Phil Little’s own Hooligan build

Here’s the start. An 1988 with a claimed 26,xxx miles but the title said “Odometer Status Exempt.” I don’t know what that means but it’s probably not good. Rear tires were showing cords so it’s done its share of burn outs. Hope the rings aren’t toast. Notice the skeleton bar pegs-is that cool or NOT! I’m building it as a short track racer that I’ll use on the street too. I’ll just pull the plate and unhook the front brake lever. It will never see a Hooligan track because I think a 1/8 mile track is for mad men. I’m an old slider and you can’t use that advantage on an 1/8mile. As this thing comes together I’ll shoot out reports.

XRX Hooligan Race kits finally shipping

I am now getting parts from my supplier. I took the first tail (Pete Morris’s) and plopped it on my frame. Everything fits perfectly. This is the big tank.

See how slick the fit is. I just bought a 1988 Sportster with a small tank. I am keen to see if the tail fits the small tank too. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Here are the first three tails getting the support plates installed. 

This is a support plate in the tail. It is the mount for taillight and license plate. This part was the biggest hang up. My glass guy was afraid to make and install them. I told him to let me do that part to speed the process. Now things are moving along Here are the taillight assemblies that mount to the support plate.

XRX Hooligan Race kit

The XRX Hooligan kit is finally done after two years. I can’t show you a final kit at this time. My plan is to get a complete tail assembly and a 3.3 peanut tank painted in XR orange. Apply my new tank and tail graphics and a side cover on a frame and take a studio shot so we can all drool.

Guys have been waiting for the XRX kit for flat track racing. The tail is a cheap way to get the race look and keep the cost down by not having to buy a race tank. Same economy applies to street trackers too.

The graphics kit comes from two sources; 1) the original XR750 tank sides as I have used my SXR kit and 2) the tank top and tail top graphics stolen from the 1971 AMF Sportster-basically black out panels in flat black with white trim edges. (I’ll add a number “1 “ and some other tidbits.)

The tail comes in white because everybody will want different paint and white is the cheapest way to produce the tail. At this time I will accept orders but I won’t be able to deliver for a while. So its first come first served. I’ll take your credit card number but won’t use it until the day I ship. It’s best to call me so I can get all your information.

Yep I’m going to name the product the Hooligan XRX tracker tail because Hooligan races will leap at this relatively inexpensive way to make their stock race bikes look like a Harley racer. Same for street riders... you can keep the stock tank, bolt-on a race rear and presto instant street tracker.

For those of you late to the news I’m making an XR rear tail to fit behind the 3 gallon Sportster tank. The project is almost done. The orange part you see here is the last piece of the puzzle--it’s the mold for the rear frame base/taillight holder/brake light mount for all Evos until 2003. As soon as I finish waxing it the glass guy will start making parts then I’ll know the cost. I am also going to make up a graphics kit for the tank and tail. The tank graphics will be like the original XR and you can order it as XR750, XR883, XR1000 or XR1200. More when I know more.

You are looking at the rear support bracket for XRX tail. It is designed to rest on the seat rails to support weight only. Attachment and positioning happens at the front of the tail.

You remember me saying some time ago that this brace in its first configuration was way too complex and thusly I launched in a more simplified direction. Then a Eureka moment happened. In the past we had to make two support molds--one for Evos up to 1993 and another for 1994 to 2003. This new support is vastly more complex but it allows us to use only one mold to pull both parts.

The photos show the support in the “94” shape. The drawing shows how we cut off the 94 mount and presto the lower 93 mount is exposed. I don’t know if other motorcycle glass guys make molds this complex but I expect not. The whole idea behind this ‘thing’ is not to show any hardware being exposed on the outside of the tail. Others show hardware because it’s cheaper and simpler. Not us boy--we take the long way round the barn. But the net effect is a cleaner looking product.

This part will save me lots of time too. The support will be glassed as the tail is made... before I’d spend an hour reading and attaching this part to the tail. Sadly this simplification only saves me time but does not lower product cost. The remaining part is the light/license plate mount which will be fabbed up as this part is made mold-ready. Soon we should have the final cost and production begins (after 20 years).

~ Phil