I’m getting ready to start on a street tracker project….a bike that I intend to build from the ground up. I could use some advice from forum members regarding the choice of engine, because a day will come when I’ll want to sell it and I’m wondering about “return on investment.” It’s the ROI that I need help with.

I have two choices for an engine. An EVO engine with the STD XR heads has been ruled out (long story). I’m considering an actual XR750 engine that I’d purchase new in kit form. I’ve located a very good machinist whose is extremely Harley literate, that has offered to add either a kick starter or an electric starter (my choice…..he’s done this in the past and has the necessary experinnce). The other engine option is a custom XR1000 engine that I’d build from scratch, using heavy duty aftermarket cases, S&S crank, Carillo rods, etc. along with the latest XR Harley heads and rocker boxes. The custom engine will have (hopefully) all of the faults that the original XR1000 engine had engineered out of it, as I plan to modify it to the hilt (I even have a set of custom made billot alloy XR1000 cylinders that I’ll use). The actual XR750 engines are not all that street-able, in that they have an aggressive cam grind and they don’t have the low end grunt that most expect from a Harley. They don’t make much power until they hit about 5,000 or so and since most don’t ride around in that RPM range it probably won’t be that much fun to ride. The 1000cc engine will have much more low end….but I’m getting off the subject. So here goes….

If you were in the market for a built and ready to ride street tracker, and all else being equal with frame, suspension, and even price, which engine would you think would bring the highest selling price?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts,

John

Maybe a more modern design on your engine with a larger displacement would be more in line with keeping the bike streetable AND powerful. I'd try the big inch S&S 4 cammer if you looking for ROI and the best bang for your buck.

Thanks for the input. I'm aware that there are engines with more 'potential' but the dual carbs and the left side exhaust are mandatory for me. I want that look. I can't argue the logic because there's nothing "logical" about the project anyway, but I love XR's...and I want that look.

John

John,

Sent you a PM on my suggestion.

I think you get an XB engine and call it good. I would not buy an ironhead just because it is not what I want.

Let me shed a little more light on the subject. I’ve always wanted to own and ride a street legal XR750…that’s my goal. There are only a handful of these in the country. During the last year I’ve seen two come up on Ebay. Both had kick-starters. Both brought bids in excess of 20 grand and DIDN’T meet the reserve. I’m proposing to build a bike just like this, except with the most modern XR engine from Harley, or a substitute engine of my own design, essentially an XR1000 engine. I know this will only appeal to a select few, but it only takes one. I’m wondering if the custom engine (not the genuine article) will kill the value.

John

I would love an xr750 but I am not sure I would love it in a different setup than the original.

You might want to check out hi-speedmotorcycles.com - they deal in all manner of XR, XRTT, and XLCR stuff. They usually have several race XR750s and street XR1000s for sale. If you are looking to do some type of conversion, they might have some guidelines.

VA Biker,

Thanks....I"m already familiar with the site and a subscriber to their Competition Network newsletter. I visit the site often.

John

Hi John,


I´ve been dealing with the same question since 1991. I almost bought this one - ebay item No.: 140167818225
In fact the bike was sold to Canada for about $ 18,5 grands.

I started with a hopped-up 1200, had various square bore-stroke 87" on the street and strip turning high 10s w/o bar. Overheating was an issue with these engines. I had Axtell/J&E, Hyperperformance/Ross and Zippers/Wiseco cyl-piston combinations.

Now I have an entire 89" S&S engine (3 5/8 bore x 4 5/16 stroke hot set up kit with S&S cases), Andrews N9 cams, Supertrapp 2-2, Mikuni HSR 45 mm etc. in my chassis. It works just great. It has big low end power, you can wheelie or powerslide (if you can, I can do that just a little...) whatever you want. it is a perfect all-around motor that makes you smile. You can easy ride 5th gear in the city.
But this is a big investment, looking at $ 5+ grands.
My bike weighs about 205 - 210 kilos and turns easily very low 11s. You could make it into the 10s if you tried hard or use a more aggressive cam.
But this is my daily bike I ride to work and back.

Going for other S&S engine options like the complete 91" short stroker or the square 100" means also big money.
I know people who made an up-grade of their XB9engine by unsing big bore cyls (3 13/16 or 3 7/8). That equals about 1170 cc. I have never ridden one of these but the guys were satisfied. The engine is said to be more lively than the XB12s. Using a "traditional" carb+manifold is no problem. XB heads are also a good base to go or start with.
Remember: XR750 are short-strokers too! So you would adopt the style.

Anyhow it would be a good thinking to reduce weight also. I would say if the combo of you+bike is light you´d be lucky with a relatively small engine like a bigger bore XB9.
If you got more pounds to move go for a bigger engine. It is the more powerful answer to your question but also more expensive.

When you want to use an XR1000 you should check out dutch-brother´s Jan Willem Jansen flat tracker. He uses this bike in the european flat track cup. Here are a two links: flattrack.de, xr1000.de
Check out the gallery, you´ll find him under JW.
This is a no compromise tracker with monoshock chassis, a modified XR-1000 engine with aluminum cyls, belt-driven primary!!! and so on. Check it out!


The post gets too long now I guess...


Good luck, Martin

There is no real "ROI" unless it is an original and even then unless it has an champion pedigree will not net you big bucks.

The only way a copy would bring any kind of money is if it was built by a big-name builder. If you keep it as close to original as possible you may get your money back.

Sportsters (and most other motorcycles) do not have the people bidding on them the way the 60's and 70's musclecars do.

KongBastard

Couldn't you just change the cams for the 750?

I like either motor. I think, the 750 motor weighs less and that's the direction I'd be inclined to go. The 750 motor has better cornering clearance, another plus for me as I'd be inclined to take it out on the twistiest roads I could find.

The 750 would be better suited for track days also.

Alloy rims, spoked. Or, Marchesini cast.

Anyone out there thinking of building
a streetabe XR in any configuration
better be able to do most of the work
yourself or have a huge pocketbook.
I can tell you you'd be better off to call up Lawwill and buy one of his 2
carb bikes. RL

http://www.mulemotorcycles.net/

Cyclone, that's a very nice street tracker, but alas it's a Yamaha.
To Nu2HD, if you intend to build a one off special with the idea that you'll be
able to make money off it, there's a pretty slim chance of that unless you're
one of those knobs on TV. But seriously the Harley engine guy you mentioned
better have considerable race engine preparation before you give him dozens
of boxes to build a XR motor out of. Requires some assembly is a HUGE!!*$+
understatement. The heads alone come without seats, guides, and one stud
hole has to be sleeved. The guy better know race head assembly or it will be
a learning curve. Getting valve to valve clearance and spring travel to coil
bind is a lot of work. Much less working the ports out correctly. You also mention billet cylinders. If you're talking about cylinders from the guy in
Nevada, as far as I've heard he hasn't actually made any cylinders yet, he was just testing out the water to see what the market may be. I gave a machinist buddy a set of XR cylinders of mine to map out for his C&C mill and
he could make them if someone needed them. They would run over a grand
but what's the sense, get Nickelsiled XR cylinders and put a stroker plate under them for longer strokes.

Thanks for the input. I'm aware that there are engines with more 'potential' but the dual carbs and the left side exhaust are mandatory for me. I want that look. I can't argue the logic because there's nothing "logical" about the project anyway, but I love XR's...and I want that look.

John I HAVE A QUESTION ? WHERE WILL YOU FIND THE HEAD'S YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT ? HAVE THEM MADE ? MUCHO$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
IF YOU FIND LET ME KNOW I WANT SOME TOO !!!:help1:help1

Cyclone, that's a very nice street tracker, but alas it's a Yamaha.

http://www.mulemotorcycles.net/yvonne.html

Doesn't look like a Yamaha...

I'm partial to this one:

http://www.mulemotorcycles.net/madonna-NYC.html

The Yamaha street tracker I'm referring to was is another post. The Evo sportster here is real nice. Mule builds fine mo-pickles. I really like the pipes
they're the best part. The seat looks right and the paint scheme stands out.
If you want to see a Evo XR style motor, go to xr1000 heads, right now it's the last post. Click on the thumbnail picture. As I said I had a hell of a time getting the picture on here. I'm a wrench, not a computer guy. These are Big
Twin Evo heads with S&S 3 5/8 cylinders. I did all the welding and much of the machining. I built a jig to put the heads in the mill, and my machinist bud
tipped them and machined the seats so I could put 2.02 intakes and 1.750
exhaust vales in. Since they're both front heads, he had to relocate the push-rod tube holes. The combustion chambers are machined for Axtell slant-top
pistons, as I've found they work really well. I fabbed the pipes in stainless.
The guy I did this for hasn't finished the bottom end yet. I'll try to get a couple more pictures on in the future if I can figure it out again.
Ron Buck's Bike

I’m getting ready to start on a street tracker project….a bike that I intend to build from the ground up. I could use some advice from forum members regarding the choice of engine, because a day will come when I’ll want to sell it and I’m wondering about “return on investment.” It’s the ROI that I need help with.
If you were in the market for a built and ready to ride street tracker, and all else being equal with frame, suspension, and even price, which engine would you think would bring the highest selling price?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts,

John

"Return On Investment" for a motorcycle, you must be joking. You are talking about building a motorcycle from scratch with a parts cost of about Thirty Thousand Dollars... (yes that is what a new mile bike costs, engine and a pile of parts) before assembly, and when your done is still not an XR.
A friend of mine, Mike Dignan, a AMA class C license holder, has a XR-1000 that fragged the lower end, Mike had one of the best XR-750 guys on the west coast put the motor back together at a cost of over Seven Thousand Dollars and this is a street bike.
Do yourself a favor, if you want an XR-750, go get Twenty Five Thousand Dollars and buy a nice used one with history, left alone as raced in five or ten years you might double your money, anything else is just a Sportster regardless of what top end the engine has on it.

: Mike :tour

Cyclone, that's a very nice street tracker, but alas it's a Yamaha.
.

Perhaps you should go back to this website and have a little deeper look. You'll find a whole lot more that that Yamaha.

I measure return on investment by my smile when I finish a ride.

there are to ways to make money on such a project.
1. scour the garages and barns across the country, find a dusty old bike for cheap and restore it yourself.
2. step up and buy one of those 20k bikes and sit on for ten to twenty.