Storz Sportster Gas Tank

If you own a 2003 or older Sportster, this might just be your lucky day. Up for auction on eBay right now is this Storz road racing tank. The seller claims it is new, and it really looks unused. Too bad my cafe’d sportster is a 2005, and no one really makes a tank for the newer rubber-mount bikes. Bidding is only at $207 with less than 20 hours left. This could be a chance to get one of these nearly $1K tanks for much less than retail. Good luck!!!

2003 Harley-Davidson Sportster Cafe Racer

Here’s a really well done last-generation Sportster cafe racer. Nearly everything that can be done to it has been done. Only thing missing in my humble opinion is longer shocks in the back. Something like a 13.5″ adjustable Ohlins, or the Progressive 15″ shocks.

The price is kind of high for this bike. It is up on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $8,500, but the auction price is starting at $7,400 and it has zero bidders.

I have to admit that I wish my Sportster looked like this. I have a feeling that mine would out-handle this one, but in looks and motor this one leaves mine for dead. Oh well. Maybe I can make some progress soon…

2001 Harley-Davidson Sportster Cafe Racer

I am really torn by bikes like this. Converting a Sportster into a cafe racer is kind of a daunting process. There aren’t a lot of sources for true cafe-styled parts for these bike (especially 2004+ rubber-mount bikes), and when you tell the parts guy at your local shop what you are doing, most likely he or she will give you a blank stare.

So if you do manage to find the parts, then you have to do a good job with the conversion. With this particular bike, it is certainly beautiful, and has a number of really nice parts attached to it: Storz rear-sets, nice race-style seat, beautiful H-D themed paint, and a great intake/exhaust combo. But a well-built cafe racer is more than a simple sum of its parts.

In this case, I am concerned that the bike looks lowered front and rear. For my personal Sportster cafe racer, I actually raised the bike 1″ in the front and 2″ in the rear to try for more ground clearance. And I don’t really want to be careening through corners while trying to maintain a grip on the shiny bits at the end of these drag bars. Cafe racers typically have a form-follows-function aesthetic, while this bike is trying to go both ways. Like Storz rear-sets on a lowered bike.

Now, if I could bolt my 15″ shocks to this bike, add my clip-ons, and put some stiff Race-Tech springs in the front end, this would be a great bike…

1999 Harley Sportster Cafe Racer

Ahhh. This is what I want my bike to become. I’m not going to bother going through all the specs on this one, because pretty much everything’s been done. The highlight, though, is the Storz tank. Too bad Storz doesn’t make one of those road racing tanks for the 2004-present Sportsters.

However, I do have a question for the owner of this bike. Why is the picture of the Ohlins shocks on a bike with a chain and closed end Supertrapp vs. the other three pictures being belt-drive and open-end Supertrapp? I actually have the same black Progessive 15″ shocks on my Sporty, and although they probably don’t control the rear wheel quite as the Ohlins, they are 1.5″ longer for added ground clearance. 🙂
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The owner commented via a question I sent to him on eBay. Here’s his response, or you can read it as the actual comment he sent to the blog…

Hi,
I am the owner of the 99 Cafe. Sorry for the confusion. The pic with the PS shocks is an older one that I used because it was a good pic, sunny day and full profile shot (and frankly, I forgot that I had the newer Ohlins and chain drive since it was taken) 🙂

From 1999 Harley Sportster Cafe Racer, 2008/07/26 at 11:08 AM