The 'Harton CR1200'
uses a traditional cafe racer design approach. A beefy engine
transplanted into a top performing frame. It is a motorcycle
built to perform as well as it looks. Nicknamed the 'Black
Knight' this is the 6th Harton build from Gianluca and his team
at Stile Italiano and he's proud to say it's their best one yet.
By definition, a Harton cafe racer blends the best bits from a
Harley-Davidson with the best bits from a Norton to create a
better performing bike. In this case, the Harley half of the
build consists of a torquey, 1200cc v-twin engine with double
spark firing, a Dyna ignition, Mikuni 42mm carb and a one of a
kind Virex exhaust system.
The Norton half is, of
course, the bike's frame. The frame in question is a reproduction of
the manufacturer's legendary wideline featherbed that has been
mildly modified to accept the Harley v-twin. An engine and frame do
not make a complete motorcycle so Stile Italiano pulled together
more performance focused parts to complete the build.
For suspension, they nominated the front end from a Ducati Sport
Classic, anodised in black. At the rear, a pair of Bitubo racing
shocks. The custom laced wheels are both 17 inches and have been
wrapped in modern sport rubber for plenty of grip. Then for brakes,
they went with Brembo callipers front and rear that bite down on
ventilated discs.
When it came to styling
the Harton they started out with an Avon front fairing. A
classically styled, alloy fuel tank was then positioned on the frame
and a matching rear cowl was constructed from carbon fibre. A carbon
fender covers the front wheel and nestled under the windscreen lives
a MotoGadget analogue tacho with an inbuilt digital speedometer. As
with the original Nortons, oil is topped up via a Monza-style filler
cap recessed into the front of the seat and a chrome strap secures
the fuel tank in place. Like its brother the Guzzi CR950, the Black
Knight wears a black, silver and gold paint scheme polished to a
deep mirror finish.
After 4 months of hard work, the Stile Italiano Harton was ready to
ride. "It is a radical bike! says Gianluca. "It was hard work to put
all these different parts together so they looked good and worked in
harmony."