The Godfather Of The Street Tracker Part III: Pro Builder

With decades of competing at the professional level in flat track races, Richard Pollock began building custom motorcycles when a friend of his came to him with a Harley-Davidson Sportster and commissioned a full custom build. The build took off and people started coming to Pollock asking him to build bikes for them. At the time, Pollock was heavily into bicycle racing, and had earned himself the nickname “Mule” since he preferred to be in front of the pack pulling instead of drafting towards the back. After a friend of his called one day and jokingly asked if he had reached Mule Motorcycles, the name for Pollock’s garage had been found.

After retiring from being a motorcycle mechanic, Pollock began working as an aerospace technician in some of the most technically demanding facilities in the world. Working with aircraft and seeing how precise their designs were and how they emphasized quality and performance inspired Pollock to take his designs to the next level. With the confidence he gained from building racing bikes, he began to build street trackers that were high performance, street-legal versions of dream flat track bikes for his clients. Frame modifications, custom exhaust, and brand new components adorned nearly all of his builds.

Every Mule bike has a unique look born from the function it was designed to serve. Pollock thinks of Harry Miller’s design philosophy that helped him create the Miller racecars that were so far ahead of their time. Miller found that if you designed a part to perform at the highest level possible while weighing as little as possible, what would be created would have a naturally beautiful shape by necessity. With his pursuit of quality and performance, every part Pollock creates reflects this profound design philosophy.

To help maximize performance, Pollock developed the Triumph Oil Cooler Kit to help keep the engine oil cool in order to increase its efficiency no matter the conditions or demands. The Triumph Oil Cooler Kit is a visionary component that requires the frame rails to be replaced in order to host a custom-designed radiator that cools the engine oil.

Likewise, the Mule Seat Kit completely transforms the tail section of any Triumph it’s installed on and creates a quintessential street tracker silhouette. By removing the subframe and mounting the Mule Seat, all the excess weighing down the rear of the motorcycle is shed, and all the unsightly bulk of the rear fender and mudguard with it. In its place the super sleek Mule Seat improves the performance of the motorcycle while giving it a highly unique look.

Since Pollock began building custom motorcycles, his bikes have landed on the cover of Cycle World a staggering number of times. His parts, once all one-offs, are now available exclusively through British Customs to allow Triumph riders to build the custom motorcycle they have always wanted. The majority of his parts are bolt on to factory specifications, and can be used to transform a Triumph in a weekend into a show-stealing street tracker.