Harley-Davidson XR 1200X Cafe Racer Project

What most of us DON'T think of are café racers. Fortunately, Roger Westlake isn't like most of us, and his specific vision to create a café racer in homage to the late, great Cal Rayborn has resulted in an unusual and impressive project.

The inspiration for this project came from Cal Rayborn, the multiple AMA champion who did a lot to prove the competitiveness of Harley-Davidson's XR750 in the early 1970s. Rayborn's finest hour from that era was arguably the 1972 Transatlantic Match Race series. Against the wishes of Harley-Davidson management, Rayborn accepted an invitation to ride in the UK, taking on the likes of Phil Read, Dick Mann and Peter Williams. Despite being given no chance on the 'old technology' ironhead Harley against the works BSA, Triumph and Norton bikes, Rayborn won three of the six races that made up the series, also winning a lot of respect in the process. In the crowd back then was a 16-year-old Roger Westlake, and the sight of Rayborn taking it up to the best of British planted the seed of the creation featured here.

Almost 40 years later, after a motorcycle list that included Ducati, Sunbeam, Yamaha, Triumph, Honda and Royal Enfield, Roger bought his first Harley-Davidson - a 2009-model XR 1200X Sportster, and the flame of Rayborn's Match Race victories was re-ignited. Further inspiration, ideas and a number of parts for the project came from Adrenalin Moto and Harris Performance in the UK. With a vision in mind and a list of parts on order, Roger sent the Sportster to Steve Schweigler of MaxPower Motorcycles in Russell Vale, near Wollongong. Schweigler had worked on Roger's previous project, a 2007 Triumph Bonnevile 'flat tracker' custom, so he was Roger's first choice to turn the stock Sportster into a Rayborn-inspired café racer.

Of course, the 'café racer' brief brought with it the need to boost power and/or reduce weight. Schweigler started by breaking out the angle grinder and cutting a LOT of excess metal off the XR 1200X. Things like the seat brackets, handlebars, triple clamp and more were all removed and replaced with lighter items. Both front and rear suspension units came in for major modification, too, with the front end dropped by one inch and an alloy top triple clamp fitted. Factory fork outers were retained, but the internals were replaced with Race Tech springs and a gold valve kit to improve compression and rebound. The factory front disk brakes and calipers were retained, but Goodridge braided lines replaced the factory-fitted lines. To clean up the front end, Roger decided the front downtube-mounted factory oil cooler had to go. This was easier said than done, however, so Schweigler's fabrication man at MaxPower, Steve Hurkett, was called in. It was his idea to cleverly re-position the Earl's oil cooler behind the gearbox. With all-new brackets and braided lines, the change worked, both mechanically and visually. The main mechanical change to the engine was the inclusion of a side draft throttle body from a 2007-model Sportster, topped by a Roland Sands Design velocity stack and air cleaner. As with the oil cooler, a lot of custom fabrication work by Hurkett was required to make the repositioned induction work. The engine cases and cylinder head covers were powdercoated black, but the main visual change to the engine was the addition of the unmistakable Termignoni 2-1-2 exhaust. A Power Commander ignition and a lot of time on the dyno by Schweigler resulted in what Roger described as 'sweet sound' coming from the unbaffled Termis!

At the back end, the factory shock absorbers were replaced with a pair of Wilbers units with remote reservoirs. As the front end had been lowered, stock shocks on the rear wouldn't have fitted the look Roger was after, so ASR Suspension (in Dromana, VIC) custom-built a pair two-inches longer than standard. When fitted, the stance was perfect - neither nose- nor tail-heavy. While the Wilbers were being built, Roger decided to get the swingarm chromed, along with the mounting bracket for the front mudguard. Some changes were worked into the appearance of the driveline, too, in the form of an anodised pulley cover, Rizoma derby cover and carbon fibre belt guards and side covers. Hurkett also fabricated new seat brackets in light alloy.

Hurkett's next job was to fabricate brackets to fit the Ducati-style half fairing and the re-positioned dash cluster. The latter was necessary to work the factory gauges around the new steering gear, which consisted of the aforementioned triple clamp, as well as a set of bar risers, both from Adrenalin Moto. The risers themselves hold Laverda handlebars, which came from one of Roger's previous projects. Being a narrower diameter than the original, all the H-D switchblocks wouldn't fit the new bars, so replacement items were sourced from a Ducati and a mixture of Japanese bikes. The trick-looking drilled levers are Zeta items, sourced by MaxPower. Oberon bar-end indicators and mirrors add to the café racer look, while a pair of LSL rearsets help achieve the classic café racer-style riding position. The tank, another of the parts provided by Adrenalin Moto, is actually designed to look like the XLCR, Harley's rare and now highly desirable 'factory café racer' from the late 1970s. Finishing off the parts list was a large, British-style headlight from Motociclo.

Of course, a replica of Cal Rayborn's racing XR just wouldn't be right without the Harley's orange and black racing colours. The 'Steves' at MaxPower got involved with this stage of the project, too, helping Roger design a colour scheme that was as faithful to Rayborn's original as possible, while still factoring in the non-Harley fairing and other custom componentry. With the design settled upon, all the bodywork was sent to Chris Anthony at Two Wheel Custom Paint, which is also in Russell Vale. The end result, a combination of Kawasaki ZX10 orange and pearl black, looks the business, with the hand-painted Champion decals a neat addition and a good demonstration of Chris's skills. The finishing touch, while not faithful to the whole Rayborn tribute idea, was an alligator skin seat - from a Bentley no less!

With the project completed, Roger spent some time enjoying what he says is the best-handling Harley in the country. "Of all the custom bikes I have been involved with, this one is special," Roger said. "It handles a treat and my mind always goes back to 1972 every time I look at it."

However, with a new project in mind, Roger has decided to put his Rayborn tribute up for sale. Asking price is $42,800. See the advert in JUST BIKES or online at www.justbikes.com.au. After seeing what he's achieved here, we're sure you're just as keen as we are for Roger's next project!