Back in 1994, the Harley Sportster 1200 produced an extremely disappointing 50 hp and 55 lb-ft of torque. It’s fine if you just want to get around making potato noise at a fairly low speed, but if you want to really get around on it, you’re not going anywhere fast. Doctor Motorcycle didn’t like how slow this bike was, so they added a turbocharger setting that withdrew and increased power significantly.
In the video below, we draw the attention of good people at RideApart, Sportster is completely built from the ground up and it’s absolutely breathtaking to watch. It’s clear that Doctor Motorcycle, who has done this before, makes the whole task look easy enough. Maybe it’s a bit too easy, as this video makes me think I need to supercharge my bike.
Aside from shredding the turbocharger to add some carbon seals, this whole project looks simple enough. The whole installation is a fabricated intake and exhaust manifold, and the Turbo is suspended. From there, it only takes a few small operations to facilitate oiling, and add input to increase fuel when boosting. The turbocharger build process is less than 10 minutes of the 24 minute build video. The rest of the time spent on aesthetic modifications, by the way, is well worth it.
There’s something very interesting about a duct that sticks out the front right from the turbocharger and an air filter in your right thigh. Hang the Ohlins remote tank in the back, de-clutter the front end, and hit the highway in good time.
I’m working on tracking The BMW K-series in the little spare time I had, and it went far beyond what any average person would do. I swapped an S1000RR UI into it, for crying out loud. So maybe I should add a few ponies to the barn with a nice turbski tucked under the saddle. I like motorbikes with horns.
