owner held non-AMA sanctioned races (outlaw) events every month. I ran a 4.00x18 Firestone A&S on the rear and a 4.00x19 A&S or Parelli up front.
That's where the old Sporty would shine! I have seen the movies taken by local fans of these events. All you see on the back straightaway is two things:
a tight pack of riders coming out of turn one on the backside. This was the group of BSA and Triumph riders.
The other thing was a huge roostertail of dirt flying down the straight ahead of them and going into turn 2. That was me on the Sporty. Nothing would ever come close to running with it except another Sporty. Just too many cubic inches for the english bikes to compete with.
This was years before we had Motocross of course. Now, a Sporty could not make as much as 1 lap around a Moto course, but the racing back then was a much different kind of sport........pg

 

A friend of mine built one from an XLCH. He put on an 8 over fork with long springs and stock spacers, some aftermarket shocks and a sprung solo seat. First time he had it out, he noticed people ahead of him scattering like it was an air raid. Then he glanced down and noticed that the speedometer said 35 and the tach said he was going over 60. He looked over his shoulder and found out both were right and he was throwing up a gravel roosetertail like a raceboat.