A Hard Hitting Street Legal Roadster Bred On American Dirt

LEE1LEE2This headline is not from me. There are the words from Harley-Davidson when the company launched the Sportster XR1200, a model paying homage to the fabled XR-750 flat-track racer. When I featured it in 2009 (it was introduced first in Europe, then in the US), you all seemed to be pleased with the vintage street-tracker styling reminiscent of the machine Calvin Rayborn (1940-1973) raced in the 60’s, giving Harley-Davidson two consecutive Daytona 200 victories in 1968 and 1969 (he also set two 1970 motorcycle land speed records.) Follow-up road tests proved that the new XR1200 was by far the best performing and handling production Sportster ever produced by Harley. LEE3LEE4So, what a custom builder to do when a client brings his 2010 XR 1200 to make it more unique? Of course, make it run a little bit faster and on this project make it look road race ready while throwing in a touch of racing nostalgia. Shaw Speed & Custom from East Sussex, UK is not a beginner at customizing Sportsters and has already explored many styling directions, from Cafe Racer to Moto Cross to Super Moto. LEE5LEE7The bike tuning is fairly basic with the Screamin’ Eagle pro-tuner and breather to compliment the custom exhaust system. It is mapped on the XR1200 Cup race bikes, producing 100 bhp at the rear wheel. Main task was on the visual appearance with shop and client agreeing on fitting the 1200XR with a new “performance package”, a race fairing able to endure much more than the race track, the multiple imperfections of the road. Both project manager Simon Pocock and chief fabricator Dave Rollison admit that this job was much more difficult than anticipated, taking most of the build time. They ended up buying a full racing fairing used by S&S Cycle on their Streamliners during land speed record attempts on the Salt Flats of Bonneville. If they knew that some major modifications would be necessary, they certainly didn’t anticipate the complexity of reshaping it to make it look like belonging to the XR1200, of building the mounts where it makes sense and of not altering but improving the bike aerodynamics while never compromising on any safety issues. LEE8When satisfied with fairing looks and strength, the crew fitted their own rear seat unit with flush mounted stop, tail and indicator lights. The front fender comes from a modified Suzuki Moto GP. Exhaust pipes were bent and welded in-house, run hidden inside the bodywork and exiting via Akrapovic carbon ends from a BMW X6. Renamed the 1200 TT, the bike final drive is now via chain and sprocket. Suspension is  from Ohlins. Brembo brakes and RSD Morris rotors are mounted to Dymag wheels wrapped with Michelin Power Sport tires. A huge rev counter clock and Motogadget speedo fill the cockpit area. No mirrors were installed. Instead a rear-mounted under the tail camera provides information to a removable monitor fitted to the top tree. Created in 2009, the XR1200TT is the 90th custom project completed by Shaw Speed And Custom. (photography @ SS&C for Cyril Huze) Specifications Shaw Speed And Custom Project Manager Simon Pocock Builder Gareth Hughes Fabricator Dave Rollison Paint Image Design Custom Bike XR1200 Year 2010 Brake Rotors RSD Morris front 13″ Brake rotors RSD Morris rear 11.5 ” Fairing Air Tech Streamlining with screen Rev Counter Pro cycle chrome 5″ Fat Tach Indicators Kellerman Rhombus Rear sets Free Spirits Front Forks Ohlins Rear Shocks Ohlins Front Fender Suzuki Moto GP Throttle domino quick action throttle Master cylinder Brembo hpk 19rcs Levers Brembo Calipers Brembo Tyres Michelin Power Sports 120/70zr17 190/55zr17 Wheels Dymag Grips Renthal Chain DID Seat Unit Shaw Speed & Custom Tank Cover Stock

25 Responses to “A Hard Hitting Street Legal Roadster Bred On American Dirt”


  1. 1 Reyn Mansson Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:08 am

    Beautiful bike

  2. 2 HD rider Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:16 am

    I wonder how he gets enough air to the engine for cooling?

  3. 3 Will Dowty Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:27 am

    The XR1200 may have paid ‘homage’ to the XR-750, but it was too bulky to do it justice. This is by far the best custom XR1200 I’ve seen and definitely suits the bike way better.

  4. 4 Dave Rollison Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:37 am

    The frontal area of the fairing is open so air is ducted at its highest pressure point over the motor cooling it more effectively than not having a fairing. Hope this answers any queries…

  5. 5 REV.JIM Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:37 am

    Air intake in front fairing! Real nice piece. No door knobs Faucets or shot glasses glued on! start it,
    go fast AWSOME!

  6. 6 Jay Horton's Private Shop Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:48 am

    Wow! What a beauty. Later Jay

  7. 7 Stony Crane Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:56 am

    Awesome job guys!

  8. 8 Stony Crane Jun 9th, 2014 at 9:13 am

    Please change the number to play off the curves. The more I look at the straight one, the more it bothers me. Still great job.

  9. 9 XR US of A Jun 9th, 2014 at 9:19 am

    This has got to be the best looking

  10. 10 XR US of A Jun 9th, 2014 at 9:22 am

    This has got to be the best looking XR iv seen on the web, huge shout out to the designers and builders of Shaw Speed & Custom!!!

  11. 11 Woody Jun 9th, 2014 at 9:33 am

    Fine looking bike! That thing looks like it just rolled off the race van.

  12. 12 CafeSportyTc Jun 9th, 2014 at 10:18 am

    SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sexy. I love the XR1200, and I love fully Faired bikes.. this is the best of both worlds… I’m in love…

  13. 13 BCinSoCal Jun 9th, 2014 at 10:21 am

    Absolutely terrific, would love to have it, I’m sure they will have requests for more.

  14. 14 Jim Watson Jun 9th, 2014 at 10:59 am

    Looks great, I get the concept — and love the style. Nice machine!

  15. 15 Dave Blevins Jun 9th, 2014 at 11:28 am

    I like it. Very much in fact, I would like to give it a run!

  16. 16 Blackmax Jun 9th, 2014 at 4:51 pm

    Ok, unlike the others, I really don;t like this one,
    but what does that matter in the long run….
    If YOU like it buy it & they’ll keep making more
    If you don;t like Don’t BUY IT !!!
    the message will become clear soon enough

  17. 17 nicker Jun 9th, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    Way cool looking scooters.
    Very vintage 60s … ya gotta love it………. 🙂

    They’d be even cooler with real XR cross-flow heads…….. 🙂

    RE:
    “… two consecutive Daytona 200 victories in 1968 and 1969 …”

    More incredible is those wins were made on KR sportsters.
    So we’re talking flat-head technology. Technology to catchup with the smaller faster Brit OHV twins.
    Those HD race bikes benefited from the highest level of engineering development for any flat-head motor at the time, and probably since (thanks to Axtel).

    Those wins saw the AMA junk the 500-OHV -vs- 750-side-vale rule.
    No more flat-heads….. 🙁

    -nicker-

  18. 18 Wilhelm Jun 10th, 2014 at 6:58 am

    Great bike!

  19. 19 junkman Jun 10th, 2014 at 7:31 am

    Leave it to a Brit to get the roadrace look right. Love it.

  20. 20 Drew Jun 10th, 2014 at 9:06 am

    What a great looking (and surely running and handling) machine!! 🙂

  21. 21 Brumby Jun 10th, 2014 at 10:09 am

    I’d like to take that for a few laps around Phillip Island!

  22. 22 knucklehead on a panhead Jun 10th, 2014 at 5:57 pm

    I have to laugh when I see one of these “go fast” bikes! They remind me of the BIG back tire and BIG HORSEPOWER motors that are going a STAGGERING 40-45 MPH in a 75 MPH holding up traffic for miles going into and leaving Sturgis every year! I have lived in Sturgis for 55 years and have come to the conclusion that 95% of the HUGE HORSEPOWER bikes are the ones going the SLOWEST on the interstate!

    OH!

    But when you get to the bar they’re bragging about how they made it from Rapid City to Sioux Falls in two hours flat!
    Yeah…sure ya did!

    I guess when you have that much horsepower, you dang sure don’t want it getting away from ya!

    One last thing…

    If you are one of those guys who does a wheelie at 100 MPH going down the interstate…

    Please dis-regard this comment!

  23. 23 john reed Jun 11th, 2014 at 6:55 pm

    I would like complement Simon,Dave (and everyone else involved in in this project)
    This is one of the nicest bikes of this style I have seen for a long time,
    To build a motorcycle on a modified oem platform and make the final package look as good as this is quiet remarkable.

  24. 24 Dale Jun 15th, 2014 at 1:29 pm

    Torque monster. Love it.

  25. 25 Hansveer Jun 19th, 2014 at 8:10 am

    The bike looks absolutely drop dead gorgeous… I’d love to wring it’s neck at the track some day. There IS one serious flaw in the bike tho… It isn’t mine 😀

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Cyril Huze