Steve Gurley from Race Fab Performance said he bought an SXR Street Tracker kit off Ebay and created an Evel Knievel themed bike. Somehow I’m thinking he’d been working on the bike for a long time and developed a completely modernized motorcycle with upside down forks and a mono rear end and was looking for a body. He found mine and completed a truly far out Evel bike.

I wanted you to see another man’s version of the SXR. Notice the red trimmed rims. The dual drilled discs. The “headlight”. The intake. The fork boots. It’s obvious that Pat spent a great deal of time building his tracker. Excellent work. The builder is Pat Ledbetter from Corinth, TX.

Lyle D. Hogan of Summerfield, NC, built an orange tracker with my kit, then he turned around and turned an 82 XR1000 into a race-like tracker, only this time he gave it Evel clothes. Don’t know where he got the pipes but maybe he’ll answer your email.

Lyle is a consummate builder, does fine work and his output is visually superb. I don’t know where that side cover came from but it looks nice. (I don’t offer that seat cover any longer.)

A time back I gotta a call from Tyler Runnells. He said he was with Historic Harley-Davidson of Topeka and their Evel Knievel Museum. They wanted to build a street tracker and color it like Evel’s bike. The bike had two goals. One, to display in the museum and two, if a visitor wanted to buy it they would sell the bike (and I presume replace it if they wanted to do another build.)

Rob Robinson took his first 60 mile spin on his new Sporty street tracker in early December of 2017. This he could do because he’s from Woodside, CA.

A buddy and I rode to the coast town of Pescardero. While we were sitting outside an eatery with a rather large motorcycle sculpture, having a cup of coffee, a man came up and was looking at my bike. I should say he was studying it, to be more accurate.

The man said “Is this your bike?” I replied with a simple nod, a grin and said “yup”. His very next words were "Would you like to sell it to me?” I told him that I appreciated his interest since it is the ultimate compliment that I could receive on something that I built. Then I explained that I just finished it a few days prior and was on my very first ride and I was not looking to part with it anytime soon. He pulled out his card and handed it to me and said, “If you ever do decide to sell it, please call me first”.

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Doug Cervin from Ortonville, MI. submitted this photo of his finished bike with a few sage words: “I have gotten compliments on your body kit parts and how the bike turned out.” That being said, look his bike over.

For whatever reason Harley has tried several attempts of giving the Sporty an XR look. Never worked out right for most XR fans. Randy Covell from Rock Falls, IL pestered me for months for a XR-like kit for his 2003 Sportster. He pestered me because I am slow and I need pestering.

Randy used many of my parts to build his own special XR 883 and it looks very, very nice. Look his bike over in detail to get ideas for your build. A simple thing like a side number plate gives this bike a race look and acts as a leg shield from heat. Everybody give Randy a cheer because I know he is proud of his creation.

Builder Ronny Mauch took the time to write a review and send photos of his build so other people in search of a project build could learn more. It took Ronny a year on and off (he travels a lot on his job) to finish his black wonderment. He said it was a great fun but a bit trying at times, but he got ‘er done!

Ronny said:

"Thanks go out to Phil for all of his help with my Street Tracker. As an ole ex-flat track racer I truly had a blast with my build. I was able to locate and purchased a stock 2003 Harley Sportster XL-1200S EVO with only 7200 miles as my donor bike. This “S” Model Sportster came standard with high performance cams and dual spark plug-high compression heads from HD which adds to the performance.

Phil’s parts are for the most part bolt-on with the understanding that every bike has its slight differences. Believe me I am no custom bike builder, but having wrenched on bikes many years ago these slight differences were no big issue to overcome. Finding an identical HD 13 spoke mag wheel for the rear to match the front was somewhat of a challenge. Phil got me to a point where this stock HD 13 spoke front mag wheel would convert to the rear. As you can see I have not yet painted these wheels.

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Jeff Smith from Northern Ireland has created a departure bike. The basic part (frame and engine) are normal Evo, then he went nuts with modern stuff: modern boxed swing arm, upside down forks and I assume wheel/brakes/fender from the host bike, fancy snorkel carburetor intake all topped off with a SuperTrapp.

Paul Anderson from Grand Forks, ND has created a singular two-wheeled mount. It is most certainly in the Hooligan category.

I want you to notice some things Paul has done. I’m not crazy about the black wheel craze but look at his orange stripe--it works. Look at the headlight--don’t know where he got the guard, but it works.

Jeff’s gone insane on his SXR street tracker. Just eyeball the elements of his bike. For starters he had his tank and tail carbon fiber dipped. Jeff is the first to do this. Basically the supplier floats a thin carbon fiber pattern on top of water in a tank. Carefully the body piece is lowered into the water upside down. The pattern adheres to the surface and is dried. Done well, a flawless carbon pattern is achieved.

Chris Baker from White Plains, Maryland bought a tank, tail, seat, a mud guard, 4 signals, dirt track bars and old fashioned hammer handle grips from me, then mixed in his own creativity to build a superb Evel replica. His paint blended wonderfully with my seat. Note his sanitary 19” rims. Those SuperTrapps really make the bike.

Well done, Evel Chris.

Treavor Shirriffs from Hartford, Wisconsin planned the conversion of his 2002 Hugger smartly. He knew I have been habitually slow delivering body parts--the problem of a single mold chugging out parts as fast as it can go. Trev started his build well in advance of receiving his body kit.

He was superb at planning color application. The central mass of his hugger is in contemporary flat black. Happily he didn’t continue black into his wheels. Instead his used gold and answered it with a unique pipe treatment in the same color. [Trev those pipes look loud-both ways.] Fork boots and scrambles bars are a nifty connection to bikes from the 70s.

Joel Hanson lives in Aiken, South Carolina. He has a small custom bike shop called 'Three Finger Designs'. No he wasn’t formerly a carpenter. The name is in homage to his grandfather who got Joel interested in building things, as well as motorcycles. Joel has always been an Evel fan and decided to make a tribute bike to him.

Here is Brisbane, Australia customer Les Duncan on his newly completed SXR. He was lucky to use an XR1000 Harley made for a short time--lucky because they are rare.

The XR1000 offers two big advantages. They have the XR heads and exhaust so the end result is more XR-like. And oddly they came with 18” rear wheels. This gives greater flexibility in tire choice and my 19” rear wheel conversion kit can be avoided.

Steve Endres from Bradford, NH ordered my stuff in January and received it in March (pretty much my production lag). Steve captured the waiting time by prepping his bike.

I think the before/after photos of his bike are most illustrative. My kit does not cost a fortune (like others) but it really transforms a Sporty (and its resale value if you're inclined). At Steve’s get-in price for the bike and my kit he was looking at a cost of 33 hundred bucks not including tires and other stuff.

It’s called hooligan racing, and it’s growing in California and Wisconsin. Jamie Ulinski from Racine H-D, Racine, WI is a hooligan racer. In a panic he called me for a 19” rear wheel conversion kit so he could put race rubber on his behind. Here’s what he wrote:

Phil, I just wanted to thank you for the quick service of getting me that hub kit in record time. This was my first hooligan race and had a blast. I don't think I'll be winning any races, but sure had a good time.

~ Jamie

Find out more about my SXR kit

John Kitzmiller is a pretty well-known fellow. He owns Zipper's Performance in Elkridge, MD. They are huge in the Harley aftermarket business. John and crew finished this tracker build last winter. John was thinking of selling it and moving on to something else but as he says...

The thing is pretty freaking cool so who knows I may keep it around for a while.

Steve Fuller is a northwest logger who dreams big dreams as he's whacking down trees and gettin’ them to the mill. Let’s hear him tell the story...

I guess I am a lot like most of the other guys and gals that have bought a SXR kit from Mr. Little. It reminded us of the bike that Evel Knievel used in his daredevil days, minus the light and mirrors, horn, crashes and so on. I remember once saying that I would never own a Sportster until the day they built a bike like Evel had that was street legal. Well, we all know what happened there. Long story made short, it didn’t happen. But then Phil Little Racing did happen.

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Thanks, Phil for all the parts and help with this project. As I mentioned to you on the phone this bike weighs 69 pounds less than the original 1989 Sportster using lots of carbon fiber and aluminum. And there are still items that can be lightened. Attached is a list of features so others can plan accordingly. I'm a little bit biased, but I think this one is better than the UK one featured on your website.

~ Gary Edwards-Medford, Oregon

Here we have a nice 1980 Iron Head Sportster--before and after Lyle Hogan Eveled it. This is Lyle's second SXR conversion--the second of what he anticipates to be a group of about 5 eventually.

He said "Evel Kneivel was my boyhood hero, so I wanted to do a bike like his for a while. I'm 57 and still act like a kid. The donor bike was in very good original condition. The standard SXR tail section had to be widened ¾" to fit the pre-Evo frame. Phil did this at no additional charge and I will promise you can't see where it was cut and re-shaped. He is truly the guru of glass".

This time Ray went with a Evel theme and capitalized on the fact that I now make parts in white-he still didn't have to paint. However, it obvious that a paint guy was involved to execute the Evel graphics. Ray does a nice job with his bikes.

The man in this photo is Ray Suiter from Phoenix, AZ. He is a dealer and runs Ray's Rides. Ray is a customer who recently completed his SXR Sportster Street Tracker project. He reported taking it to a custom bike show at Buddy Stubbs Harley Davidson "and it got more attention than all the custom choppers". That is a very common reaction to the SXR all around the country.

Now I feature Ray's photo because it is the first shot of my Gen II kit with the new 3 gallon tank and the new tail (notice the single sweep of the tail and the larger taillight.) The Gen II replaced the Gen I kit about six months ago. I thank Ray for being a customer and for sending this shot.

Jeff Ficken from Lincoln, NE just about lost it with me for my slow delivery (we've made changes to speed things up) but in the end is happy with his new/old 1994 Sportster. Jeff purchased just the body kit from me. The graphics he bought elsewhere not knowing I offer XR750 and XR1000 graphics that perfectly fit my tank. Jeff painted my parts and did a fine job.

Look how precisly he positioned the tank to seamlessly blend with the tail. Our new mounting system allows for fore/aft & up/down tank placement.

Nick bought the rear SXR fender from me to put on a 2002 883R with a stock gas tank. The only problem was the fender was not made for that application. He completely restructured the front portion and made a new seat cushion. (Not recommended for the casual builder).

"I have been working on motorcycles for a few years and was looking for a new project when I came across a low mileage '83 XR 1000 that had been laid down early in its life. It was dented and beat up but had pretty low mileage which was perfect because I have always liked Harley's race bikes.

"I came across Phil Little's web site with his dirt track inspired parts early in my searches and I really liked the way his parts looked compared to others I had seen. Phil was great about answering my questions and on his site I saw another XR 1000 that had been converted to a street tracker using Phil's parts.

Greg said "Finally returned to CA and got your graphics on the XR. Turned out great, again your pieces were fabulous quality. Only have small cafe front fender to fit and paint with your SXR orange aerosol. The fender is fittingly made by Arlen Ness for "The Paperboy Bike".

Greg is referring to a comment made by his neighbor, Arlen Ness, who referred at one time that Sportsters were paperboy bikes. So Greg and I crafted up the graphics for his rear fender for the time Arlen viewed Greg's bike.

Chris Hinkle from Memphis, TN had a dream. A dream of 37 years, since he was six years old. He wanted an Evel bike. Chris knew he could never afford an XR750 and make it street legal (no kick starter, wiring for lighting etc). The dream came into fruition when he discovered my ad in Walneck's for my SXR Sportster Street tracker kit. He made up his mind..."I'm going to build that."

Chris called me zillions of times with questions because he never owned a Harley and never done a bike build. Chris always stunned me with his southern way-he constantly referred to me as "Mr. Little" and I couldn't break him of the habit.

Steve worked hard to create an all black street tracker. He was able to conquer all but fork tubes, rotor and chain which are forgivable. Thought you might enjoy looking at two photos of his project for ideas on your own build.

Steve did say, "It was a pleasure working with you on my SXR Street Tracker project. All the parts fit perfect with no problems at all. I am looking forward to building another SXR in the future."

John says... "Here's my version of your street tracker just finished. I kept the standard footpegs for rider comfort, but will play with the rear-sets in the spring. (Update: I have since put the rearsets from Chainsickle on and they really work great. Frankly, it's more comfortable to ride, because it places the knees more rearward so your right knee is tucked in behind the air cleaner.)

The reaction to my SXR is great! People point and wave. When I stop in front of a place of adult hydration, they come and look at my rig before they look at a $30,000 bagger next to it."

Kimberly Galloup from White Cloud, Michigan is a lucky lady. Husband Dennis built her this Sportster with an ‘old school’ bent. The tank treatment and tail suggest a 70s theme.

The bike is a 1990 4 speed chain drive with 30,000 miles and it’s still running strong. Dennis used my one piece fiberglass battery/electrics cover which hides a battery that normally hangs ‘out there’ looking ugly on the left side. Dennis said, “It works great on this bike”.

When I got these photos of Terry’s 2002 883 SXR I was struck instantly with its polished, clean look. He is more fastidious than I am. Terry chose to keep the spoked wheels, the 16” rear wheel and the two-into-one pipe he already had on the bike.

He purchased from me: tank, tail, graphics, fork brace, fork guards and a black left side cover for the battery. This kept his build to under $1600 which is a cheap price for a totally transformed Sportster.

Keith is from Lake Forest, CA and sometime in 2010 he called me while I was wandering through a bank. I knelt down and scratched out his order-you know kinda like Abe doing his Gettysburg address thing. Sometime later Keith sent me these photos of his completed project.

He created an understated look sans graphics and used a singular H-D emblem on the tank. The rest of the bike is very clean and uses much black to highlight the remaining bright parts. I believe I see rear sets from Shane at chainsikle.com on Keith’s bike.

Ed started this project in Germany (note license plate) when he was there in our military (Hoo-Ahh thanks Ed). He ordered my tank, tail, graphics, side cover and graphics.

Then he did something off the charts-he added perhaps Buell’s all time best looking wheels (and forks and trees as well) and, I assume, had them coated in gold. The blackout engine really allows the orange body parts to pop out. Ed is now back state side with his baby after wowing the Germans.

Don had a pre-Evo Sportster and had to do some jiggering to make my Evo-dedicated tank and tail fit but he did it and built this amazing Evel bike. The two most stellar bits of this build are the custom made pipes and fantastic graphics job.

Charlie was nearly completed with his bike when he spotted my fork guards. He needed them in black to answer the black shocks in the rear.

Everything else on the bike is either stock or sourced elsewhere.

This is how my SXR turned out. Superb bike to ride! 1200cc, ported heads, forged pistons, bigger valves, adjusted in a dyno, 89 rear wheel horse power!

All your stuff was good, but... the [stock] battery side cover flew off from my bike but I found it later, really needs a fastener in the front. And the dodgy nut on the seat unit... I tossed it and replaced it whit a real nut and bolt.

Art said he'd been a fan of the XR1000 since it was introduced in 1983. After an intense study of its XR race heritage and technology, Art was disappointed in the XR1000 stock styling.

"Harley dropped the ball." He was referring to the established XR race bike styling which with slight tweaks could have cloaked the 1000. (I'm guessing Harley had the same idea but didn't want to invest in the tooling for a short run steel XR based tank).

Tom is PhilLittleRacing.com's only EU distributor and will handle all European sales and service questions.

Over many decades Tom has become a master motorcycle builder. In fact he has a very successful business building custom bikes and doing pristine vintage restorations for European customers. He is very well known in EU and UK bike circles. I could not have found a better representative. He has a great reputation and customers have learned to trust him because he is a straight shooter.